New bike well kinda

Got questions? We got answers....
Post Reply
User avatar
Ryan
Supporting Member II
Supporting Member II
Posts: 1047
Joined: 01:30 pm Sep 25 2005
Country:

New bike well kinda

Post by Ryan »

I took apart the bike today to see what was up with it, stuff i could not have checked when i bought it. WEll i guess i Could have but i didnt. First i drained the oil and put new stuff in after about 5 minutes of riding to warm up the engine. The old stuff was grey but not too bad. But it most certainly needed a change. The pipe and silencer were most definately carboned up. Alot of build up. I guess they were never really cleaned. I took apart the silencer and repacked it (Fmf powercore 2). It wasnt actually that bad. It was my first repack so it took me about 25 minutes to clean it and then pack it. It sounds pretty nice and runs well too so i am guessing i did an ok job. I put a new plug in. The old one was pretty carboned up but it looked old which is a good thing. The bike was overall dirty but the parts i did clean cleaned up well.

There were a few problems i did see though:
1. The rad fins on both sides were all mushed in on the front side. The back side about 85% were good. The front side i would say 35-45% are the way they came brand new. The rest seemed like they were combed down. Not complety flat but not straight at all. They are probably running at like 60-70% efficentcy. When i rode the bike i did check for overheating but it felt fine. I could touch the cylinder after 10 minutes of riding without excessive heat. This was about 7 minutes of trail riding and 2 minutes of 3/4 to 4/5 throttle, not constant but alot of high speed. It ran great.
2. One of the screws that holds the shroud to the tank wont come out. The brass fitting on the tank spins when you try to lossen the bolt.
3. The front brakes are a bit soft so im guessing they only need a bleeding.
4. One fork leg had a good amount of oil on it, but after i wiped it off and compressed it many times and rode it, i found very little oil on the leg. So that may be something that just needs to be watched for now.
5. The most serious problem of them all (even though most are not bad at all is that there seems to be a knocking in the motor. My bike has a knock if you will but it is very small and seems normal. This knock is kinda loud. It seems to be coming from the top end as i tried to listen very close. I dont think it effects the preformance at all though as the bike pulls wheelies in 1,2, and 3 gear very easily. It has very quick acceleration and does not stall or die on you. At high speeds it runs very well and there are no problems. What do could the knock be? I was thinking maybe old gas or something like that?? I dont know how old the gas is but the guy said it hadnt been run in a while. To tell you the truth it looked that way too. If it isnt the gas what else could it be?? thanks.



Tommorow i am going to take it into the trails and run it for about 30-45 minutes and make sure it works well for long times without overheating and that no other problems arise before my trip.


As far as the good about the bike. The chain was like brand new as far as the sprockets which may show he didnt neglect it
The air filter was very clean and oiled up nicely with proper foam filter oil.
the guy i bought it from gave me oil, filter oil, rad fluid and a few other things which shows he spent the money to keep it in good shape.
The bike starts first kick almost every time cold.

Was it worth it? I say yes but like every cheap but it does need a bit of work.
2001 kdx220

1987 honda xl250
User avatar
Indawoods
Creator and Founder
Creator and Founder
Posts: 9951
Joined: 09:59 am Jun 12 2003
Country:
Location: Midwest

Post by Indawoods »

Does the knocking change tone when the clutch is pulled in?
*** Administrator //***
****'95 KDX 200/****

"People ate cows a thousand years ago for the same reason we eat them now. Cause they are easy to catch.We're not savages,we're just lazy. A cheetah could taste like chocolate heroin. But will never know. Those bastards are fast!!! "
User avatar
Ryan
Supporting Member II
Supporting Member II
Posts: 1047
Joined: 01:30 pm Sep 25 2005
Country:

Post by Ryan »

nope the knocking sames the same. When you rev it up it is harder to hear as the bike is louder but as soon as you get back to idle rmps you can hear it. It is pretty constant.
2001 kdx220

1987 honda xl250
User avatar
ra88it
Member
Posts: 6
Joined: 04:47 am May 31 2006
Country:
Location: Australia

Post by ra88it »

Hey Ryan

Ive got a 93 kdx250 which ive had for about 6 mths. this has a knock aswell. seems to be intune with the piston. only mod on bike is a oil mixer. go's perfect and starts well. unless it gets real loud and/or loose power dont worry. i was going to strip the engine though seems like this sound is quite common on old kdx's.

apparently the chrome barrels can make some noise aswell.

sounds exactly the same as yours

cheers
User avatar
Ryan
Supporting Member II
Supporting Member II
Posts: 1047
Joined: 01:30 pm Sep 25 2005
Country:

Post by Ryan »

ya i took it for a 45 minute ride yesterday, i got it pretty much running perfect, there is still a small knock but most of it went away when i put in new gas.It ran very nice and didnt overheat so it seems like it is working just like it should.
2001 kdx220

1987 honda xl250
Post Reply