Posts
5768
Joined
11/25/2007
Location
Athens, GA
US
Fantasy
4173rd
queen of spodes
5/7/2014 8:27am
5/7/2014 8:27am
Edited Date/Time
10/15/2021 12:43am
I'm in the early stages of restoring a thoroughly roached 1989 KX125. I have plenty of NOS parts including connecting rod, shift forks, footpegs, left/center power valve, and even some cases. Also have all new replica plastic, and a gas tank that is damn near perfect.
Last week I disassembled the stuck/frozen power valve assembly, and noticed that a PO broke the right side exhaust valve in an attempt to remove it. The tip of the valve is missing completely. I was able to free everything up with a week long soak in diesel followed by a two day soak with Kroil.
I spent the past week searching Ebay, Craigslist(search tempest), and every major parts dealer I could find. Kawasaki now shows the RH exhaust valve as obsolete and NLA. Several dealers ran the part number 12005-1114 through their dealer parts locator and came up with nothing. One dealer said they had a few of them as recent as March 2013. Many online stores show this part as available, but after ordering several and being told a week later that it is NLA, I'm finding that most of these sites are not using current data.
A seller on Ebay sold a NOS RH exhaust valve just one month ago - had no idea I'd need it and am kicking myself for not tearing the engine apart sooner to find what all it needed. I've messaged just about every ebay seller with used '89 KX125 parts asking if they happen to have the power valves. No luck there either. Bought a cylinder last week, but it didn't have the valves in it, and the seller couldn't find them.
The rest of the engine is in good condition. It will need replating and I plan to rebuild the crank with OEM parts (have NOS components). The frame is free of cracks. Have a NOS footpeg mount, and two new OEM footpegs. Radiator is in near perfect condition. Have replica 1989 KX125 graphics (two sets actually).
I'm eager to get this project done but the NLA right side power valve is turning out to be a huge headache.
TL;DR:
Has anyone had success getting a new power/exhaust valve machined locally?
Any other sources for used vintage NOS parts that I should know about?
Last week I disassembled the stuck/frozen power valve assembly, and noticed that a PO broke the right side exhaust valve in an attempt to remove it. The tip of the valve is missing completely. I was able to free everything up with a week long soak in diesel followed by a two day soak with Kroil.
I spent the past week searching Ebay, Craigslist(search tempest), and every major parts dealer I could find. Kawasaki now shows the RH exhaust valve as obsolete and NLA. Several dealers ran the part number 12005-1114 through their dealer parts locator and came up with nothing. One dealer said they had a few of them as recent as March 2013. Many online stores show this part as available, but after ordering several and being told a week later that it is NLA, I'm finding that most of these sites are not using current data.
A seller on Ebay sold a NOS RH exhaust valve just one month ago - had no idea I'd need it and am kicking myself for not tearing the engine apart sooner to find what all it needed. I've messaged just about every ebay seller with used '89 KX125 parts asking if they happen to have the power valves. No luck there either. Bought a cylinder last week, but it didn't have the valves in it, and the seller couldn't find them.
The rest of the engine is in good condition. It will need replating and I plan to rebuild the crank with OEM parts (have NOS components). The frame is free of cracks. Have a NOS footpeg mount, and two new OEM footpegs. Radiator is in near perfect condition. Have replica 1989 KX125 graphics (two sets actually).
I'm eager to get this project done but the NLA right side power valve is turning out to be a huge headache.
TL;DR:
Has anyone had success getting a new power/exhaust valve machined locally?
Any other sources for used vintage NOS parts that I should know about?
The Shop
Quoted at $400 just to fix like the above posts mentioned. I don't have the right equipment to do it myself.
On a whim I ordered a 1989-1994 KDX200 RH EXHAUST VALVE (12005-1122, http://www.partzilla.com/parts/detail/kawasaki/KP-12005-1122.html). This bike shares the same KIPS resonator cover so I thought what the hell.. worth a shot.
Well that came in today. I compared it to my 1989 KX125 NOS LH EXHAUST VALVE (12005-1113, http://www.partzilla.com/parts/detail/kawasaki/KP-12005-1113.html ) to check length ect.
No dice.
https://youtu.be/q3SVTBrKyZk
The gear shop I went to said the valve I brought (a NOS left side exhaust valve) is cast aluminum. They said that if I had a whole one I could get a die made and that would be much cheaper. But I'm back to square one.
If I had a pro rig to ensure I could precisely drill vertically down the center of the broken valve, I'd consider the repair kidKawie talks about above. I'm afriad I'd make a bigger mess if I tried cobbling something together with my old ShopSmith drill press. I'm not about to pay $400 to a machine shop (what I was quoted yesterday) to do that repair, knowing it could easily fail after install.
Guy on Ebay has some valves from a 1986 KX125. I asked him for diminsions but he wrote back and said that the valve part is smaller than on the 89 125. Obviously the 86 is steel and the 89 is delicate cast aluminum.
http://www.practicalmachinist.com/vb/manufacturing-resource/
Pit Row
Atlanta Aerospace Composites, Griffin, GA
770-467-9490
http://www.atlantaaero.com/index.html
OA Length: 2.497
From top to bottom
pin width: .236 (about 6mm)
pin length: .601
gear width: .590 (gear tip to gear tip)... .570 laying flat against two gear tips
gear length: .380
gear pitch: .142 (not precise!)
shaft between gear and valve (variable thickness increases toward valve)
- thinner end by gear: .314
- thicker end by valve: .374
shaft length (between gear and valve): .387
valve width: .780
valve length: .912
bottom pin width: .237
bottom pin length: .259
OA Length: 2.497
Image of 12005-1114 ( RH EXHAUST VALVE )
part
Tooling, and fixture costs, ( the cost added
for special cutting tools, part holding fixture's.) Each step of machining needs
a special cutting tool made, and the part
to be held so the cuts in the raw material
can be made perfectly
multiple steps, possibly multiple fixtures
if the part was being hand machined
Also the part could be made in a few steps
on a Twin spindle (Live tooling CNC) lathe
but then a few special cutting tools
would be needed( a person would have have to hand make the tooling) out of
solid carbide blanks( or hss) this takes
time!
And high dollar equip!
Even manual shop equip , tooling,
and qualified machinist costs money
So the small amount of $1200.00 is
nothing
The machinist alone labor would be
$600.00 min
Making a part like that is not special effects
press a button out pops a part affair
Even if I could find 10 other people who would contract/commit to buying a new RH valve.. chances are they (like me) couldn't justify spending $400 on that one part.
With some luck that kdx might be close
thanks
Post a reply to: Custom machining an "obsolete/NLA" power valve?