Posts
115
Joined
11/2/2013
Location
AU
Edited Date/Time
4/10/2018 8:32pm
After seeing all the restoration builds on here, I've decided to start my own.
I picked up a 1997 KX250 3 days ago off Ebay. The guy had it at a staring price of $300 and a description saying that it had sat in a shed for the last 12 years. The guy said there was a lot of interest on it, but since i got in first he would sell it to me prior to auction. So I was able to pick it up for $850 which was pretty cheap considering i bought a 94 KX250 six months ago for $1500 and had to ship it to me for another $500.
I should have taken a photo of how it was stored, which was pretty crappy. There was a pile of junk in his garage with some of it stored on top of the bike. It wasnt on a stand either and looked like it had never been washed. This guy was the second owner. There was even chunks of grass stuck in it. The radiators were damaged, repaired and never put back on the bike. The receipt for the repair was still there, it was dated 6th Dec 2002. So it was legit, the bike had been sitting for 11 years!
In light of this i had to take a punt and buy it. here's how it looked before i washed 11 years of crap off it.
There's a few things to repair:
Kick starter shaft is broken off, but i found a new shaft still in the packet in the airbox.
Rims are badly buckled.
There's some electrical fault which explains why all the wires are pulled out.
Pipe has been cracked and welded up, will try to tweak it back into shape and clean up.
I think its still on its original front tyre and rear sprocket though, so thats good.
Now here's how it looks after being washed thoroughly.
Now let the rebuilding begin!
I picked up a 1997 KX250 3 days ago off Ebay. The guy had it at a staring price of $300 and a description saying that it had sat in a shed for the last 12 years. The guy said there was a lot of interest on it, but since i got in first he would sell it to me prior to auction. So I was able to pick it up for $850 which was pretty cheap considering i bought a 94 KX250 six months ago for $1500 and had to ship it to me for another $500.
I should have taken a photo of how it was stored, which was pretty crappy. There was a pile of junk in his garage with some of it stored on top of the bike. It wasnt on a stand either and looked like it had never been washed. This guy was the second owner. There was even chunks of grass stuck in it. The radiators were damaged, repaired and never put back on the bike. The receipt for the repair was still there, it was dated 6th Dec 2002. So it was legit, the bike had been sitting for 11 years!
In light of this i had to take a punt and buy it. here's how it looked before i washed 11 years of crap off it.
There's a few things to repair:
Kick starter shaft is broken off, but i found a new shaft still in the packet in the airbox.
Rims are badly buckled.
There's some electrical fault which explains why all the wires are pulled out.
Pipe has been cracked and welded up, will try to tweak it back into shape and clean up.
I think its still on its original front tyre and rear sprocket though, so thats good.
Now here's how it looks after being washed thoroughly.
Now let the rebuilding begin!
Mechanically, its all in very good condition. Swingarm is tight as are the wheels. The front floating brake disc has hardly any slop on the rivets and the disc themselves are dead flat. Forks are great with no sideways movement as is the shock. However i have a suspicion that the fork springs have sagged after having sat for so long since the bike was not kept on a stand. Brakes seem in great nick too. Frame is straight, but needs a paint. Footpegs arent too sloppy, but i might change them anyway.
And now to the engine.
check out how sweet this clutch is for a 17 year old bike.
The piston and barrel are the same, sweet as. I think its the original Kawasaki piston and theres hardly any wear. Do you guys think i need to change the piston? It looks pretty good to me, so I was thinking of just putting new rings in it.
The crank is also sweet as theres no vertical slop at all.
The cylinder is also in great condition, again minimal wear. the only thing i found is that the flapper power valve is hanging down in the exhaust stream even when fully opened. I'll fix that up when i trim the side valves to the right size.
So far, im very pleased that my gamble has paid off. There was an almost new bike hiding under all that dirt.
The Shop
I am after a nice factory original seat if you are going down the aftermarket path. Happy to even just buy the cover.
Keep the updates coming.
Sorry kawasaki1996 im keeping the seat but I did see a good one on eBay so keep a look out.
Frame is ready for sand blasting and the bolts will get sent out for plating this week.
That hollywood bike was an amazing find, virtually brand new. Definitely put some pics up, will be great to see.
Im after some advice, should i paint or powdercoat the frame? What are the pros and cons?
those works forks are interesting,they used air sub tanks on emigs and tortellis,but they are not on those forks.theres a u.s website called vintage mx or something similar that i saw some pictures of fred bolleys gp bike from 96 with boyeseen link rear suspension and i think it had the same sub tank forks.
your kx has done very little maybe 20 hours tops.it looks to still have stock graphics and chain and sprocket,neither of which lasted more than about 10 hours of hard racing.
What really sparked my interest when i saw the ebay ad was that it had the stock graphics and seat cover (no tears) still. Any bike that still has the stock graphics after so long couldn't be that worn. It hasnt been ridden hard, but there are still a few dings on the fork uppers that i will have to cover up with some stickers and the rims are shot, but everything is still quite tight.
I bought this seat cover to bling it up a bit.
But ive got a bit of a problem. I spent a heap of money on the 95 kx250, but since i found this 97 (which was a great year for the 250) thats the bike i want to keep. I thought of converting the 95 model into a 125, which would be awesome as thats the exact bike i had back in the day. But i cant find an engine to transplant in.
If anyone in Oz wants to swap a 250 engine for a 125, let me know.
Pit Row
I just bought this used but good condition works pipe to bring back to life.
Wiseco piston kit has arrived and all the hardware has been replated.
Check out the 2000 Pro Circuit KX250 build on here. That was the last one I built.
Hey DJFMXpro, looks like we got in the right boat cause its motoring along now. Kidkawie beat me to it, as he said Evo have the 97 kits done but are trialing a new production process for the seat. Frank (EVO) said they will be ready in a few weeks.
Frank also said that they are well on the way with the 96 & 98 Pro Circuit kits too. So you should be able to sort out a few more of those bike you have planned. And wow, with that list of bikes, you're going to rival Pro Circuit themselves!
Well good luck that used to be my bike and the forks were swapped long ago for some other work. So they're gone. Try Emig Racing if you're serious about getting a set, Gary may still have some left over. You've going to have to pay a fortune if he does, though.
I only had the idea of restoring a bike 6 months ago, but im obsessed now. I just bought a 2002 KX125 for $650 which is quite cheap here. Its not been looked after very well, but it hasn't had too hard a life and will clean up quite good. Mainly cosmetics and the swingarm bearing to replace. Im going to try my hand at porting the barrel (its stock and not been touched) since from what ive read, the 2002 kx125 is a bit of a sleeper which you need to wake up a bit. The bike came with a rusty PC works pipe, so thats good.
cheers.
Do any of you guys have any tips or findings on mods for this bike? I would love to hear them. Basically the bike is stock but does have a works pipe that i'll need to remove the dents from. One of the CF reeds is chipped on the corner, so i will have to replace that or am i better off getting an aftermarket reed kit? I would like to give the bike more topend power and from all the reviews ive read, it doesnt have much in stock trim.
Kawiekid, i saw your race tuning bulletin for the 2001 kx125, do you have the 2002 bulletin?
cheers.
Last time I rode a 125 was a 94 KX back in 96. Doubt a 125 would have enough mumbo to lug my 90kg frame around.
Hope you haven't sold that 95 yet
Ive had a good look over the bike now, its actually in decent condition. The engine is still in great nick although the cases have been painted black. Will have to remove that. The engine was pulled apart when i bought it, they said it just stopped and wouldnt start. Now that ive put it back together, i can tell you there is nothing wrong with the engine. i think it was just a faulty spark plug. Well we'll see tomorrow when i try to start it.
The 95 will be going up for sale early next year, I need the funds to complete these two.
Watch installing the old graphics on those L models. The lower skinny part on the shroud usually unsticks itself. They come with "locking tabs" but they don't do squat.
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