KX Riders
Maintenance & Technical => KX500 Original => Topic started by: dieselcamper01 on May 23, 2012, 12:59:14 PM
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I hope this does not seem like a dumb question but I am in the process of reassembling my motor. I took it apart a while back because I could not get it to shift past 2nd gear. I replaced the two shift forks still available and I will be replacing the springs in the shift mechanism. I am at the point of putting the two halves together but I honestly don't know how all this is really supposed to work before I do that. I guess what I am saying is I don't really know if it is shifting through all the gears. My manual also says to have it in neutral for assembly and I am not sure how to tell when it actually is in neutral.
My manual is the factory KX500 not a Clymer.
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Wow. I cannot believe no one has an answer to this. I thought for sure someone could relay an easy way to tell where neutral is.
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I wouldn't really worry about it being in neutral but there should be a index mark somewhere on the shiftstar to line up with your linkage,with your tranny installed into the right side case turn the shift drum with your hand and make sure you see the gears changing,if all looks well slap the cases together,Thats what I always did on my CR5's Havn't been into the bottomend of a kx yet though,For all the knowledge on this site I don't understand why this question wasn't answered long ago seems like newbies get the shaft around here :| BTW No question is a dumb question,better to get it right the first time then tear it apart again
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I have never re-assembled a Kx bottom end but I have seen it done.
I am looking at my Clymer and it tells you exactly how to do the re-assembly step by step as well as gives you some really good pics.
If I were you I would invest in a Clymer.
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Thanks guys. I will see what I can come up with for a different manual. I did have someone else say just slap it together also. It may come to that. LOL
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I am not familiar with the 85 lower ends... or I would chime in... anyone know if the shifter stuff is teh same (shift pawl)
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on the shifting drum theres like 5 or 6 notches on it. theres one that is different than the rest. the one that is different is neutral. thats the one ypu want it notched in.
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Finally getting back to this project. I do have the cases together and so far so good but I ran into another snag. Mayber I should start a new thread but I will try it hear.
I cannot seem to locate the correct head gasket for the bike. The kit Dennis Kirk sent me was totally wrong. I can get the base gasket from the dealer but no head gasket. Anyone know of a source for that?
And just an FYI. The manual has the information wrong on whick location the shift forks go on for the output shaft. I had to switch them to get it to work. D'oh!
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I see them listed for 86-88 but nothing for 85 or older.
I'm sure there must be someone with a line on them...
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Cmsnl has them in stock.
They usually have what they list, I got a few obsolete Honda parts from them
http://www.cmsnl.com/kawasaki-1985-b1-kx500_model11965/partslist/B3.html#results
If I were you I would order a bunch
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Cmsnl has them in stock.
They usually have what they list, I got a few obsolete Honda parts from them
http://www.cmsnl.com/kawasaki-1985-b1-kx500_model11965/partslist/B3.html#results
If I were you I would order a bunch
Awesome. Thank you for the link. I wonder how long that would take to ship here?
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It took 5 days for my order to come to Canada (from the Netherlands )
They take longer to process the order.
I hope things work out and they have them in stock :)
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Got everything back together finally! Started up fine and shifts through the gears fine.
But, I am leaking coolant out the head. There was some corrosion that I thought I got cleaned up ok. Obviously I
have have some surface uneveness. Any thoughts on what I could use along with the gasket to help seal the head?
It is not spewing out but it is seaping in about four defined spots.
Can I use RTV or some such gasket sealer?
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Got everything back together finally! Started up fine and shifts through the gears fine.
But, I am leaking coolant out the head. There was some corrosion that I thought I got cleaned up ok. Obviously I
have have some surface uneveness. Any thoughts on what I could use along with the gasket to help seal the head?
It is not spewing out but it is seaping in about four defined spots.
Can I use RTV or some such gasket sealer?
Unfortuneatly you're gonna have to pull the jug and lap the head and the jug mating surfaces.It's not a huge deal,just a set-back.
As for using RTV,no never.
Once you have the surfaces "flat",use either an OEM head gasket,or a Cometic....stay away from Athena gaskets!.You should not need to apply anything to the gaskets with lapped surfaces...some guys like to use Copper Coat for their own assurance/reasons.
I will say I like the Cometic gaskets alot.I learned about them from a member(BDI) that no longer visits this site,unfortuneatly.
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Got everything back together finally! Started up fine and shifts through the gears fine.
But, I am leaking coolant out the head. There was some corrosion that I thought I got cleaned up ok. Obviously I
have have some surface uneveness. Any thoughts on what I could use along with the gasket to help seal the head?
It is not spewing out but it is seaping in about four defined spots.
Can I use RTV or some such gasket sealer?
did u get the oem head gasket from cmsnl?
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Got everything back together finally! Started up fine and shifts through the gears fine.
But, I am leaking coolant out the head. There was some corrosion that I thought I got cleaned up ok. Obviously I
have have some surface uneveness. Any thoughts on what I could use along with the gasket to help seal the head?
It is not spewing out but it is seaping in about four defined spots.
Can I use RTV or some such gasket sealer?
Unfortuneatly you're gonna have to pull the jug and lap the head and the jug mating surfaces.It's not a huge deal,just a set-back.
As for using RTV,no never.
Once you have the surfaces "flat",use either an OEM head gasket,or a Cometic....stay away from Athena gaskets!.You should not need to apply anything to the gaskets with lapped surfaces...some guys like to use Copper Coat for their own assurance/reasons.
I will say I like the Cometic gaskets alot.I learned about them from a member that no longer visits this site,unfortuneatly.
Well that is a major set back. What type of place would I need to bring it for that type of work? And what is Copper Coat?
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Got everything back together finally! Started up fine and shifts through the gears fine.
But, I am leaking coolant out the head. There was some corrosion that I thought I got cleaned up ok. Obviously I
have have some surface uneveness. Any thoughts on what I could use along with the gasket to help seal the head?
It is not spewing out but it is seaping in about four defined spots.
Can I use RTV or some such gasket sealer?
did u get the oem head gasket from cmsnl?
No. Since I needed a couple other gaskets I went with a complete kit off Ebay. Windrosa? Something like that.
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Got everything back together finally! Started up fine and shifts through the gears fine.
But, I am leaking coolant out the head. There was some corrosion that I thought I got cleaned up ok. Obviously I
have have some surface uneveness. Any thoughts on what I could use along with the gasket to help seal the head?
It is not spewing out but it is seaping in about four defined spots.
Can I use RTV or some such gasket sealer?
Unfortuneatly you're gonna have to pull the jug and lap the head and the jug mating surfaces.It's not a huge deal,just a set-back.
As for using RTV,no never.
Once you have the surfaces "flat",use either an OEM head gasket,or a Cometic....stay away from Athena gaskets!.You should not need to apply anything to the gaskets with lapped surfaces...some guys like to use Copper Coat for their own assurance/reasons.
I will say I like the Cometic gaskets alot.I learned about them from a member that no longer visits this site,unfortuneatly.
How about Moose kits? I can get that same day/next day from Dennis Kirk here in MN.
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You can easily do it yourself if you have a FLAT piece of granite/glass/steel,and some lapping compound that you can get at an auto parts store.The worst part of the job is taking out the studs in the jug,and that's not even a big deal.you "might" need a torch to heat up the cylinder to get the studs out.
If you don't feel comfortable doing it yourself,I would pull the motor right outa the frame,pull the cylinder and head and bring it to a machine shop.Your local Kawie dealer should know of a machine shop that they use,unless they have someone on-site that can do it.I say pull the motor outa the frame because...it's only another 6 bolts and it really makes it SO MUCH easier to work on.
I've never used Moose gaskets....never even heard of Windrosa :?.I think at this point,you should just go with OEM gaskets,don't be cheap on this part of the job,or I can just about gaurantee you'll be doing this all over again,much sooner than later :wink:.
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You can easily do it yourself if you have a FLAT piece of granite/glass/steel,and some lapping compound that you can get at an auto parts store.The worst part of the job is taking out the studs in the jug,and that's not even a big deal.you "might" need a torch to heat up the cylinder to get the studs out.
If you don't feel comfortable doing it yourself,I would pull the motor right outa the frame,pull the cylinder and head and bring it to a machine shop.Your local Kawie dealer should know of a machine shop that they use,unless they have someone on-site that can do it.I say pull the motor outa the frame because...it's only another 6 bolts and it really makes it SO MUCH easier to work on.
I've never used Moose gaskets....never even heard of Windrosa :?.I think at this point,you should just go with OEM gaskets,don't be cheap on this part of the job,or I can just about gaurantee you'll be doing this all over again,much sooner than later :wink:.
Thanks for the pointers. I will give this a try myself first. My only fear is a head stud breaking but it needs to be done regardless so I may as well try.
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more than likely you're gonna get at least ONE that's gonna fight you,that's where a torch comes into play.Just don't OVER heat it!!....it can withstand some heat,but not that much.
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Thanks Foxx. I will be careful.