220 jetting... What IS stock, and what are YOU runnin'?

[MotoArts]

Searched, but haven't found a direct answer to my question(s).

I've been messing with this recently acquired '97 off and on for a few months now, but am not happy with what I have.
Was a generally clean but neglected bike, ridden hard and put away wet with little to no chassis maintenance and probably even less top end service.
Here's the skinny:
- No airbox lid
- Clean foam filter
- Clean, tight stock Keihin with new jet block O-ring gasket, floats set intentionally a little low (18+mm), 38/142 jets, needle in 2nd clip from top. I don't have the needle or slide # handy, but do have them recorded.
- Float needle does not have a wear mark or evidence of bad sealing. Passes the "blow test".
- Good, soft intake manifold
- Good Boyesen dual stage reeds
- Pro Circuit Platinum with one minor dent, freshly repacked old style PC round silencer

No, I have not checked the KIPS action yet.
No, I have not done a compression or any sort of top end check. Seems to have acceptable static squeeze by the 'ol "hand check" kicker method.
No, I have not done a plug chop yet. Would be kind of pointless, I know fat when I feel it (yeah, don't go there ) and performance up on the main is considered acceptable so far.
Starts very easily, idles OK now (after fiddling around with it).

Pittsburgh, PA elevation, maybe 1200'ish.
I've had over 40 miscellaneous bikes, and ridden many others. One was an almost new, bone stock E model back around 1992. That one would idle and pull from idle to redline like an electric motor. Don't think it EVER ran sour or fouled one plug.
This 220 runs rich in the middle. Came to me with the typical gag evidence all over it... splooge at the front, splooge pouring out of the silencer running all over the swingarm. No problemo, I said, let's fix the intermittent spark issue (easily found and corrected) first, then check the suspected hacked float height and jet job... and it looked fine ! Needle was in the middle, so we (my son and I) ran a gallon or 2 of 40:1 Maxma semi synthetic through it. Crop dusted and blubbered through the middle every twist of the wrist, ran fine on the main, and never did foul a plug even though fuel mileage seemed really dismal. Dropped the needle a notch, put about a half hour on it today and it's better but still a bit fat and erratic low to mid.
Excessive splooge discharge does not seem to be an issue any longer (might have been related to the ignition issue?).
A drop of the needle to the top may make it a winner... but... sounds extreme to me...
Has anyone else had this issue with these relatively lean jets?
I have ATF in the trans, level hasn't dropped and doesn't reek from the pipe like I'd think ATF would if the RH main seal was faulty.
I have had a bike with a screen-door wet side main seal ('78 Husky CR250 back in the day) that drank an entire quart of 10W40 from its tranny and it didn't run this ratty.

While it's no total slouch, so far I'm not overwhelmingly impressed with this one :( . My '01 YZ250 with a pipe and reeds would eat Mr. Green Jean's lunch...
- From what I gather, sticky or broken KIPS components generally cause a weak top end hit, correct?
- Anybody with a similar pipe running a leaner pilot than a 38?
- I've considered changing the float needle and/or floats, even though I don't think I've seen saturated Nitrophyl floats before... thoughts?
- Will be switching to 100:1 Amsoil. I've had zero issues in the past with it. Leave jetting as-is, and review performance issues then?

About the middle of second gear, WOT uphill:



Crop duster:



Thanks!

[MarioM3]

Hey bud, check this outhttp://www.kdxrider.net/forums/viewtopic.php?f=105&t=1156
And alsohttp://www.thumpertalk.com/topic/498376-kdx200 ... ase/page-1

There's plenty of info in the "jets and needle" section of this forum, all pretty good and should get you close. I would definitely check out compression with a gauge, and if you say the bike was neglected then most definitely the kips will need serviced (cleaned mostly) may have some damage also. Also if the stock piston is still in it, it's highly recommend to replace it with a aluminum one, as they tend to crack/grenade (search, a lot of info on that subject). I would start there before I started jetting.
I'm also located in Pittsburgh, going riding today. I run 150main, 42pilot, needle in middle position, 40:1 with Mobil one racing 2t. The bike has RB carb, head mod, FMF gnarly woods pipe, powercore silencer, dual stage reeds, and weisco piston. I play with the air screw to get it just right, with the RB mods I have it at 2.2-2.5 turns out (still trying to find that SSS). But for you I might try the 1.5 turns out to start.

Thanks,
Mario

[MotoArts]

Thanks Mario, the second link is exactly what I was looking for in a nutshell.
Yep, I'm familiar with the whys and hows of jetting, but needed a baseline of what the general population ran. There's a zillion KDX's around and hoped a database existed somewhere. Going by the "what yinz runnin'" consensus, by the numbers, I'm lean. Even the 38 pilot is a rarity, which is the zone that it feels fat in.
The bike is so hit and miss that it's not even fun to ride. I want it spot on. I know what it's capable of, and right now this just isn't it.

Looks like a top end inspection is up next.
Thanks again, much appreciated!
Pete from New Ken

[MotoArts]

So my son and I beheaded the green machine.
There's a 69mm Wiseco in there!

That's the good news.

Much to our surprise... the piston crown and head dome had ZERO carbon buildup, and was wet and shiny as a new quarter. Plug had color, but... son noticed that even the head gasket was wet on both sides. I tasted it... couldn't tell if it was fuel or antifreeze, which leads me towards antifreeze since it wasn't oily and was kind of sticky on the piston crown. It had some kind of blueberry snow cone colored coolant that I wasn't familiar with. Son thought it was Engine Ice, which he must have seen an ad for somewhere. Kind of baffling that the plug had almost acceptable color, just a little on the rich side. Just field checking the plug never would have revealed the rest of the story. I've had blown head gaskets on both cars and trucks, and the plugs were always steam cleaned.
I'm thinking the previous owner had reused the steel shim head gasket, and was eating just barely enough antifreeze to not be noticed in the exhaust, either visually seeing steam or the sweet reek of burning glycol. We had even checked the rad without the cap on when I first got the bike running, just to eliminate a leaky head. Check wasn't foolproof this time, provided that it actually is/was the gasket.

Jug is the next thing off. Can't wait to see what surprises it may hold.

[MarioM3]

Glad you found that, that could definitely be a rich problem. The color would also throw me off (blue). If it was or is sticky I would agree with you (antifreeze). I like the OEM gaskets from kawasaki. But aftermarket's gasket kits are cheaper.
Get the jug off (important not: the governor shaft for the kips, the nut holding the claw on is reverse thread), clean/inspect the kips. And if no play is found in the bottom end (I would definitely try to clean or flush that blue gunk from it). I say your good to go. Also there is an o-ring for the jet block in the carb, if it was never replaced it could give you a headache while trying to jet. Here it is: http://www.jetsrus.com/individual_parts/021_532_su.html

Mario

[MotoArts]

Jet block O-ringy thingy was the first shot at a remedy after verifying jets and float height. It made no difference.
Is the OE head gasket composite, MLS, copper or single steel shim?
This one had a single steel shim in it.

[MarioM3]

It's a single steel shim, might have been reused.

Mario