Kawasaki KX200 rebuild

Spac · 2020-03-08T06:32:10+00:00

You are a glutton for punishment.

Spac

The original...

And the new one eight years later...

As best as I can work out, the only parts used on both bikes are the exhaust pipe, shock absorber mudflap and the side stand.

Spac

All of this crap has been ignored for months. Have been riding the modern bikes and blah blah, but the 90% finished projects were ignored.

Earlier this week, one of the regular riding buddies sends me a message: “Want to go riding this Sunday?”

Sure, where?

“Bathurst, Vintage Motocross”.

And so the digit was extracted. My first VMX since 2016, too.

The 87 KX125 was first.

Lots of messing around with the if I trying to get spark. Ended up with a nightmare assortment of KX flywheel, lucky-dip stator plate, and old YZ80 CDI box, but it seems to work great. I could write a book about the things I tried and the combinations that didn’t quite work (but I won’t, because it would be incredibly boring).

Head gasket was leaking water out, but seems to have come good after being tightened down.

Also had to make a bracket to hold the Yamaha CDI box, bleed the rear brake, re-bleed the front brake and a few other tidy-ups.

Biggest task was sorting the jets in the carb. These carbys are a crappy design that lack an idle mixture screw, so you have to get the jets spot on.

I think that it is good to go, although I would like to fiddle with the ignition timing a bit more.

Next was the hybrid bike: The 86 KX200.

Both the fuel tap and the carby were incontinent, so it would slowly drain the fuel tank when left sitting. The carby problem was an O-ring that had gone hard and shrunk, so I replaced that.

The rear tyre was garbage, so was replaced with the almost-new Michelin tyre from my modern bike (the modern gets an upgrade to new Golden Tyre).

Last remaining task is race numbers for both bikes.

I also want to remove the crappy Metzler front tyre on the 200 and fit a new Michelin that has been hanging around for too long already.

Spac

Sunday was interesting.

Rode the 125 in practice first. Didn’t make the length of the start straight before bogging out with a fuel or ignition issue.

200 was OK, but the forks suck and it needed to be revved to go properly.

The event format is massively different to what it was when I last raced (in 2016...). Basically every bike/rider gets multiple classes, but only one race for each class instead of two or three under the old system.

First race was the under 45 year old rider race. I went out on the 200 and was lacklustre. Not confident in the bike, and still learning the track. Finished about 4th last from maybe 20 riders.

Riding back into the pits and suddenly there was a huge cloud of steam out of the motor - weird for an air cooled motor! Turns out that the front brake hose had dropped its load and dumped fluid onto the hot exhaust pipe.

Next race was the 125 race for Pre-85 and newer bikes. Pretty sure that my 1987 model was the second oldest of the ~25 bikes. I muffed the start but still managed to get to the first turn in the mid pack.

The bike is awesome. It just works - it steers, it is stable, it goes pretty well, it stops, and generally inspires confidence. I was up around 10th and harassing the riders in 8th & 9th places when the ignition issue reared its head again mid-race...

Bit more fiddling in the pits checking connections and earths and all that.

Took the 125 out in the 250 race and it bogged out about half a lap in, so another DNF.

Back in the pits, I swapped the 125’s entire front brake and LHF fork leg onto the 200 before lining up for the “Clubman” race.

25 or so bikes on the line, and I screwed up the start again! Did the whole “Sabine Schmitz in the rain” routine and carved through the pack. Got up to 7th before my terrible fitness stopped me from chasing down 6th place.

The 200 was HEAPS better with just one of the 125’s fork legs in it, and I worked out how to ride it better (more revs, more throttle).

I had a good day.

Next up is getting the 200 ready for the Australian 3-day Vintage Enduro at the start of May.

It will get both of the 125’s fork legs, and its disc brake rear end, along with all of the scrutineering stuff it needs as a proper enduro bike.

Nelpd96

I will have to drag my TS 250X out one day for a ride. Will need a birthday first hadn't been started in years.

{"embed-external":{"data":{"url":"https:\/\/cdn.ozvolvo.org\/uploads\/019\/WE6IWSO7L6R7.jpg","name":"IMG_20150613_103406435.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg","size":2142099,"width":1078,"height":1920,"mediaID":18592,"dateInserted":"2021-03-30T10:20:26+00:00","insertUserID":1763,"foreignType":"embed","foreignID":1763,"embedType":"file","format":null,"bodyRaw":null},"loaderData":{"type":"file","file":[],"progressEventEmitter":{"listeners":[null]}}}}

{"embed-external":{"data":{"url":"https:\/\/cdn.ozvolvo.org\/uploads\/466\/L767O8U9WG0G.jpg","name":"IMG_20150613_103356961.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg","size":2000418,"width":1920,"height":1078,"mediaID":18590,"dateInserted":"2021-03-30T10:20:25+00:00","insertUserID":1763,"foreignType":"embed","foreignID":1763,"embedType":"file","format":null,"bodyRaw":null},"loaderData":{"type":"file","file":[],"progressEventEmitter":{"listeners":[null]}}}}

{"embed-external":{"data":{"url":"https:\/\/cdn.ozvolvo.org\/uploads\/324\/8OIGEI6BKVY7.jpg","name":"IMG_20150613_103419999.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg","size":2216494,"width":1920,"height":1078,"mediaID":18591,"dateInserted":"2021-03-30T10:20:26+00:00","insertUserID":1763,"foreignType":"embed","foreignID":1763,"embedType":"file","format":null,"bodyRaw":null},"loaderData":{"type":"file","file":[],"progressEventEmitter":{"listeners":[null]}}}}

{"embed-external":{"data":{"url":"https:\/\/cdn.ozvolvo.org\/uploads\/471\/LWUYWTHZ6S6T.jpg","name":"IMG_20150613_103440581.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg","size":2178353,"width":1920,"height":1078,"mediaID":18593,"dateInserted":"2021-03-30T10:20:26+00:00","insertUserID":1763,"foreignType":"embed","foreignID":1763,"embedType":"file","format":null,"bodyRaw":null},"loaderData":{"type":"file","file":[],"progressEventEmitter":{"listeners":[null]}}}}

Spac

Nelpd96
I will have to drag my TS 250X out one day for a ride. Will need a birthday first hadn't been started in years.
https://cdn.ozvolvo.org/uploads/019/WE6IWSO7L6R7.jpg
https://cdn.ozvolvo.org/uploads/466/L767O8U9WG0G.jpg
https://cdn.ozvolvo.org/uploads/324/8OIGEI6BKVY7.jpg
https://cdn.ozvolvo.org/uploads/471/LWUYWTHZ6S6T.jpg

VTR event? Nimmitabel?

Nelpd96

VTR up Putty road in 2014 when I was living in Sydney.

Spac

Rode the KX200 at the Marulan VTR ride over the weekend. Primarily as a shakedown before the A3VE.

Mostly went great. I did 9 and a bit laps of the 11km course yesterday, with the biggest hassle being that my fuel tank repair didn’t hold.

Although the bike was hard to start when warm. If you crashed it, it would start easily - but if it sat for five minutes then it would be a pain to restart.

I had my biggest crash in ages at the end of the day yesterday. Got cross-rutted on the exit of a corner and high-sided. Tweaked the dicky knee, but nothing too serious.

A mate got stuck in a bog hole right near the end and then made a meal out of extracting his bike. He ended up literally crawling out of the mud, leading one member of the assembled peanut gallery to quip “The bikes were getting bogged, now even the people are getting bogged”.

I did one lap this morning and the 200 was running beautifully. I shut it off and tweaked the handlebar position ... and then could not restart it.

No spark at the plug.

So I dragged the old KDX off the trailer and took it out for a lap. What a pig, compared to the KX200! Crap suspension, awful egronomics, and handles like a boat.

And then I got a flat tyre about halfway around... Completed the loop and put them both on the trailer - I figured that the dirtbike gods were trying to tell me something.

El Wifeo rode her 1979 PE175 for the first time in years, and loved it.

Spac

Yeah, it’s less than a fortnight from the biggest event I had ridden in years, so the obvious thing to do is this...

Putting a different motor in, to get rid of the welded-on gear lever.

Also fitted a stiffer shock spring, so that it turns less like a boat.

Got the brake light working:

Dented the pipe so that it doesn’t touch the subframe - when it does, it makes the handlebars vibrate to the point of significant discomfort. Certainly more than I could tolerate for three days.

Where it sits now.

Still need to do a million smaller things, but feeling OK about it now.

Spac

Down to half a million things to do...

Those who have been paying attention will have noticed the swap to a rear disc brake. Basically the whole rear of the bike has been changed.

The biggest problem is the front sprocket seal is effectively useless...

If you zoom in, you can see the stream of gearbox oil running out.

It goes better than the other motor, vibrates less, and is generally quieter.

These motors are notorious for the exhaust power valve rattling - I added a soft spring on the rack to preload it, and this seems to have shut it up quite well.

Second biggest problem is that I discovered a crack in the rear wheel rim. Damn I hate DID brand rims.

I have all of the bits to build up a new wheel, but was hoping to not have to...

So that, fitting the new tyres and mousse tubes, and the sprocket seal should (“should”!) be the entire To Do list.

Spac

Photos now. Words later. Maybe.

Spac

Been half-heartedly chasing this bike for a couple of years now…

It is a 1998(?) KDX200J.

There’s a bit of history with this bike. I can’t remember how it came into my life the first time, but I sold it in 2011 or so.

Then bought it back in August 2012. A mate (Swill) had a mate (James) who wanted a bike, so I sold it again a couple of months later.

He got it registered, rode it once and then it sat for years in Swill’s shed. After it became apparent that it wasn’t going to be used (maybe 2017?), I tried to buy it back - but he kept refusing because it was in Swill’s shed and consequently was no problem for him.

Recently, Swill has decided to get rid of crap out of his shed and told James to come and get it… that was enough to motivate him to sell.

After a bit of back-and-forward about the relevance of Covid Tax in mid-2021, we agreed on a price, and it is back in my life.

Plans are… um… to be honest, it has come up at a terrible time and has depleted my cash reserves that were allocated to other things (Fiesta build, mostly), and I won’t have time to use it anytime soon … but I have been chasing it for years so didn’t want to let it go…

Late edit: fresh fuel and it fired 4th kick. Pretty sure that it is the first time it has run in two years, and the first time it has been ridden in four.

Spac

Ready for rego …. once I fit the second rear view mirror.

I rode it around with the kids and a couple of mates a couple of weekends ago, and really enjoyed it.

So I decided to get it registered so it can be trail ridden over Christmas. It should be great for the casual summer rides with El Wifeo when we stay at my dad’s place - big tank, soft suspension, etc.

Also can be the spare bike for my useless mates who have let their bikes run out of rego.

[test edit, 12:29pm Friday 28/4/23]

PaddlerEd

I've just put one of our bikes onto Historic rego as it's old enough. Perhaps something to work out for this one? Doh! Just saw it's a 1998.... few more years to go yet for NSW!

So for the princely sum of $80+$35 (full & associate membership of the machinery club, one for me, one for wife) and then $90 to the RTA in the first year ($45 subsequent years) I can use it 45 days per year, plus for club events. So I'll take it tomorrow down to the machinery shed for the club meeting, and that won't use a day.

Spac

This happened.

Swapped for a carton of cheap, crappy beer. I offered decent beer, but the seller wanted cans of Carlton so there’s about $52 of sore heads for both of us.

It is a 1981 Kawasaki KDX175, that some master fabricator has wedged an older KE125 motor into.

I grabbed it thinking that it might be a good next bike for The Girl, or that I could give it to a mate so he can chase his daughter around on it.

So I slapped it together this afternoon, to see what is missing/rooted/poorly done.

It seems like a broadly viable project. I had low hopes from the quality of the engine conversion, and I was never in danger of those hopes being exceeded. Overall, it is a passable conversion, but I will have to tidy a few things up. Main issue is the kickstarter arc is compromised by the Honda lever that has been bodged on. It might be better with a more appropriate lever, but it might not.

Current thinking is to see if I can find a KDX175 engine that is viable to rebuild, and make my decisions from there.

Will contemplate more options over a beer tonight.

This also turned up a fortnight ago:

It is a 1990 KLR650C. I didn’t even know that the C variant existed until after I got it home. It is basically a slightly more dirt oriented KLR650, with better forks, better front brake and more dirt oriented styling including the factory fairing delete.

This is to replace my very rarely used (and consequently sold) 650 Vstrom. I don’t expect that the KLR will be used more often than the Suzuki was, but it owes us virtually nothing, so is more palatable to have it sitting around doing nothing.

Actually, I will probably leave it with Paulie who will use it way more than I will, and just reclaim it on the times when I will use it.

« Previous Page