Project KDX 220R - The Rebuild

[bluethundaaaa]

outstanding rebuild. Can't wait to see the finished product!?

[Slick_Nick]

Didn't get as much done today as I would have liked, life gets in the way sometimes. Didn't get the cases together, but got the top end all finished up, so tomorrow should be an easy day. Don't know if I'll go for a first start tomorrow or not, we'll see how I feel. I'm fighting off a hell of a cold too.

Anyways, here are some pics of my stuff from RB Designs. Head was milled to raise the compression, and the squish band was modified. Crank was rebuilt with my Wiseco rod, and the carb was bored out, and got all the goodies that Ron does for the KDX carbs, like the divider plate, float bowl screws, knob air screw, etc. The head and carb are both works of art. I'll let the pics speak for themselves.

Started by getting the crank into one case half, just sweat it in. Stuck it in the freezer for about 20 mins, and heated the bearing with a blow torch. Dropped right in.

Got the trans all assembled and lubed up with ATF.

Painted the head to match the rest of the engine, then installed the water neck:

Decided to leave the bottom end till tomorrow, so I stuck the clutch plates in a ziploc of ATF so they could soak overnight. Got to work on the top end KIPS n stuff, so tomorrow I can literally bolt the jug on and be done with it.

Showing proper KIPS timing:

Main KIPS valve:

Installed the V-Force3i valve:

Completed cylinder, ready for a piston and a head then she's all done!

Still waiting on one, but I went with the swingarm decals of an '03 KDX, since the '98 ones were discontinued. What do you think?

Anyway, that's all for tonight, check back tonmorrow if the forum is back up!

[art5]

picture of one of my kdx projects

[brentn]

WOW that carb port job is seriously a WORK OF ART!!!!!

I've never ever seen porting so good before, that's a better finish than the factory!

I can't wait to see how this thing rides, should be hauling ass if you ask me.

I gotta work tomorrow so Wed is a no go. Besides you'll be finishing up your bike still and you got a cold, something I don't need before the GF's birthday this weekend.

Question though,

Is the carb porting effective if you don't have porting done on the cylinder?

What are the tradeoffs of boring out a carb versus stock?

[kskyles]

wow. rb designs did some fantastic work...

i'm very very impressed.

bike is looking great.

[blockpass270]

very, very, very nice.

[brentn]

Hows that new clutch holding up?

[Slick_Nick]

Hows that new clutch holding up?

Great! A bunch of posts are missing from this thread, I'm gonna give it a week they said they're merging the old new site back with this one, so we'll see. If not, then I'll repost the completion pics.

[Greebe]

Yeah I would really like to see the finished pics. I will keep watching.

Nice work.

Greebe

[Slick_Nick]

Well, sorry its been a few days since an update, but the bike is ALMOST DONE!!! I've spent the last few days getting it all back together, and tomorrow is the big day. I just need to add trans fluid, and coolant. Then I'm going riding!

Here are some pics of the process, yesterday's are missing, but the bike is now complete with the exception of side panels once the rads are bled. Pics will come, don't worry!

This goes back a few days, but here we go!

Got the cases back together, as you'll see later that silicone gets peeled off.

Cases together, right side ready for all the goodies:

Impeller in, new gasket on:

Shift shaft in, star detent in, kickstarter installed, and main shaft gears installed and torqued. Outer clutch basket going on.

New plates in

For some reason they gave me 6 springs?

Clutch complete and torqued down:

Side cover installed, clutch cover installed, water pump cover installed, and as I mentioned before the excess silicone was removed now that it was dry:

Stator installed, stock timing for now. Silicone applied where the harness enters the case as per the shop manual.

New output shaft collar and O rings

Piston, with rings gapped. Don't worry, I cleaned it before I put it in!

Bottom end lubed up, new base gasket installed. I used Motorex fully synthetic premix.

Cylinder on, base nuts tightened, i gave everything a generous coat of oil.

Head gasket on, and head tightened. It was upside down for this pic, I flipped it around before installing the head.

KIPS shaft showing proper alignment:

The FINAL piece!

The completed engine, showing my approval!

[Slick_Nick]

Next, I installed the engine into the bike, installed the sprocket, and torqued all the engine mounting bolts and headstays:

Installed the chain, tightened it as per the shop manual. Old chain was on #8 to be of sufficient tightness! Torqued axle nuts, installed new cotter pin:

Installed shifter, rear brake, rads, hoses, frame guards, airbox, fender, etc.

I didn't take any pics of yesterday's progress, suffice it to say that the bike is now finished. I installed my hour meter, temp stickers, carb, seat, number plates, etc etc etc... After one more check over, I'll fill the juices and give her the first kick tomorrow! Don't worry, pics and videos are forthcoming!

[Slick_Nick]

Ladies and gentlemen, ITS ALIVE!!! Haha

Yesterday I put the finishing touches on it, and fired it up! It took about 6 kicks, but that was to be expected for a brand new engine. It fired up, and I had to adjust the idle a bit (again, to be expected) so that's why you spend 30 seconds staring at my gonch in the video!

Some pics of the last installment of the rebuild!

Seat on, everything but side panels are on!

Temp stickers: Another one is on the left side of the jug.

Slick hourmeter install:

New carb lines:

Rads filled, transmission filed:

The "final piece" to the bike!

FIRST STARTUP!

Took it outside for the first startup, then after once around the block parked it to take some pictures.

[Slick_Nick]

Well, it IS a dirt bike after all, so it couldn't stay clean for long! Went out with fellow TT member Pumpkin450SXF and we tore up some trails. Had a few biffs on the way. I wish I would have gotten it dirtier, but it's pretty dry out here.

Initial impressions are very good. Bike has a TON more bottom end than it did before. I might also retard the timing to give a touch more over rev up top. When I say it has a TON of bottom end, I'm not kidding! I could easily ride a gear higher than I would usually, and going up hills, at even 1/2 throttle, you just hold it there and this whore will tractor right up it! Thanks to RB Designs for his majical carb and head mods that make that possible. I still need to check the jetting (might be a bit fat on the bottom) and fiddle with the airscrew a bit more. That's all to come. In the meantime, I'm glad to say that the build is finally completed, and the bike runs like an absolute champ!

[Slick_Nick]

Got it a bit dirtier again today, she's showing 4.3 hours on the hourmeter so far, and I'm going to consider it WELL broken in the way I've been riding it haha. It's bone dry up here, but I did manage to find a few stream crossings that left me a bit muddy.

No problems whatsoever either, I'm still doing some tweaking with the suspension clickers, but other than that, she runs like a champ!

[Greebe]

Nice job. Out of curiosity, how did you learn to do this work? Did you just use a Clymer manual? That is what I did on my first rebuild of a 78 CB750 when I was 15. It was a lot of fun and I learned a lot. The funnest part was synchronizing the 4 carbs.?

Greebe

[Slick_Nick]

Nice job. Out of curiosity, how did you learn to do this work?

Personal experience and a Kawasaki manual.

[Slick_Nick]

Been awhile since any updates, bike has about 54 hours on it and still running very strong, like it did after the rebuild. At 50 hours I disassembled all bearings and cleaned / repacked again. I have had ZERO problems with this thing so far, I love the KDX.

Threw on some new brake pads, wheel bearings, and tires (Pirelli Scorpion MX) and decided to do a fork swap. I decided on the KLX 300R forks for a few reasons.

- I wanted to keep my stock tripmeter (this is VERY important to me)

- I wanted a straight bolt on affair

- I wanted to keep my KDX wheel and caliper

- The KLX forks were a STEAL

- The KLX clamps get rid of the flimsy KDX rubber bar mount

I know most will say "you should have gone with a KX swap, blah blah" but the KLX forks are perfect for me, and even after just an hour or so of riding I can tell they offer a MARKED improvement.

The forks were rebuilt, revalved, resprung, and cleaned top to bottom. (Even took the cartridge right out to clean it.) New seals were added as well. Fresh bearings were pressed onto the stem, and my KDX push button bleeders worked fine.

I don't have any pics of the swap itself, just the finished result. Excuse the pics, they were taken on my iPhone. I will be moving thetripmeter line to the outside of the fork leg, like the KLX has stock. Threw on a KX250F fender while I was at it to freshen it up a bit. This was an easy swap. The entire triple clamp assembly, tripmeter, front wheel, and axle are all compatible with the KDX. For me a steering stop modification was not nessicary, the forks do not hit the tank.

Updates later, right now I'm off to go ride with Brentn on his new YZ450!

[Hondude450]

Nice ! KDX's are great bikes. sweet bike man. I like that rear fender. who makes that ?

[jacob381]

that bike is sick you did a great job on it

[Slick_Nick]

Nice ! KDX's are great bikes. sweet bike man. I like that rear fender. who makes that ?

Rear fender is Maier, front is from a 2004 KX250F.