Posts
5768
Joined
11/25/2007
Location
Athens, GA
US
Fantasy
4143rd
queen of spodes
10/6/2014 4:56am
10/6/2014 4:56am
Edited Date/Time
8/10/2018 9:47am
Here are a couple pics from a previous owner.. from what I learned this bike had been passed around to a couple people after being rescued from a bad owner. Nobody wanted to dive in, and after taking it apart I see why!
Edit: restoration complete
and some race footage from a SEVMX event:
https://youtu.be/p_igIfXhy5M
Next, strip down
Edit: restoration complete
and some race footage from a SEVMX event:
https://youtu.be/p_igIfXhy5M
Next, strip down
Doesn't look so bad here?
Check out that sprocket!
right side. engine was drooling fresh oil from somewhere...
swingarm was dirty but serviceable
footpegs & mounts trashed
lots of corrosion here, but the bike put out a nice fat blue spark
orange RTV, tell tale signs of shade tree mechanic
clutch pack looked pretty good considering the outside of the engine and frame
had to grind down the sprocket welding to get the cases apart
no idea what was going on here... the more i looked at this bike the less I tried to think about it. haha.
source of the oil leak - cracked drain plug threads. have to find some different cases...
crank and rod looked ok and spun freely. sending it off to get rebuilt with OEM conn rod & bearing kit
89 kx's had the nice 46mm conventionals.. a lot of people ran these into the mid 90s (chunking the USD's that came on early perimeter frame KXs). good forks.
But look closely at the axle holder on the right leg. see anything?
Previous owner had a 87 or earlier front wheel mounted up.. those wheels had smaller axles.. so they used their "ingenuity" to make this penny spacer to hold the loose axle in the 89 legs.
The Shop
First set of forks in storage:
Found a second set of legs that looked a LOT better - picked them up and broke them down too so I could pick and choose the nicer components from both sets
Internals were pretty descent on both legs so I went with the ones that looked a little cleaner.
Rebuilt and ready to install
ps if you have tips for a better way of removing the spring please reply & give details
shock ready to be shipped off
shock received back from Race Tech service center with next to no packing material inside. Shock was sticking out of the box when it arrived. I was not impressed after having spent about $250 getting it rebuilt.
Need to get the original spring blasted and powder coated.. but thats for later.
Luckily I spotted a set on Ebay that was fully disassembled. Good for rebuilding
Pressing out the bearing races
Shock mount was rusted up pretty good.. had to press this little one out (wouldn't come out with my vice)
Got all of the bearings replaced and this piece is ready to go
But the bearings had to be pressed out.. took a bit of care and force to not damage the swingarm. Had the same problem getting the pivot bearings out.
Ready for new bearings (to do - working on this today I hope)
The top end looked OK except for a broken post on the LH exhaust valve. This led to a big search for a replacement, or maybe for a repair. I posted a thread on VitalMX's Old School forum and got some help. The VitalMX thread is worth reading.. lots of options listed there for getting a power valve for these old bikes (the power valves are NLA and nearly impossible to find as NOS). Here's that thread: http://www.vitalmx.com/forums/Old-School-Moto,22/Custom-machining-an-ob…
Here's the top end with exhaust valves removed
Sent my cylinder & head off to PowerSeal a couple weeks ago and hope to have it back soon.
Had a local machine shop fix the right side footpeg mount (which isn't replaceable like the left side)
I regret not having them fix the brake pivot mount.. completely overlooked that (after powder coating).
Dropped frame off at PCC in Atlanta
and got it back a couple weeks later
Newly plated cylinder came in last week.
Carb and calipers cleaned up nicely:
Used a tiny allen wrench to put in the bearing inner race behind the puller rod, to keep it snug.
I also used a little MAP gas (only 4-5 seconds). Used a socket to knock it out.
One more to go, hope to get to it tomorrow:
Does the tool need to be paper thin? To be continued....
Didn't make the lip of my second tool as wide. put a little more heat around the bearing (and on the back side of it).
Now to clean these case halves up a little more.
Dropping off my original case with broken drain bung to a local TIG welder.
Pit Row
The first thing I need is a tool to pull the crank into case halves. Kawasaki doesn't offer special tool 57001-1174 anymore, but there is an alternate on Ebay:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/CRANKSHAFT-JIG-REPLACES-KAWASAKI-TOOL-57001-117…
I'm hearing I can make my own crank puller from metal plumbing pipe - will get to that later.
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Setting out bottom end bits on the workbench so I can go through what I have, and see what needs to be replaced. Obviously the broken gears in the pics have to go.
Still waiting for the tig guy to finish welding the right side case. Hope to get that next week.
For bearing removal: http://www.harborfreight.com/blind-hole-bearing-puller-95987.html
If the bearing ID is too small, rip/pry the bearing cage out, then move all the bearings to one side of the inner race. The race and bearings will now come right out, leaving the outer race. Use the blind hold bearing puller and you're good to go. 5 minutes, tops.
Although you need matching Kawi green nail polish , great job on the restore; Queen.
http://i114.photobucket.com/albums/n248/Jeekinz/94%20KX250/IMG_6547.jpg
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