220 top end

[babo89]

so the top end kit i originally found is on back order. i have a 1997 will this work for me? are there better deals to be had? my bike has sat since the year it was produced so i want to replace as much as i can while i have top end tore down.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/234992141539?e ... R8SV7aDgYw

[Chuck78]

That definitely fitsa '97 220 as well as the advertised 98-05.
Manufactures and distributors often fall short on interchange info, mislabeling model interchange years and models to exclude a few years or other models which use the exact same parts. 95-06 200 and 97-05 220 are virtually identical except for the top ends 200 versus 220, and the o-ring chain and wider chain guide on the 220 versus stock non-o-ring chain and narrower chain guide on the 200, which requires upgrading if you want to run a wider o-ring chain.

[Chuck78]

The only other difference is in the bikes were just graphics and Plastics colors. 96 got purple tank and shrouds and purple vinyl, 97 got green shrouds but everything else same as 96, 99 got white shrouds, somewhere in the early 2000s the frames were no longer green and were painted silver for the last few model years. Graphics changed nearly every year or two. Cosmetic. There are a few other very subtle differences like 97 and up rent more firm clutch springs than the 95 and 96, etc, but all the parts are generally interchangeable, the factory engineers just figured out a few issues and corrected them. I think there might be something similar to that with the rear brakes unless The interchange info on rear caliper guards is incorrect by aftermarket manufacturers. Either could be the case. You can always check by looking up the OEM parts fiche diagrams and parts listings and comparing one model year to another, although this takes a good bit of time or perhaps two monitors or two browser windows pulled up on the same monitor.

[Chuck78]

Wiseco makes really nice forged pistons and clutch baskets for our bikes, but I have to say, I prefer Wossner pistons for the 220, as they not only have a coating on the piston skirts to prevent as much wear and tear on the cylinder while plating, as well as the fact that Wossner sells A, B, & C sized "69mm" pistons. A= 69.00mm cylinder bore, C= 69.02mm cylinder bore measurements. This is to compensate for where on the cylinder plating as well as manufacturing tolerances. You can get a tighter piston to wall clearance which will also make the piston and the cylinder wall plating last longer, if you are able to run a tighter piston to wall clearance with these slight incremental oversizes. I believe for the 220, Wiseco only offers a 69.00mm and a 70.00mm bore size option. For an overbored (sleeved -or- bored & re-plated) 70mm cylinder, Wiseco 70.00mm bire size pistons are the ONLY option. I think for some reason for a KDX200, Wiseco may offer the A, B, & C size options, but I could be mistaken.

If you don't have your own dial bore gauge, you can take your cylinder to a shop and have it measured to see if you would benefit from the B or C size options that Wossner has.

Regardless, on a 220, you never want to run the OEM pistons, as 99.5% of them are made by ART Pistons, and are of inferior quality. Strangely there was one person who had a piston they said was a 220 piston but was made by the same company that made the 200 pistons, which are much higher quality. On a 200, it's fine to run a cast piston if you run the OEM or Athena brands. On a 220 piston, OEM cast pistons are a ticking time bomb of poor design quality, so the only option is to go with a significantly tougher forged aftermarket piston. Forged pistons require proper warm up procedures a lot more than past pistons, as cast Pistons have similar expansion rates as the cast cylinder. Have different expansion rates than the cast cylinder, so it's imperative to follow proper warm-up procedures and let it idle only long enough for the pipe to get warm then start flipping the throttle lightly every 15 seconds or so until the radiators start to feel some warmth in them, then riding around doing balance exercises on the bike flipping the throttle and pulling in the clutch just enough to make the bike coast along, in order to get it warmed up at least to 125°F engine coolant temperature. You should do this regardless, but on a cast piston, it is more forgiving, you don't want to get on a forged piston that is cold or only 85 degrees Fahrenheit and immediately hammer it hard.