Smokers Model

bigal007 · Post by **bigal007** » 12:15 pm Jan 30 2005

I have a 1991 KDX 200. Bike is basically stock Except for an FMF Fatty pipe, with an FMF ISDE silencer. No air box lid, 150 main, 45 pilot . B8ES plug. I run Yamalube 2R at 40 to one. I have played with the float level as well. Motor has never been into. Kips appears to be working fine. Govenor rod moves freely as rpms increase. Has decent power for the most part, but dose best if ridden like a 125. My problem is the bike smokes excessively and fouls plugs. Anyone got any idea where to start looking for a solution to this. If it was a four stroke i would suspect it was sucking oil from the crank case.
could be the KX 125 front end I put on it? Thinks it's a 125 now.

Post by **Indawoods** » 12:33 pm Jan 30 2005

Al... it could be your jetting or lack of compression. You getting too much unburnt fuel sticking around in the cylinder... need to do a plug chop to see if it is jetting.... Also, if the motor has never been into... you want to do a compression check on it. Proly time for a topend you think????

bigal007 · Post by **bigal007** » 12:55 pm Jan 30 2005

Maybe but bike had such low hours on it when i got it Bike had 600 miles on the odometor. Not much maintiance though. Gave the bike a compleat once over, Except for the topend. Did buy a gasket set but thought i would wait on doing the top end. I have only put about a 150 miles on it since i got it. Second owner. Had bike since october. Just had to rebuild my sons 88 including a cylinder so i am cash poor right now. Hecks whats another 100.00. It's only money.

Will start with compression check. Don't think it is jetting. Could be wrong though. Plug is black.

Post by **Indawoods** » 01:42 pm Jan 30 2005

How clean is your air filter?
To tell you the truth Al... I have never heard of a KDX fouling a plug. Even when I ran a 9 in mine.... it ran great. Maybe CC will chime in here and give you some direction. With that low of miles.... I'm at a loss since your jetting should be pretty close.

bigal007 · Post by **bigal007** » 02:15 pm Jan 30 2005

Yea Inda Air filter clean and well oiled. Weak spark??? Starts first or second kick. Runs strong wide open. At a loss myself. Still could need a piston and rings though, because i don't know what kind of oil he was running. My last couple of bikes were four strokes. But I loved my 84 KDX and wanted to get back on one. Could crank case be flooded? Don't think it would start though.

Post by **Mr. Wibbens** » 03:04 pm Jan 30 2005

While I'm no expert, shoot I have not been on my green bike bike in months!

I'd say you need to go smaller on your main, but you should do a plug chop anyway.

150 is stock on a '91 and we all know how rich they usually jet these things

bigal007 · Post by **bigal007** » 04:26 pm Jan 30 2005

Ok Indawoods. Compression is 125. On the low side of usable but in spec. Has a boyssen rad valve in it too. Would that make any difference? Yea I know i'm grasping here. .........New term to me, plug chop. Pork chop i know.

How exactly do you do a plug chop.

Post by **Indawoods** » 05:03 pm Jan 30 2005

Weak spark can cause this too and should be checked.

What is your air screw set at? When you say you air filter is well oiled... what do you mean?

Try this... drop the main jet one size. And my guess is that your needle is also setting too high in the saddle! Try raising the clip one notch on the needle. This will take your Top (Main) and Middle (Needle) range leaner by one step. Your pilot sounds fine, but it may also be running rich.

Make notes of what is in there and what the needle is set at before you start messing with the jetting. This way you have a baseline. Everytime you make an adjustment... document it and the results.

If you can't get there from here... there is always slide cuts!

Nah... we won't go there...

Personally... I think Plug Chops are a pain in the @ss... I know if it's right by the way it reacts and the color of the plug. If you really want to know... the procedure is all over the internet. Basically.... Warm up your bike... change to a new plug.... run wide open for 10 seconds, push the kill switch and pull in the clutch at the same time. Pull the plug, chop off the metal surrounding the insulator and look at the ring. Is it narrow like a pencil line or wide and black? And this only tells you how it's running on the main!

Some plug chops are pictured in the Gallery if you wanna take a look see...

89kdx200rdr · Post by **89kdx200rdr** » 05:05 pm Jan 30 2005

i'd say try some new rings first.

Post by **Indawoods** » 05:12 pm Jan 30 2005

Buy a DFIII and do the topend...then do the jetting!

I know...you say your broke... well...so was I! Didn't stop me one bit. Priorities... right guys!

Really... when your THAT close to being jetted right.... I would suspect something else is causing the fouling. KDX's just don't foul plugs. Jetting is a good thing to know though. I am a novice at best and CC could give you some finer points on it... but I get by. I don't have a clue as far as needle profiles but I am trying to learn. Luckily... Ron will set me up on that when I get my carb done by RBD!

Post by **Mr. Wibbens** » 05:23 pm Jan 30 2005

89kdx200rdr wrote:160 is stock main on a 91. i'd say try some new rings first.

Not according to http://www.buykawasaki.com

'90 - '94 came with a 150 main

'89 came with a 158

Post by **Indawoods** » 07:14 pm Jan 30 2005

The scary part is... someone took that picture of Wibby!

89kdx200rdr · Post by **89kdx200rdr** » 07:17 pm Jan 30 2005

yep your right wibby. i'm blaming the beer.

the scary part is if he used a remote or timer to take the picture of himself in the shower

Post by **KDXGarage** » 08:32 pm Jan 30 2005

Hi. Perhaps I can be of some help. My 1994 E model should be fairly similar to yours. I have 750 miles on mine. I have an FMF pipe and spark arrestor, with almost all of the airbox lid cut off. Mine was jetted very well at last ride, so I have been through a fair amount of testing on jetting an E model.

Within which throttle range is it smoking excessively? (0 - 1/8, 1/8 - 1/4, 1/4 - 3/4, 3/4 - full, some combination or all)

What is the usual altitude, humidity and temperature?

Have you maintained a constant check on transmission oil level to determine any loss of transmission oil through the right side crankcase seal?

Do you know which needle is in the carburetor?

Do you know which groove the clip is set in (the highest groove is #1, the lowest groove is #5 and stock position is #4)?

How many turns out is your air screw?

Does it smoke less or more than it did in October?

IN MY EXPERIENCE, an "8" heat range plug is correct. If I putted around on trails, my bike would foul a plug, even with the correct jetting. An "8" is the correct heat range plug for me and both my C and E model KDX200's.

Stock jetting is:

48 pilot
air screw 1.5 turns out
#6 slide
R1172N needle, clip #4
150 main

If you can answer those questions, then I am sure I can be of some help.

Thanks.

Post by **Indawoods** » 08:56 pm Jan 30 2005

OK...that's two cases where I have heard of someone fouling a plug on a KDX. My 92 ran a 9 heat range plug and never fouled a plug... even while putting around. It would get a little sooty but not foul... or even close. I don't think your bike is as dead on as you may think Jason (IMHO) or something else is causing the fouling (which I think is likely the case). I sold that 92 to my freind and it still has the original 9 plug in it as when I bought it 4 years ago. It had 32 miles on it when I bought it. All I did is jet it and added a DFII and Pro-Circuit pipe.

Has anyone else had a fouled plug and know why?

89kdx200rdr · Post by **89kdx200rdr** » 09:09 pm Jan 30 2005

i run a b9es plug and have never fouled a plug. even when the bike was stock

m0rie · Post by **m0rie** » 10:03 pm Jan 30 2005

My 89 fouled plugs like crazy when I first got it. Going to a B8ES (from a B9ES) helped but did not eliminate the problem. My problem turned out to be twofold. My piston & rings were shot, completely flat spotted (causing real low compression), the reeds were chipped and the stock pork barrel jetting was in the carb (158m, 48p, stock needle). The Pro Circuit rev profile pipe wasn't helping anything either.

Basically I had a bike that had ZERO low end and had to be ridden like a 125, exactly like you describe. A new piston and rings, reeds and correcting the jetting made it into a completely different bike. I'm running a 150 main, 40 pilot and CGK on the 3rd clip. Sounds like you might look at pulling the head off and looking at the piston and rings. You might be able to just re-ring the piston depending on condition of the piston and cylinder. Also check your reeds if you haven't already done so. If there are still the brass duck bill reed stops on the reed block then chances are they are the original reeds and should be changed out.

-Maurice

Post by **KDXGarage** » 10:22 pm Jan 30 2005

Indawoods: Thankfully, to jet my bike, I used extensive testing instead of "what you thought".

Now, back to helping bigal007 with his original question.

Post by **Indawoods** » 10:27 pm Jan 30 2005

So.. what your saying is... A KDX jetted correctly and everything else is fine... will foul plugs? That's what I was in disagreement with and was not trying to say you don't know how to jet.. I know you do. I see it more along the lines of what m0rie says.... IMHO and all that

Al will need a little time to gather his data .... I'm sure we can get him through this difficult time.

89kdx200rdr · Post by **89kdx200rdr** » 10:29 pm Jan 30 2005

come on just do the top end

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