Maintenance & Technical > KX500 Original

86 overhaul

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byron909:
BacK.IN.THE.DaY, i used a 3m headlight repair kit. very teadiuos, but as you can see it paid off. that tank looked worse than what i had, had alot of oxidation.

got a little done on the bike today.
a few pics
about a year ago after all the fixing i powdercoated frame the oe color

took alot of work to fix. the lower mounts were gone, the side panel front mounts on both sides were broken, the upper pipe mount broken, frame tube was worn/ cracked from chain rubbing, bottom right corner of frame cracked, front seat hold down tab broken. also hacked off the kickstand mount






the lower shock mounts needed alot of work also, from the motor flopping around it basically wore about 1/8 off each mount were it rides next to motor. each case had about same worn off as well. lots of welding/ machining.
so after that powder coated the shock mounts and upper shock mount as well

my swingarm was hammered, the bearings were shot, from the chain flying off all the time or being loose it ate the swingarm to the point it was almost worn thru in a few spots. surprisingly though the front upper/ lower slider was perfect.
about a year and ahalf ago while looking on ebay for some junk i found 2 nos 86 500 swingarms. i picked up both for 50 with shipping. my 85 kx125 has a 86 250/500 disc brake rear, so i got 2 swingarms that were brand new!



as far as brakes go, i have never liked the 88 down kawi calipers. when i was a kid i always had pad issues. i'm sure there were other things wrong, but i remember always jacking with them. this bike runs same caliper front/ rear. for the rear i am running a 87-01 honda caliper, or basically same as 95 up kawasaki. my 86 wheel was shot, typical 86 rim cracked in like 50 spots, spokes rusted/ frozen/ broken, hub cracked at sprocket mount, left bearing holder part cracked, rotor dead. i also am not a fan of the steel wheel collars, and the fact that the 86-87 rotor was a funny bolt pattern that it seems noone makes anymore. a 89-01 cr500/ 89-99 cr250/ 89-99 cr125 hub bolts right on. nice thing is has better wheel collars, rotors are plentiful, hubs look like old works kx stuff. the kx and older crs had same 220mm rotor. 86-87 kx had 190mm rotor. 97 up crs have 240mm rear rotor. 97-99 had the 240, but used the smaller axle, just like this 86. so i am using a honda rear wheel with a 240mm rotor from 97-11 honda. since i wanted to use newer cr/ kx caliper i needed to change the caliper mount guide.
here is the oe

a 95 up kx or 87 up cr have almost identical calipers/ mounts. only real difference is kawi mount has no disc guard mount, and on outboard side the pass thru for axle is about 1/4" wider.
so i took a caliper mount guide and welded on this 86 arm/
mocked up, needed to space it in 1/4 due to using the honda hub

all welded up


i put the motor in, and put suspension on. the bike needed all new bearings in everything, so did all that. the shock got new lower bushing/ upper bearing, strut/ linkage, swingarm, stem. this bike also will use a 46mm front end from 89 kx.
my shop is so packed i have no room to build this bike. basically being assembled on plastic fold out table. pretty ghetto

tank isn't mounted
the seal savers work, but sure do look stupid. i wish i could find those old plastic covers i used to have.
i originally rebuilt the suspension myself, but later sent out to mx tech to make the valving right.

46mm kayabas


i have noticed a few problems today.
first, not too big a deal but i always use sunline shifters. they make a nice part. i bought the one for kx125/250/500, but went to mount today and the shifter has bigger hole than the shift shaft. i checked my later kx motors and they were the same as the 86.
2nd, i have had a few 46mm front ends laying around for 6 or 7 years. planned on installing on my 85 kx125. about 4 years ago i found a few braking 260mm oversize rotor setups for 89 up kawi. the bolt spacing on new caliper bracket was 100mm. rotor mounted to my 89 wheel fine. went to mount caliper today and noticed the 89 fork has a smaller bolt spacing than 100mm. it is like 78mm or something. all these years and i never thought to double check until today when i finally decide to mount it up. had i of know, when forks apart would have welded new tab. haven't looked to hard but i can probably figure it out. this 260mm rotor setup will be on this bike one way or other!!

last problem, kinda big, with tank on bike you can't turn the forks to stops. the top triple clamp hits the tank before the lower clamp hits the stop. when the clamp hits tank, i have about 3/16-1/4 gap between lower clamp and stop. i thought at first it was the 250 tank i am using, but in that part of tank the 250/500 tanks are identical. i thought i measured the fork offset, i haven't double checked but i thought it was same as oe 86.
it kinda sucks, i can just weld up the stop on frame, but not sure how many degrees less  steering i would have either way. maybe i can notch the upper clamp, it does have a ton of meat in that area, but that sounds little sketchy. if i was good at plastic welding it would be easy to trim the tank a little. but the times i have tried to plastic weld i failed terribly. tomorrow will look at everything harder. i saw that at end of work today.
another small thing that is fixed now is that i bought a later style clutch cable for it. turns out the 86 had small pilot on case that clutch cable sits in. the later motors were bigger. so at first the newer cable would not work. so i just drilled the pilot out to the size of late model. have nos old terrycable cable that fits perfect now.
 

Goat:
Great progress. Coming along very nicely. Good job.

traileater:
Great thread. I have a complete front end off an 89, maybe I'll keep it for future use!

Friar-Tuck:
Hey Ron The bike looks Grreat!
 You surely have done this kind of resto work before.  I think I would be too afraid to ride a bike with that much TLC involved...
   You are the only other person I know of that drilled/slotted the oem clutch basket.  Most guys who opt for the open basket buy a billet piece already done.
  I don't have the tools to cut out the slots, so I just drill two holes in place of the slots.
 I have drilled five different baskets on various machines with no ill effect...Yet!
     I also like the use of the engine coatings.   There is a coating for just about all the engine parts now, it's just a matter of how much a guy can afford.   
  The piston has a different "window(s)" than I'm used to seeing, is that KawRiders design?
Here's what mine looks like.




 Top, side and oil dispersant underneath, I hope the underside wasn't a mistake. I may be retaining heat, I guess I'll find out!
  Tuck\o/

BacK.IN.THE.DaY:
Bike is looking great. im getting jealous :-D. I have a 87 k5 im slowly rebuilding/restoring. i  will post pics when i eventually get my self in gear.

Thanks for the plastics cleaning/polishing advice to. 

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