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Posted: 10:41 am Nov 13 2007
by cleoent
make sure you're all lubed up, makes things easier, less pain, more satisfaction.
Posted: 07:50 am Nov 15 2007
by krazyinski
IdahoCharley wrote:Even though my KTM has a hydraulic clutch I really don't see any real advantages with it - yes there is no on the fly cable adjustments while riding - but other than that there is more maintenance. I change my hydraulic clutch fluid twice a season which takes 10-15 minutes if everything goes well and 30-45 minutes if there is an air pocket somewhere. Periodically the slave cylinder o-ring needs to be replaced. I do worry a little more about crashes pulling the clutch line loose or breaking the master cylinder.
With a cable operated clutch I would hook up the cable luber and flush the cable with silicone maybe twice a season. (3-5 minutes) A clutch lever with a large on the fly cable adjuster was just second nature to me on my previous KTM. The KDX could certainly have a on-the-fly cable adjuster added if you find yourself needing to adjust cable slack repetitively on trail rides. Cables are also cheap to replace and check the wear of - while the opposite is true for the hydraulic system.
The hydraulic clutch pics up on the reliability traits of the KDX when mounted on a KDX.
Posted: 07:52 am Nov 15 2007
by Indawoods
How is that..... I have never had a clutch related failure on any KDX I have owned.
Posted: 08:07 am Nov 15 2007
by krazyinski
IdahoCharley wrote:Even though my KTM has a hydraulic clutch I really don't see any real advantages with it - yes there is no on the fly cable adjustments while riding - but other than that there is more maintenance. I change my hydraulic clutch fluid twice a season which takes 10-15 minutes if everything goes well and 30-45 minutes if there is an air pocket somewhere. Periodically the slave cylinder o-ring needs to be replaced. I do worry a little more about crashes pulling the clutch line loose or breaking the master cylinder.
With a cable operated clutch I would hook up the cable luber and flush the cable with silicone maybe twice a season. (3-5 minutes) A clutch lever with a large on the fly cable adjuster was just second nature to me on my previous KTM. The KDX could certainly have a on-the-fly cable adjuster added if you find yourself needing to adjust cable slack repetitively on trail rides. Cables are also cheap to replace and check the wear of - while the opposite is true for the hydraulic system.
I was meaning that hydraulic clutch installed on a KDX , pics up the reliabilty traits of the the KDX, thus the hydraulic becomes as reliable as the KDX.(humor dry but there).
Posted: 08:19 am Nov 15 2007
by Indawoods
Ah.... I missed it of course!
Posted: 09:13 am Nov 15 2007
by TopperHarley
I have never had any reliability problems with any of mine. All the way back to 1981. Of course, I do spend alot of time detailing and maintaining them. PREVENTATIVE MAINTENANCE is a must. I'm sure that if I just let them cake over with dirt and neglected them, they would come down with some reliability issues. The drum breaks on the 81KDX175 became completely unreliable as soon as you went through some slop. But I imagine all drum brakes on bikes back then were similarly unreliable. Otherwise, no complaints about reliability.