1993 KX250 Build, Mechanimation Project (Misc. Progress)

For anyone interested, here is some back story.

This will be the second time I've rebuilt this 1993 KX250, the first being around 2002. At the time I was looking to be a motorcycle mechanic, so rescuing a basket case bike and doing a full restoration seemed like good practice. After the first rebuild I sold it to a relative, who some time later passed it on to another relative. Over the last 16 years I've witnessed its sad, slow deterioration. To be brief, it was run with minimal maintenance until the top end gave out.

For at least a year now I've had the idea to do an animated rebuild series using stop motion. My test run for this was the shock rebuild video I posted back in February. Shortly after completing that I rescued the KX from my cousin and have begun the process of rebuilding the poor thing, which at this point has become somewhat of a family heirloom.

When people see these videos the first question is usually "how do you do that?" followed shortly by "how long does that take?" The answers are "Slowly", and "a long time" The disassembly video was around 160 hours all said and done. I'm not putting a time line on this, but I expect to be chipping away at it for at least a year. As I finish each major component I'll put the videos up. Engine, suspension, wheels, etc.


Here's how she traveled over the mountain. I wanted it to stay dirty, but not with red cinder dust from the winter roads


Couldn't get the camera any higher for the opening shot. The plastic sheets are there to diffuse the light.


This is how you make T-Handles fly


And this is how you make forks bounce. Note the 2 axis overhead unistrut rail.


The camera had to stay absolutely still for about a month while I shot. This is my hillbilly setup.


Any change in light causes flickering, so the sheet is there to keep me from casting a shadow while the pictures are taken


I acknowledge up front that this is the work of a mad man.

Even the way you post is cool as frig!

Can't wait to see the progress... And more of those vids!

I think I have powervalve parts for the 93/94 if you need them. Let me know and I’ll see what I have

Awesome video. Can’t wait to see the rest

mrg172 wrote:

I think I have powervalve parts for the 93/94 if you need them. Let me know and I’ll see what I have

Thanks for the offer. The power valves look to be good from what I can tell. I won't be removing them until I'm animating the engine, so I'll have to see. I mostly included the post about power valves as a reference for anyone else who may be in need.

Excellent.
My team, KX Guru Racing, is teaming up with Tom Morgan Racing to build a 91 KX250 Jeff Ward Tribute bike.
I live about 2 hours south of you in Eugene.
I own a Vapor Blaster.
If you want to come down an operate it I'll let you use it for free.
I may even have some idea's to help you on this build.
I also have all the equipment to apply Cerakote.
I just started using it but as long as you closely follow the directions it works great.
In fact, I just ordered Zombie Green about 20 minutes ago.
It might look pretty good on your hubs :-)
In any case, I very much enjoyed the video and I'll be watching your build closely.

Holy shit, I have seen so many of your posts on here and never noticed you were nearby . You do some great work!

I am definitely interested in that vapor blaster, and picking your brain on KX's in general. You'll definitely be hearing from me.

Cool.. Looking forward to it....

Small update, I got the freshly anodized fork tubes back. They certainly aren't a perfect match to the OEM blue color, but I was told up front that I was at the mercy of whatever the standard blue color was. They are close enough for me and I think they look great.

For anyone interested I had Jason at SGB racing do them for me and the cost was $300, which was lower than two other places that I inquired.

I dig the video. Looking forward to more.

As always, great work! Good luck on the build. I am super slowly working on a 1993 KX125.

I’m beyond impressed with your video. Well done, sir.

Nick Hagman wrote:

Small update, I got the freshly anodized fork tubes back. They certainly aren't a perfect match to the OEM blue color, but I was told up front that I was at the mercy of whatever the standard blue color was. They are close enough for me and I think they look great.

For anyone interested I had Jason at SGB racing do them for me and the cost was $300, which was lower than two other places that I inquired.

I’m a little late as you already had your forks re-anodized, but aluminart in Ontario, Califonia took care of my forks on my 93 KX250. The color is perfect as they were able to match it with a section that had been under a decal for years and not faded. Price was $186. This is also the shop that Pro Circuit uses to anodize their items.

Great info, thanks for sharing. Any other knowledge on this bike you'd like to share? Looks like you did a great job on yours.

Who did you go with for plastics and graphics?

That video had me smiling through the whole thing! Well done man.

Nick Hagman wrote:

Great info, thanks for sharing. Any other knowledge on this bike you'd like to share? Looks like you did a great job on yours.

Who did you go with for plastics and graphics?

I went with UFO plastics. I got a set of the OEM replica graphics from Frank at EvoMX. I also snagged some early 90's fender decals from him that I still need to put on. Seat cover was sourced from someone in Europe, I believe. I've bought so much stuff in the last year for builds I cannot remember where it all comes from. Other than graphics, the wheels are the last piece until she in complete.

Sorry for the thread jack: swodown, that 1995 YZ125 is insane!
And I'm definitely going to lookup Aluminart, thank you!

YZed250 wrote:

Sorry for the thread jack: swodown, that 1995 YZ125 is insane!
And I'm definitely going to lookup Aluminart, thank you!

Appreciate the compliment. There will be a matching 1995 YZ80 alongside her soon.

Awesome video. I can see all the time and effort that must go into that video but how did you get the sound to work with the stop motion? The chain piling on the floor, the sounds of the pipe falling and the swingarm and how they are totally different sounds when falling on the concrete. This just amazes me.

Nick, you are the BOAT! Baddest Of All Time.

I just love what you do, it's so cool.

rallendude wrote:

Awesome video. I can see all the time and effort that must go into that video but how did you get the sound to work with the stop motion? The chain piling on the floor, the sounds of the pipe falling and the swingarm and how they are totally different sounds when falling on the concrete. This just amazes me.

For the disassembly video I recorded most of the sounds myself, and for the most part you are hearing the same parts that you're seeing. As you've picked up on each part makes a slightly different sound and it's really difficult to fake it.

To get the audio right while recording I'll put a short section of video playing on a loop and try to match what I see. For example with the pipe it hits in the middle then rolls over, so I record 5 or so times of setting it on the ground and rolling it to match the video.

There is some trickery, like with the chain. The sliding sound was made by holding both ends of the chain and sliding it against itself. This gave a more satisfying sound than just dragging it. Then there's a second track where I was rolling the chain up, and a third to get the end smacking the floor as it rolled off.

This type of sound effects recording is called "Foley", and it's pretty damn tricky. Being aware of it will ruin shows like planet earth for you, I can tell you that.

I am going to attempt a "how it's made" with the next animation, which I'll start shooting on soon. Thanks again to everyone for chiming in!

Just a quick test shot I did for the fork video.

via GIPHY

KDXGarage wrote: www.denniskirk.com for UFO plastic, including the fork guards with guides.

Thanks for the tip on Aluminart. Looks great!

Thanks, I wasn't aware that UFO made the fork guards and guides. If DK's inventory is to be believed then I just swooped up their last set.

Nick Hagman wrote:

Great info, thanks for sharing. Any other knowledge on this bike you'd like to share? Looks like you did a great job on yours.

Who did you go with for plastics and graphics?

swodown348 wrote:

I went with UFO plastics. I got a set of the OEM replica graphics from Frank at EvoMX. I also snagged some early 90's fender decals from him that I still need to put on. Seat cover was sourced from someone in Europe, I believe. I've bought so much stuff in the last year for builds I cannot remember where it all comes from. Other than graphics, the wheels are the last piece until she in complete.

I've been meaning to ask you what you did for frame paint/powdercoat? Looks like a perfect match for the UFO plastics.

Also have you made any progress on yours? I'm moving too slow, give us some more 93 KX goodness in this thread!

Nick Hagman wrote:

Great info, thanks for sharing. Any other knowledge on this bike you'd like to share? Looks like you did a great job on yours.

Who did you go with for plastics and graphics?

swodown348 wrote:

I went with UFO plastics. I got a set of the OEM replica graphics from Frank at EvoMX. I also snagged some early 90's fender decals from him that I still need to put on. Seat cover was sourced from someone in Europe, I believe. I've bought so much stuff in the last year for builds I cannot remember where it all comes from. Other than graphics, the wheels are the last piece until she in complete.

Nick Hagman wrote:

I've been meaning to ask you what you did for frame paint/powdercoat? Looks like a perfect match for the UFO plastics.

Also have you made any progress on yours? I'm moving too slow, give us some more 93 KX goodness in this thread!

I powdercoated the frame. I’m not much of a believer in spray painting frames. I don’t remember the RAL the shop used, but a buddy of mine said the RAL for Kawasaki green is 6018. He recommended the kiwi green as it was a little lighter than the Kawasaki green. I’ll see if I can check at the shop that did mine for a solid answer though.

Right now I have the wheels out to be redone. Going back with stock wheel sets. Number plate backgrounds were finished up recently.

Once the wheels are done I’ll send the PC Works pipe off for clean up.

Nick Hagman wrote:

I've been meaning to ask you what you did for frame paint/powdercoat? Looks like a perfect match for the UFO plastics.

Also have you made any progress on yours? I'm moving too slow, give us some more 93 KX goodness in this thread!

" I'm moving too slow, give us some more 93 KX goodness in this thread!"

My contribution, NOS 1993 KX125 forks:

Bad ass! Looking forward to this one!

Amazing!!! I'm eager to see the rest of the videos