Stock gearing on KDX220?

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JHNguyen89
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Stock gearing on KDX220?

Post by JHNguyen89 »

Anyone know the stock gearing on the KDX220? I can't seem to find it online or in the cyclepedia manual.

The KDX220 I bought used is running 13/49. A friend who rode my bike mentioned that he notices that the bike has a lack of power, especially in 1st and 2nd. I mentioned that the previous owner changed the gearing from stock which may be the cause of this. He mentioned something is up. Possibly a jetting issue.. What do you guys think?

This is my first bike, so I really have nothing to compare it to. Though, I've ridden a CRF250X and it was much more torque-y in 1st and 2nd.

Is the 13/49 gearing okay? Good gearing for a new rider?
Last edited by JHNguyen89 on 05:36 am Jan 07 2010, edited 1 time in total.
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Indawoods
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Post by Indawoods »

13/47 is stock.... I run 13/50
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Post by Mr. Wibbens »

Lack of power comes from that extra 2 :lol:

If it was a 200 you'd prolly be laying on your backside
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Post by swatts »

Depending on what kind of stuff you ride you might want to try lower gearing. I had the same thing happening in terms of 1st and 2nd gear power, simple fix was a 12 tooth front sprocket, keeping the rear at 49. You don't have to change the chain that way. This has been a great improvement, I am probably going to a 51 tooth rear and a new chain at the same time.
Hope this helps.
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Post by canyncarvr »

Re: 'I can't seem to find it online or in the cyclepedia manual. '

For your future reference: (from the kawasaki website)

It's listed HERE!!

That listing is for an 'H' model 200, but the 220 is the same.


Re: 'keeping the rear at 49.'

That isn't OEM on an later model KDX.

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Post by KarlP »

I doubt the 13/49 is the reason behind feeling a lack of power in 1st and 2nd. I'd check on a few things, the usual, jetting, clean carb, fresh plug, general state of tune.

Then again, I never thought lower gearing was very useful on the 220. Most guys on here ride 200's, though, and seem to need a slightly larger rear sprocket to make up for their slightly smaller bores.

In my opinion, the stock 13/47 works pretty good. If you go too low, 1st is even more useless. A little gas and your out of it. In fact, I might even go to 13/45 on my MIGHTY 220.


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Post by JHNguyen89 »

>|<>QBB<
KarlP wrote:I doubt the 13/49 is the reason behind feeling a lack of power in 1st and 2nd. I'd check on a few things, the usual, jetting, clean carb, fresh plug, general state of tune.
Thanks, I will definitely look into those things. I honestly don't have much to compare to besides a quick ride on a CRF250X, but I did notice today the lack of power in 1st and 2nd that my buddy was telling me about.

Don't mean to ask a newbie question, but if I'm going WOT in 1st or 2nd, should there be enough power that the front wheel will lift?
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Post by Indawoods »

1st and second will be short gears with that kind of gearing... you should be able to loop it easily. Your jetting may be rich.
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Post by canyncarvr »

Check your KIPS?

Classic symptom of one that don't work is lack of bottom end.

Inda's right. With a 13/49 (lower geared than stock) you should end up sitting on your backside with a throttle yank in 3rd gear. 1-2 would probably just spin.


...THAT'S not it, is it? Is the back just spinning?

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Post by JHNguyen89 »

>|QBB<[/url]
canyncarvr wrote: ...THAT'S not it, is it? Is the back just spinning?
What do you mean by 'spinning'?

I'm not very mechanically inclined, but I'm definitely willing to learn. If this makes a difference at all, I just did the top end on the bike. Though, I didn't have much time on the bike before doing the top end so I'm not sure of the difference.

spark plug toast?

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Post by Julien D »

Yeah, that spark plug is toast. From the look of it, you're running really rich, or burning tranny oil.
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Post by KarlP »

Can't tell much from a used plug, really, unless the riding style is known. That plug looks like it spent a lot of time just plunking around.

What CC was getting at was is your rear tire spinning? Worn out tire with too much pressure in it? Don't be running 20 psi in a rear tire, you know, try more like 9 psi.
Don't mean to ask a newbie question, but if I'm going WOT in 1st or 2nd, should there be enough power that the front wheel will lift?
If you are in 1st and BARELY moving a twist to WOT would be exciting, assuming you rear tire hooks up. Same with 2nd. If you've got much forward motion at all in 1st, not much is going to happen. Geared lower, you'll run out of engine real quick.

More confused?

When I first got my KDX I thought I had made a big mistake. I found it weak and wimpy. It seemed to have NOTHING. It took some tuning and changes in riding style to get it to work for me. I was coming off of an XR400.

1st and 2nd are not very usefull gears for evaluating engine performance. Try running third from just above idle all the way to the top. It ought to pull clean and pretty strongly.
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Post by JHNguyen89 »

Checked the tire pressure and I'm fine.

When I get to 3rd, it seems to pull smoothly and enough to scare a beginner, but the front wheel won't lift.. (and I'm guessing it should be able to easily in 3rd?)
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Post by KarlP »

(and I'm guessing it should be able to easily in 3rd?)
In stock form, I'm not sure about that. Probably not unless traction is good and body position encourages it.
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Post by Indawoods »

I have a 200 and it will throttle wheelie on all gears but 5th and 6th. Of course this is a 200.... and we all know that is normal.
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Post by Varmint »

>|<>QBB<
Indawoods wrote:I have a 200 and it will throttle wheelie on all gears but 5th and 6th. Of course this is a 200.... and we all know that is normal.
RB'd carb and jetted to a gnat's @ss, right? I'm sending my carb out soon and can't wait. :supz:
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Post by canyncarvr »

Re: 'When I get to 3rd, it seems to pull smoothly and enough to scare a beginner, but the front wheel won't lift.. (and I'm guessing it should be able to easily in 3rd?) '

That depends.
KarlP wrote:If you are in 1st and BARELY moving a twist to WOT would be exciting, assuming you rear tire hooks up. Same with 2nd. If you've got much forward motion at all in 1st, not much is going to happen. Geared lower, you'll run out of engine real quick.

...and that is part of the 'depends'.

There was a question about a worn out tire and 20psi pressure. Answer, 'Checked tire pressure and I'm fine.'

That doesn't really answer the question. What IS your pressure..and what IS the condition of your tire..and what TIRE is it?


A lot of this is going to be a matter of us remote-by-internet folks knowing exactly what you are doing. That's hard to get done.

I could wheelie a KDX in third over and over and over..mostly without fail. Also, with some changes in how I did it, I could not EVER wheelie from 3rd.

Given the latter to be my problem..asking 'why' isn't likely going to get me very far.

You're running a lower than stock final drive ratio: (49 vs: 47). That could easily be the whole problem. It gets you this: 'Geared lower, you'll run out of engine real quick.'

Repeat: Check your KIPS?

Is there a particular number of times a question needs be asked? :hmm:


...just wondering..... :wink:

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Post by KarlP »

A quick check on the KIPS is easy. On the left side of the cylinder is a round slotted cover. Find or make a giant screw driver and unscrew the cover. Under the cover you'll see the end of a shaft with a gear on it that is actuating the KIPS. Watch that shaft while revving the motor, it ought to rotate as the revs come up and then return.

There is lots of stuff to do to make that bike happy and/or happier. Take your time!
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Post by canyncarvr »

>|<>QBB<
KarlP wrote:A quick check on the KIPS is easy. On the left side of the cylinder is a round slotted cover. Find or make a giant screw driver and unscrew the cover. Under the cover you'll see the end of a shaft with a gear on it that is actuating the KIPS. Watch that shaft while revving the motor, it ought to rotate as the revs come up and then return.

There is lots of stuff to do to make that bike happy and/or happier. Take your time!

I vote for verifying all of it (KIPS) works..especially if the problem you're looking into is poor bottom-end response.

Observing the shaft rotate as noted will tell you the governor assembly works (and the segment gear..and the main shaft).

To know if the main valve and the subport drums are OK, you have to take the pipe off.

With it off and looking into the exhaust port, manually activate the KIPS using the nut under the mentioned slotted cover. Know what you're looking for (subport drum position and their timing..and movement of the main valve)....and look for it! :wink:

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Post by JHNguyen89 »

Sorry to get back to all of you just now. Been dealing with some family issues and thought I'd work on my bike to get my mind off of it.

I tried the quick check that KarlP recommended and notice the shaft does rotate manually and it also does rotate when reving the motor. Two things I noticed was that smoke comes out of that area when I rev. The second thing I noticed is that the shaft does not rotate exactly when i rev the motor. It reacts slower than what the throttle is doing.

Are these two things normal?

I will be taking canyncarvr's advice and making sure the KIPS works entirely. Just trying to read up a bit more on it as I'm a bit hesitant to open up everything.

On the other hand, I hope this helps some other beginners in the future. I will keep you guys updated.
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