Posts
5678
Joined
11/25/2007
Location
Athens, GA
US
queen of spodes
7/14/2020 9:28am
7/14/2020 9:28am
Edited Date/Time
4/5/2021 10:38am
Picked up this roach job a couple years ago and am tired of looking at it in the corner of my garage.
Due to how rare NOS parts are for this machine I'm not going all in on a showroom resto. Gonna hit the basics such as brakes (rebuild calipers/master cylinders/pads/pins/keepers), suspension (linkage rebuild, examine and repack swingarm), cables, and some basic motor work (replate cylinder, fix a few leaky seals).
Pipe is fucked and while I did find a NOS pipe it was nearly $500 with shipping. So I will try to heat and pop out the dents with a pipe repair kit I got from Oz.
Silencer was also completely fucked, but I found a good one on ebay. That one will be cleaned and repacked.
Due to how rare NOS parts are for this machine I'm not going all in on a showroom resto. Gonna hit the basics such as brakes (rebuild calipers/master cylinders/pads/pins/keepers), suspension (linkage rebuild, examine and repack swingarm), cables, and some basic motor work (replate cylinder, fix a few leaky seals).
Pipe is fucked and while I did find a NOS pipe it was nearly $500 with shipping. So I will try to heat and pop out the dents with a pipe repair kit I got from Oz.
Silencer was also completely fucked, but I found a good one on ebay. That one will be cleaned and repacked.
Got some 1988 KX forks pretty cheap off Ebay. These have cartridge internals unlike the 87 units.
The Shop
Found a sweet deal on a newly replated 87 cylinder and head ($150) and got a NOS Wiseco piston for $70.
I pulled powervalves from the old cylinder, cleaned them up real good and installed in the new cylinder.
Should be installing this on the engine soon, then I'll pull the engine, clean and paint black.
Next, gonna remove the engine and strip frame to clean and at least rattle can with identical OEM colors.
Before:
After
Probably gonna drop it off at Miller's in Lilburn for powder coating. Same with swingarm and subframe.
The wheels on this bike are just gonna have to suck. Found a rear wheel replacement though the spoke nipples are pretty rusty. The front rim is stained with red clay and I couldn't get that shit off even with a good soak with purple power. Can't justify dropping 800 in wheels even if I could find someone to make up a set (probably unlikely) and don't want to fuck with lacing new rims. Low key resto, yo.
Hoping someone can assist or give some leads on 88 KX springs. Progressive lists some, but they show them for a zillion 80s models forks. Per their specs their springs will be too large (OD) for these 88 cartridge forks.
The 88 KX250 has 549mm x 35.9mm OD.
Could probably make the XR400R springs work with a simple 80mm PVC spacer. RT sells the XR400R springs at 129 + ship.
Pit Row
Found a cheap and clean KX250 clamp on ebay and waiting for that to arrive now. Will need to move my new stem bearings over or maybe just get new stem bearings and sell the 125 clamp as restored.
Boyesen still makes a RAD valve for the '87 KX250
Waiting on a fork rod holder to arrive, then complete fork restoration (new bushings, seals, stiffer springs and 5wt oil). She's not much to look at, but will eventually make someone a nice vintage racer
Anyone happen to have a set laying around?
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