Looks like I'm getting another KDX...

Post by **Tyl3r** » 11:12 am Jul 17 2016

I found a guy on C-list with a MC titled 97 220. I took the KFX400 that I bought off a buddy of mine a few months back. We agreed on a trade, but he wants to wait until I have the title to transfer before we trade. I just met my buddy this past week to do the title transfer on the KFX. So I have to wait for that to come in the mail. As soon as it does, and as long as nothing changes, looks like I'm gonna be making me a dual sport!

Its not in the best shape, and its definitely not worth the $1,900 he values it at (condition-wise...but to me, the MC title makes it worth it). The guy he bought it from had it plated in Idaho several years back. I plan to add signals, break lights, horn, speedo, all that jazz and get a plate back on her. I'll need to talk to him, but we do a lot of a powder coating for a local MC shop that does inspections. I'm sure he'll help me get all the details squared away.

Anywho, needs wheel bearings on both ends, a kickstand, grips, and the front fender is cracked. But it does have an over-sized Clarke tank, Gnarly pipe, PC 2 silencer, DOT nobbies, DOT headlight, cycra hand guards, fat bars, no leaks from the motor or visible spooge, and he said when he bought it, it was freshly rebuilt with zero hours of ride time on it. He only put about 10 hours on it, and didn't like the bike much, it was too tall for him. Now I am kicking myself for selling off the majority of the parts from the 04 that I used for my hybrid.... that donor bike was in perfect shape when I tore it apart

One question... is 97 the year with the purple option? Should I barney this one out? Hahaha I'm sure it will be seeing some powder coat come winter time...

doakley · Post by **doakley** » 12:33 pm Jul 17 2016

Looks like a nice start bike. What's that blue can on the ground in the 3rd photo? Not starter fluid I hope...

Post by **KDXGarage** » 12:23 am Jul 18 2016

Good luck on the build.

I think the can is a Maxima can. I will guess chain lube.

OK, what is in the can?

Jim B · Post by **Jim B** » 12:52 am Jul 18 2016

Tyl3r wrote:One question... is 97 the year with the purple option?

I have a '97 220, it has a purple tank, purple seat, and green shrouds. I'm pretty sure it came that way from the factory.

Post by **KDXGarage** » 03:05 am Jul 18 2016

I think 1997 was "violet" fork boots, seat cover and tool bag.

Post by **Tyl3r** » 07:02 am Jul 18 2016

Lol the can is chain lube. I just want to fix whatever needs fixing on this thing right now and get it plated and soon and as cheaply as possible. Then I figure over the winter I can start to pretty it up and maybe throw some powder coat at it (perhaps to match the hybrid?

). I will do my very best not to let it get too out of hand... like the hybrid kind of did haha

Still thinking about the purple parts lol. If its the fork covers, seat, and tool bag... I may try to do that.

I am also thinking that about getting the Tusk dual sport kit. Would anyone have any reasons why I shouldn't? It looks like it should have everything that I need. It doesn't come with a headlight, but the bike already has a DOT light on right now.

Jim B · Post by **Jim B** » 11:50 am Jul 18 2016

Jason wrote:I think 1997 was "violet" fork boots, seat cover and tool bag.

Yep, my '97 has the purple tool bag and had the purple fork boots before I switched to USD forks. Maybe I need to find some purple USD fork guards....

(I think (not 100% sure) some of the mid-90s KXs had them.)

EDIT: They did:

Post by **Tyl3r** » 05:35 pm Jul 19 2016

lol yea...i think I'm going to hold off on the purple parts.

I was just down at the local bike shop looking at some helmets and other safety stuff for road riding... started talking to the owner and told him about the bike. He just could not understand why I would want to ride an old dirt bike like that on the road hahaha he sure put up a good sales pitch on a few of the beautiful orange bikes that he had down there. I had to respectfully let him know that anyone with some cash can ride one of those, I see them everywhere. I can guarantee that I will be the only plated 2-stroke kawi in town. I also had to let him know that tinkering with them is half of the fun for me. Once we agreed to disagree, we continued on, pretty funny to me tho lol

I know I shouldn't say this and I hate to, but those 1190 KTM's are redonky... had no idea how versatile they were.

s10gto · Post by **s10gto** » 09:22 pm Jul 19 2016

Nice! Another plated 220! I would recommend Baja design for the duelsport kit. The tusk kit will work and is less $ but you need to wire it , fine a place for the battery ,ect. Not a big deal but BD's kit is just awesome. The battery , reg, key, everything is pre wired and mounted to the back of the mask. All plug and play. 30 mins and your Duelsporting!

It's been 2 years duelsporting my 220. No issues at all. Good luck!

Post by **Tyl3r** » 10:00 am Jul 20 2016

Thanks for the comment on the DS kit. I keep thinking about the Baja Designs vs the Tusk kit. I think I may just spend the extra cash for the BD kit. The simplicity of it and how it comes all neatly assembled...is pretty freakin sweet if you ask me (engineer nerd... i can appreciate). I plan to let my friends ride this bike off road on the weekends when I take the hybrid out. With the BD kit, I can quickly take off of the DS parts so they don't get accidentally damaged while playing around. Then after I wash the bike, just slap everything back on. Plus, reading reviews on the Tusk kit... it sounds like the quality of some of the connections and the controls are bit...eh...lacking. I plan to ride the snot out of this thing, so I think I should spend a little more to have a nicer kit that will last me longer.

Glad to hear you haven't had any issues! The excitement builds every day... I'm dying to get this thing!!!!!

s10gto · Post by **s10gto** » 04:38 pm Jul 20 2016

Just another thing I did was get the Bd led upgrade. The kdx only has a 40w stator. The new headlight is 35w. Saves you from a stator rewind.

Did a 26 mile single track ride then 10 miles home at night. Not the best light for the street but does just fine braaaaping down the highway @60

http://i.picresize.com/Ue7y

s10gto · Post by **s10gto** » 04:52 pm Jul 20 2016

I wonder what the tenth digit is in the vin. Unless someone changed the fork boots, rear bag and seat I bet it's newer. My guess is 99

s10gto · Post by **s10gto** » 06:06 pm Jul 20 2016

If you haven't already found this here in my build. Hope it helps.

http://www.kdxrider.net/forums/viewtopi ... +duelsport

thirdgenlxi · Post by **thirdgenlxi** » 04:50 am Jul 22 2016

Hell yea.... niiiice!! KDX as a dual sport rocks..... I use mine for everything (dirt, dual sport, and supermoto) and love it!

If you want to make it easy doing all the lights and everything, the Baja Designs dual sport kit. It's a little pricey, but comes with everything needed, plus it converts it to 12v DC (with a battery) so you have more lighting options, and you get consistent lighting, not the dim/bright/dim/bright that you do running off the direct AC power. I got the LED taillight with the Baja Designs kit, which I like waaaaay better than the big clunky square one that comes with the BD kit for the KDX, but I'm not sure if it would work if you still have the stock fender (I have an MX fender). LED taillight, signals, and LED headlight, the stock stator will run it just fine. I also replaced the little running light with LED as well. If you want a good headlight, Cyclops Adventure Sports 3800 lumen LED headlight bulb...... freakin killer! SOOOOOOOOO much better than the stock 35w bulb..... it uses 20w on low beam and 30w on high. The battery does start to drain down after about 30-40 mins of consistent use on high beam, but it'll run low beam all day long no prob

Couple pics showing the kit and headlight..... you can get an idea how bright it is

And for a speedo/odo/hour meter...... Trail Tech Vapor freakin rocks

Post by **Tyl3r** » 07:39 am Jul 22 2016

s10gto - I did already find your thread! I found it very helpful, thanks! I may go with the LED upgrade as well to put off the stator rewind (I will eventually do it, just trying to get it on the road as cheaply and easily as possible)

thirdgenlxi - I've read a whole bunch of your stuff too and found it very helpful as well! I see posts from you all the time talking about how much fun you have with yours, can't wait to be doing the same! I was a little worried at first, didn't know if the KDX would like the half hour commute to work. From what everyone else is saying, seems like it will be just fine. I can take all back roads anyways. I dunno, I'm an engineer, its my job to worry about stuff hahaha

Thanks for the info on the LED's, that's probably the route I will take. I am going to go with the BD kit also after everything I've read on here about it. Seems like the cleanest, and simplest set up (though I'm not a fan of the headlight that comes with the kit... wish it was more modern looking I guess) You didn't have any installation issues with the Vapor did you? I thought I've read about people having issues making the tach read correctly on the KDX's... is that true? Is there a 2-stroke version that I should be looking for? For the taillight, I agree, the one you have on there looks really slick. I'll prob just stay with the bunk one that comes with the kit for now. An MX rear fender is definitely in the plans for next season, I'll probably go with the same taillight that you did when I do that.

s10gto · Post by **s10gto** » 10:27 am Jul 22 2016

For the tach to work you must use a resistor plug bR8es and set the pulse to 2.

Post by **Tyl3r** » 11:56 am Jul 22 2016

s10gto wrote:For the tach to work you must use a resistor plug bR8es and set the pulse to 2.

Good deal, thanks. I'm pretty sure the BR8ES is the stock plug for the KDX's, no?

s10gto · Post by **s10gto** » 12:17 pm Jul 22 2016

Yes it is. Some use a b8es as its cheaper.

thirdgenlxi · Post by **thirdgenlxi** » 12:53 pm Jul 22 2016

Tyl3r wrote:s10gto - I did already find your thread! I found it very helpful, thanks! I may go with the LED upgrade as well to put off the stator rewind (I will eventually do it, just trying to get it on the road as cheaply and easily as possible)

thirdgenlxi - I've read a whole bunch of your stuff too and found it very helpful as well! I see posts from you all the time talking about how much fun you have with yours, can't wait to be doing the same! I was a little worried at first, didn't know if the KDX would like the half hour commute to work. From what everyone else is saying, seems like it will be just fine. I can take all back roads anyways. I dunno, I'm an engineer, its my job to worry about stuff hahaha

Thanks for the info on the LED's, that's probably the route I will take. I am going to go with the BD kit also after everything I've read on here about it. Seems like the cleanest, and simplest set up (though I'm not a fan of the headlight that comes with the kit... wish it was more modern looking I guess) You didn't have any installation issues with the Vapor did you? I thought I've read about people having issues making the tach read correctly on the KDX's... is that true? Is there a 2-stroke version that I should be looking for? For the taillight, I agree, the one you have on there looks really slick. I'll prob just stay with the bunk one that comes with the kit for now. An MX rear fender is definitely in the plans for next season, I'll probably go with the same taillight that you did when I do that.

Yea mine has done just fine..... I've commuted to work every day this week so far... 45 minutes each way, all back roads. I actually got to looking back, and here lately I've been putting about 1000 miles per month on it. Done several 200+ mile days riding in the mountains with buddies, and it's never even so much as skipped a beat. Even rode it out of state up to Tennessee a few weeks ago..... my buddies 2015 Yamaha FZ-09 broke down (battery) and it was my bike that had to run to the auto parts store mid ride and find a battery, hahah. Just since I've had the bike (March 2015) I'm at 393 hours and just over 6100 miles..... never done a thing to it and still runs like a top.... 170 psi compression and starts first kick hot or cold

I will say I am still careful not to sit and hold it wide open or anything like that, and don't downshift or chop the throttle at higher RPM's. Proper jetting is a must too

And yea the Vapor you gotta make sure you're using a resistor plug (BR8ES), and it doesn't like being wired directly to the AC voltage from the stator. It'll still power it on just fine, but the tach reads all crazy. If there's a load on the system though, like a headlight, then it's fine.... it's just when the trail tech is the only thing on it. But if you do the BD kit it converts everything to 12v DC, which works perfectly fine and there's no issues. There's some settings in the Vapor you have to set up, one of which is "pulses per revolution" (I think it's just PPR in the menu)..... you can set it at .5, 1, or 2..... for a 2 stroke you want it at 2

thirdgenlxi · Post by **thirdgenlxi** » 12:54 pm Jul 22 2016

And yea I too wish the BD headlight was a little more modern looking..... it definitely is dated. Buuuut not too many options available, it seems. It'll at least get ya on the road

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