KX Riders
Maintenance & Technical => KX500 Aluminum Frame Conversion (AFC) => Topic started by: Kwackerman on October 18, 2014, 11:33:22 AM
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Hey guys, I'm new to KX Riders, but I've been riding, racing, and wrenching on Kwackers for many years. I own a 1990 KX 500 that I've been racing since my Dad bought it new for me as a Christmas present in 1992. I love her and affectionately refer to her as "The Beast." I've primarily used her for enduro and hare scrambles riding in the southeast and Midwest. I know, I'm crazy, but she goes really good in the woods, despite the awesome power. It's all about throttle control and short shifting.
I purchased a 2006 KX450F roller off eBay a year or so ago and I finally got tired of looking at it sitting in the garage and decided to do this project. Unfortunately, I had to sell my 2007 KX 250 to fund the job, which was very painful. In the end, I think I'll be glad for marking this off my bucket list if nothing else. I mailed my 450 frame along with the engine mounts and radiators off the 500 to George Fanelli (some of you may know him) at MPS Racing in Monclova, OH. He's very experienced at doing these conversions and he's going to mod my frame and provide me with an airbox adapter and custom Dynaport pipe. I should get all that back from him in a couple of weeks and then it'll just be an assembly project after that.
I wanted to attach some pics of the olé girl in modified/stock form with all the little goodies I've put on her over the years, so you can see she's already pretty formidable, but I haven't figured out how to post a pic yet. I'm going to part her chassis out, so if you know anyone with a stock KX5 who would like to upgrade their bike on the cheap, I'll post some information about all the stuff I'm selling too. I'm not looking to raise funds as much as I'd like to help someone else improve their KX5 experience, so it'll be inexpensive.
I'm really looking forward to this build. I'm going to make sort of a time lapse YouTube video of the build too, starting with the bare frame. Hopefully that'll be pretty cool too. More to follow in a couple of weeks, Howie
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Hi Howie and welcome to the best K5 forum on the net.
You can post pics like this:
http://www.kxriders.com/forums/index.php/topic,10040.0.html (http://www.kxriders.com/forums/index.php/topic,10040.0.html)
If you can't figure it out email me the pics to oem-cycle@comcast.net
Be sure to include your user ID or the thread title "1990 KX 500 to 2006 KX450F Conversion Project"
That way I'll know where to post the pics when you send them.
Can't wait to see what you do on this project.
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Sandblaster, I tried to email you some pictures, but they wouldn't send. I'll get that figured out, soon I hope.
A couple of quick updates: I removed the head and mailed it to Larry Wiechman in Roscoe, IL yesterday morning for the decompression mod. Considering I nearly ripped my right calf off in Germany trying to start the beast wearing a pair of Merrill's (stupid idea) and couldn't ride for two months while my leg recovered, I'm really looking forward to that magic little button.
I have also ordered about $1,500.00 in assorted parts and accessories so as soon as George gets my frame mod done and sends it back (should be by Halloween or there abouts) all I should have left is a big bolt together party. I'll probably miss the first race of the winter hare scrambles series here in MO, 2 Nov, but I should have the beast running in time for round 2, 9 Nov.
I do have one question: What's the best way to bore the engine cases out without disassembling the motor, or should I not try that? The KX450F swingarm bolt is a couple of millimeters bigger than the stock KX5 bolt. I'm thinking I'll get someone to help me hold the motor on the drill press and just bore it out. Is it that simple or am I setting myself up for trouble?
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I drilled mine out one at a time using a 43/64" bit.
Worked like a charm.
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OK, thanks. Sounds good, I'm just lazy and didn't want to split the cases unless I absolutely had to...
Thanks for the tip on the drillbit size too. I haven't had time to measure that yet.
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OK guys, I got my frame back from George Fanelli at MPS Racing last night, so I'm about to tear in on this build. I have some parts I still need to order and get in, but I'm going for it. I'll post some pictures on here as I go, and I'm going to make a time lapse video of the entire build from the bare frame up to the first test ride. That should be pretty cool...
And for those folks who had a lot of BAD things to say about George, I'm going to post some close up shots of the frame and the mods he did to it. Personally, I am very pleased with my interaction with George; his responsiveness, his crafmanship and quality of the welds on the frame; headstay he fabricated, mods to my radiators, and the cost. I'll post some pics of his work and you can be the judge.
I think I finally figured out how to load photos on here, so here's a couple of shots of me racing the old version of the 1990 K5 in mostly stock trim.
Howie
(http://i870.photobucket.com/albums/ab265/howiemel/2012HGPScottFarm_zpse38bf29a.jpg)
(http://i870.photobucket.com/albums/ab265/howiemel/ScipioEnduro_zpsd1a6a9c0.jpg)
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Interested in seeing some pics of MPS work... Haven't seen anything good from them yet...
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Any updates on the pics?
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He's probably still trying to get the motor to fit into that frame, that he got ass raped by Fanelli on.
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Hey guys, sorry it's been so long since my last update. I've had some challenges with my build and I've been really busy and haven't had time to work on it much.
So, let me begin with my experience with George Fanelli: Overall, I'd give George a grade of 'C' on his services.
He charged me $1,000 to mod my frame ($200 discount), including engine mount bolts, one modified radiator, and an aluminum plate for the air box. He did the job within a month and my engine fit like a glove. He was very responsive to my questions concerning the frame and assembly, e.g., how to route the radiator hoses. I know, you're asking, 'Why the 'C', then?
I have two reasons for the 'C' grade:
1) The way he cut, stretched, and re-welded the two front frame down tubes was inconsistent. One was almost perfect and looks real nice. The other one is crooked (according to George, that was intentional) and it looks bad (to me). I'm a perfectionist! His explanation for the crooked down tube is that when he cuts them they 'spring' into a natural position, which sometimes is not straight. He then cuts and raises the junction with the main frame and inserts a 4" piece of tubing reconnecting the two halves of the down tubes. In my case, the tubes on one side are visibly out of line. George assured me that his technique prevents undue lateral stress and makes the frame stronger and prevents cracks. Maybe that's true, but I don't like the way it looks! In all fairness to George though, other than that one point, I'm very pleased with the frame and the way the engine and everything else fit.
2) He convinced me to buy a custom pipe from Dynoport he designed and for which he has an exclusive contract. The MPS pipe cost me $400 and it's a beautiful, ceramic coated pipe. When I took it out of the box, I loved it. Then I tried to mount it on the bike. It didn't come close to fitting. I called Rich at Dynoport and he was very curt (rude) with me about the pipe. He refused to hear any of my explanation as to the problems with fitment. He made it clear that George designed the pipe and if there was a problem I needed to take it up with George, not him. I took it from his attitude that this is not the first time he's received one of these calls about the 'George' pipe. I blame them both for being unprofessional and not working together to fix the design and take care of their customers. Shame on them both. I now have the bike and pipe at a local fabricator's being modified, which will cost me even more $. Also, after I talked to Rich, I texted pictures and an explanation of the problem to George and he has yet to respond to me. That was five weeks ago!
I will post some pictures of the frame and pipe and you can decide for yourselves, what you think of the quality. In George's defense, he did a pretty good job till we got to the pipe issue. And, I have a buddy I race with who is a Yamaha dealer and former two time ISDE team member, who bought a George-built YZ 300 hybrid and he loves his bike. At the end of the day, that's what really matters...
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Here are some pics:
(http://i870.photobucket.com/albums/ab265/howiemel/KX%20500%20AF/IMG_0587_zpscchgfggj.jpg)
This shot shows the custom head stay, front engine mount and you can see how the frame down tube on the right is not straight, compared to the one on the left. You can also see the welds, which are pretty good, but not the best I've ever seen. They do look very sturdy, which is what matters most on a race bike, like mine. We'll see how they hold up under race conditions.
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I'm having trouble seeing the pics Kwakerman.
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I'm having trouble loading more than one pic at a time...
(http://i870.photobucket.com/albums/ab265/howiemel/KX%20500%20AF/Frame%20Down%20tubes_zpsqj3o2izo.jpg)
This pic is from the front and you can really see how the down tube on the left is crooked, while the one on the right is great. If he had only done them both like the one on the right, I'd be a happy camper, with the exception of the pipe debacle...
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Here's one with the Bike a little further along in the process:
(http://i870.photobucket.com/albums/ab265/howiemel/KX%20500%20AF/IMG_0603_zpsmardrada.jpg)
This shot is with the engine in the frame and the swing arm on. I have to admit the engine fits perfect in the frame.
And, yes, I modified my clutch cover and installed the outer two-piece clutch cover from a 1996 KX 250. I have a ton of picks of how I made the clutch cover. Maybe I can figure out how to load them in the KX 500 modifications thread. It was really easy and only cost me $40 in welding. I already had the 250 clutch cover and I did the entire job in my garage with just a cut-off wheel in about two hours. It looks and works like factory!
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Here it is with the radiators and forks on:
(http://i870.photobucket.com/albums/ab265/howiemel/KX%20500%20AF/IMG_0606_zps2cmsq2fg.jpg)
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I'm having trouble loading more than one pic at a time...
(http://i870.photobucket.com/albums/ab265/howiemel/KX%20500%20AF/Frame%20Down%20tubes_zpsqj3o2izo.jpg)
This pic is from the front and you can really see how the down tube on the left is crooked, while the one on the right is great. If he had only done them both like the one on the right, I'd be a happy camper, with the exception of the pipe debacle...
is it just me......or does it look like the problem is at the yolk/neck...it looks like the side with the crooked down tube comes out off the neck more than the other side, that's nice and straight.
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In this pic, you can see how beautiful this pipe is. If it just fit as good as it looks, I'd be doing backflips. Unfortunately, it doesn't fit...
(http://i870.photobucket.com/albums/ab265/howiemel/KX%20500%20AF/IMG_0627_zpsfc9o6uce.jpg)
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This pic shows how far off the pipe mount is from the frame bracket. Even with the stock rubber mount in place (not pictured) the mount on the pipe is a good two-three inches too far out and an inch or more to the rear of where it needs to be to properly mount to the frame. That is a major design flaw and there is no excuse, in my opinion, for that bracket to be that far off on a $400 custom pipe...
(http://i870.photobucket.com/albums/ab265/howiemel/KX%20500%20AF/IMG_0628_zpsmoxskpyf.jpg)
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This pic shows the classic interference between the coolant spigot and the pipe. Again, no excuse for that on a $400 custom pipe...
I took the bike and pipe to a local guy who is an amazing fabricator and has made several Kawasaki KDX/KXF hybrids. He looked at it and recommended I let him cut a "half moon" section and weld it into the pipe so it clears the spigot and coolant hose. I agreed. It should be complete by this weekend. I'll post some picks...
(http://i870.photobucket.com/albums/ab265/howiemel/KX%20500%20AF/IMG_0630_zpswypq0fx3.jpg)
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Hey Kwackerman.
Looks like progress...
If you get the Service Kawi rad hose you can run it like this..
(http://i644.photobucket.com/albums/uu165/oemcycle/KX500AF%20PROJECT/1-15-11/DSCN9480.jpg)
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Here's how it looked yesterday when I took it to the fabricator. I have to admit, it's looking pretty dang good, overall. I can't wait to finish it and throw a leg over it...
(http://i870.photobucket.com/albums/ab265/howiemel/KX%20500%20AF/IMG_0648_zpsjxpycek4.jpg)
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this is what I was referring too....it looks like the yellow side comes out more than the red side.
(http://i895.photobucket.com/albums/ac152/foxx4afoxx2/Frame20Down20tubes_zps0ptyrkni.jpg) (http://s895.photobucket.com/user/foxx4afoxx2/media/Frame20Down20tubes_zps0ptyrkni.jpg.html)
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I see that, but I think that might be from me not standing directly in line with the frame when I took that pic. As you can see from my last pic, the bike is mostly together. I've actually had the seat and all the plastic on it and everything seems to be lined up well. Of course, I won't know for sure till I ride it. Hopefully it will track straight and not have any shakiness...
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Unless your frame is bent I doubt you would feel anything funny.
When I cut my frame it stayed very ridged.
After weld it still stayed straight.
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Oh man, don't get me started on the SH guys. I called them about purchasing one of those custom hoses, like the one in your picture. The guy said I would have to send him pictures so they could confirm that I bought my bike from them, because they only sell to their "customers." I thought if you bought something from someone, that made you a customer...
Of course, he meant a customer, as in, I bought an $11,000 bike from them. Then, and only then, would they sell me a replacement hose. He did throw me a bone and told me they would sell me a complete set of the green hoses for $300-400!!! I thought he was kidding, so I asked him again how much the set of hoses cost. He said, "we're out of stock right now, but they run $300-400."
I thanked him and hung up before they charged me for talking to them!
AMAZING!!! Needless to say, I'll have my buddy salami slice my pipe before I do that. I grew up in the motorcycle industry and I can't believe how selfish, greedy, and non-customer oriented people are in the industry these days...
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Here's a pic of the bottom frame mount. It looks really nice.
(http://i870.photobucket.com/albums/ab265/howiemel/KX%20500%20AF/IMG_0581_zpspcqojr37.jpg)
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I see that, but I think that might be from me not standing directly in line with the frame when I took that pic. As you can see from my last pic, the bike is mostly together. I've actually had the seat and all the plastic on it and everything seems to be lined up well. Of course, I won't know for sure till I ride it. Hopefully it will track straight and not have any shakiness...
I'll take your word for it...as it's not the best pic to tell.
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Here's a pic of the head stay. I don't know what George used to make this thing, but it's really trick.
(http://i870.photobucket.com/albums/ab265/howiemel/KX%20500%20AF/Head%20Stay_zpsh3adkekf.jpg)
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first offyou can buy that hose from your local autozone, I bought one after somebody on here posted it up, it was a member that did the work and found the hose, unfortunately I can't remrmber the part number but as I recall it was a gates hose.
I will also say that the first AF framed bike I did was similar to your frame rails, I will caution you to watch them very closely because they will break, after the second time I gutted it, bent all new frame rails using radiused tubing and gusseted both the top and bottom. I would not do it that way again. since then I have completed 5 more and haven't had an issue with breakage, just my .02
I will look to see if I can find a number for the hose
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Here's a look at here from yesterday, from the back left side.
(http://i870.photobucket.com/albums/ab265/howiemel/KX%20500%20AF/IMG_0651_zpsr4kuisi0.jpg)
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and as for a pipe from Service honda, you will still end up denting it around the water fixture if you don't use the up pipe on the water nipple. The CPI fits like a glove but its expensive and big so it is probably susceptable to denting.
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Here's a look at here from yesterday, from the back left side.
(http://i870.photobucket.com/albums/ab265/howiemel/KX%20500%20AF/IMG_0651_zpsr4kuisi0.jpg)
is this a MPS conversion?
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never mind I went back to the beginning
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That's great news about the hose. I wondered if anyone other than SH had those.
I'll call my buddy to see if he's already cut the pipe. If he hasn't I'll tell him to hold off till I can get a hose. That'll save me some $.
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I will also say that the first AF framed bike I did was similar to your frame rails, I will caution you to watch them very closely because they will break, after the second time I gutted it, bent all new frame rails using radiused tubing and gusseted both the top and bottom.
Hey Don.
Just curious, did you heat treat the frame when done?
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This is a MPS main frame modification, with a MPS designed Dynoport pipe.
Everything else is either stock or aftermarket, all bought off EBay.
The motor is my original 1990 KX 500 I've owned since new...
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Here's a close up shot from the side of the front engine mounts.
(http://i870.photobucket.com/albums/ab265/howiemel/KX%20500%20AF/Front%20Engine%20Mount_zpsyv0vwegb.jpg)
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Here's a shot of the back side of the main frame down tube. It's not the prettiest welding job I've ever seen, but it's heavy duty.
(http://i870.photobucket.com/albums/ab265/howiemel/KX%20500%20AF/Down%20Tube%20Yoke_zpshh4efhhk.jpg)
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Here's the main frame down tube from the front. It looks cleaner than the back side.
(http://i870.photobucket.com/albums/ab265/howiemel/KX%20500%20AF/IMG_0589_zpsic8jhloy.jpg)
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This is the underside of the bottom engine mount.
(http://i870.photobucket.com/albums/ab265/howiemel/KX%20500%20AF/Bottom%20Engine%20Mount_zps3szrxgr6.jpg)
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This is the front side of the front engine mount, and you can see the cool looking head stay.
(http://i870.photobucket.com/albums/ab265/howiemel/KX%20500%20AF/IMG_0595_zps33lkthol.jpg)
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One other pic of the ill-fitting "custom" pipe. It sits so tight on top of the oil fill cap you can't even turn it, much less remove it.
I'll post some pics of the finished product this weekend.
(http://i870.photobucket.com/albums/ab265/howiemel/KX%20500%20AF/IMG_0629_zpswtmbx6n9.jpg)
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I will also say that the first AF framed bike I did was similar to your frame rails, I will caution you to watch them very closely because they will break, after the second time I gutted it, bent all new frame rails using radiused tubing and gusseted both the top and bottom.
Hey Don.
Just curious, did you heat treat the frame when done?
I did several that were not heat treated, after all the discussion on this site, I had a guy heat treat it. honestly couldn't tell the difference, but then it hasn't been that long. I do think the biggest thing is the radiused tubing.
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Dang man, I hate to say this but it sure seems like mps should be doing better work than this... They've been in the game for a long time and this don't look very good... No offence to anyone, just my personal opinion.
If i were to pay someone to do work i would expect it to looks something like this...
http://www.bannedcr500riders.com/board/viewtopic.php?t=8666&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=75
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man, i never like to negatively comment on someones thread. but i almost have to say something here :/
that is a HORRID. i mean absolutely ATROCIOUS fabrication job. I'm sorry you paid 1k for that. But for me that would be in no way shape or form acceptable.
Those welds look like someone who has tig'd aluminum for a week can do. That bottom frame rail is NOT supposed to be bent, and i have no idea how the motor mount is straight vertical inline if it is even slightly off.
like charlie500 posted. check out stoeffers work. thats what it should be looking like. that guy is pretty dang good.
service honda is another good one.
and i saw you knock on SH. here's my .02$ on them... AJ (owner) is a good guy. they seem to try hard to sell a COMPLETE service honda product. how much so? so much so they start with NOS parts on every single piece and build a motor so its 100% fresh. so i can slightly understand that they dont want to sell hoses, pipes, ect for people to use on their personal build. is that right? mehhhhhh i dont know what i would do in the same position, but its not my decision. take it with a grain of salt and maybe not take it so personal. no big deal.
nothing against your or your stuff at all. i'm not a fan of MPS at ALL and try and steer people away from him.
and is that dynoport pipe built from scratch? it almost looks like a cr500 pipe with a piece chopped into it to get it clearance off the right side case.
sorry not trying to come off as rude buddy.
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Kwackerman, as long as you're happy with the job, or parts thereof, that's all that matters. I'm with jBernard on this one though, and I was a victim of MPS as well. From what I can see, nothing has changed in the 5 years since I bought my frame from him, and it never will.
As for the guy at Dynoport, I get where he's at. He made the pipe according to Fanelli's spec, and it was under contract to him. Any shortcomings fall on Fanelli, so while I can't condone him being an ass on the phone, he has a point. George's design, George's problem.
Roostius Maximus is redoing my frame now, but during our numerous conversations over the years, he also said the when you cut apart a used bike, the frame rails are usually "sprung" sometimes, and that has to be fixed. About the only truth Fanelli might have told, but his idea of "compensation" is a little skewed. For what it's worth, my frame looked the same. Crooked on one side, by memory. Best of luck getting your build finished.
Just as an FYI, Paul Stoffers is no longer in the frame mod business.
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Let me start by saying that I am not an expert welder or fabricator, I'm just interested in a fellow rider's safety. I'm not trying to dog your project or MPS either. With that being said, do the welds seem to have good penetration? I showed them to my dad, who has been welding on Hot Rods for longer than I've been alive, and he didn't think all of the welds had good penetration and that some of the welds were mostly piled on top. Take that with a grain of salt, his eyes aren't as good as they once were. With that being said, I might take the bike by a local welder to get his thumbs up/thumbs down. If those welds let go, it can be pretty catastrophic to the whole frame.
(https://fbcdn-sphotos-d-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xfa1/v/t1.0-9/10931293_10204902957026132_8794264810167634301_n.jpg?oh=5cca9b128a49788479685724beac2776&oe=55670437&__gda__=1432956634_b82bda9fe88a137f40e9be996749b479)
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Don, Charlie, and JBenard, you guys aren't offending me in the least. I expected something much more "factory-like" for $1000, from someone who's been doing this for years, but at this point it is what it is. At least the bike is all fitting back together well, with the exception of the pipe.
As for the welds, the local guy I took my bike to to finish the fabrication and fix the pipe, does AF conversions too and has hand built about 30 custom cars from scratch over the past 30 years. I went to him first to do my project, but he was too busy and I was in a hurry. It NEVER pays to get in a hurry!!! Anyway, he looked at the welds and thought they looked OK, but agreed with some of the comments on here that he wouldn't have gone the route George did with the down tubes. He said he would have bent brand new tubes and installed them (as stated by others on here), instead of piecemealing the tubes together.
His ccraftmanship is nothing short of amazing (like the pics at that link). He built two KDX220/KX250F hybrids for a father-son team I race with, and their bikes truly look better than factory. And he did each bike for about $1,100.00, including final assembly. All they had to do was pick them up, fire them up, and go racing. You can't beat that!
I'm picking my bike up from him today after work and I'll put some more pictures on here of the completed pipe, airbox, and radiator mods he did for me.
I just hope my frame doesn't break. I'm a racer and that could be really ugly!!! You can bet I'll be inspecting that frame very closely after every ride for a while.
I'll keep this thread going and post a race report after my first hare scrambles, 1 March.
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Hey Kwackerman.
Great attitude.
Nobody here want's to see you get hurt.
I know we would all like to see how well you like your build and vids are cool :-D
Thanks for posting.
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Hey Kwackerman.
Great attitude.
Nobody here want's to see you get hurt.
I know we would all like to see how well you like your build and vids are cool :-D
Thanks for posting.
absolutely, +1 :mrgreen:
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Here is the hose from AutoZone. Been working great on my SFC 500. I went to the local auto zone and found hose #A71415, crossed that number to Gates. Gates hose was $ 10.99. It is the exact fit of the SH hose.
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Don, Charlie, and JBenard, you guys aren't offending me in the least. I expected something much more "factory-like" for $1000, from someone who's been doing this for years, but at this point it is what it is. At least the bike is all fitting back together well, with the exception of the pipe.
As for the welds, the local guy I took my bike to to finish the fabrication and fix the pipe, does AF conversions too and has hand built about 30 custom cars from scratch over the past 30 years. I went to him first to do my project, but he was too busy and I was in a hurry. It NEVER pays to get in a hurry!!! Anyway, he looked at the welds and thought they looked OK, but agreed with some of the comments on here that he wouldn't have gone the route George did with the down tubes. He said he would have bent brand new tubes and installed them (as stated by others on here), instead of piecemealing the tubes together.
His ccraftmanship is nothing short of amazing (like the pics at that link). He built two KDX220/KX250F hybrids for a father-son team I race with, and their bikes truly look better than factory. And he did each bike for about $1,100.00, including final assembly. All they had to do was pick them up, fire them up, and go racing. You can't beat that!
I'm picking my bike up from him today after work and I'll put some more pictures on here of the completed pipe, airbox, and radiator mods he did for me.
I just hope my frame doesn't break. I'm a racer and that could be really ugly!!! You can bet I'll be inspecting that frame very closely after every ride for a while.
I'll keep this thread going and post a race report after my first hare scrambles, 1 March.
Do you have any contact info for the guy that's helping you finish your bike? Sounds like he might be a good source to join the forum and post some pictures. He might pick up some work too.
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Just a thought Kwackerman, but think about this. Book a slot with your friend for next winter, ride your bike this year. If you like it, have him redo it. As long as the frame holds together, just run it. If you don't like the bike, don't proceed. I'm doing the same thing with my bike, Adam Millar is redoing my motor mounts, and doing up a proper head stay for it. I paid Fanelli a Grand to make a mess of mine, I'm paying a second time to have it fixed. Lesson learned, life goes on.
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Guys, the local guy here (Camdenton, MO) is Steve Bonaker. I'll ask him tonight if he minds me listing his phone number and email on here. Like I said, he does amazing work and his prices are very reasonable. He's also been racing off-road bikes for years, so he gets where we're all coming from.
I appreciate all the encouragement. My bottom line is that I hope after all the expense and work that my hybrid works better than my original K5. I've had several guys ask me why I went away from the chromoly frame to the aluminum frame for woods racing, because the chromoly frame has more flex than aluminum. I told them it's just something I've always wanted to do. If I don't like it, I may do something crazy like pull the motor, sell the chasis and try a KTM hybrid. I've seen some Youtube videos of those and they look really cool too. we'll see.
I just like to tinker...
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I think the modern suspension and ergonomics should make up for any additional harshness in the frame, especially if you have your suspension valved to your weight and riding style. If you were coming from a later model steel framed bike, it might be more of a glaring difference. Plus it's so unique you'll be a rock star where ever you ride it. 8-)
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Guys, I picked up my bike yesterday from the fabricator and he did a great job modifying my pipe, air box, and radiators. I'll get some photos posted this weekend.
I asked him if he was interested in building more hybrids and if I could post his contact info here, and he said, yes. Feel free to share with anyone who wants a super cool hybrid, built to the highest quality standards.
Steve Bonacker, Camdenton, MO
Phone: (573) 286-1199
Email: stbonacker@yahoo.com.
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Guys, here's a pic of where Steve shaved the frame spar to take pressure off the air boot
(http://i870.photobucket.com/albums/ab265/howiemel/IMG_0661_zpsolyiyq3a.jpg)
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Here's a pic of the top rear pipe mount Steve added.
(http://i870.photobucket.com/albums/ab265/howiemel/IMG_0658_zpsk4jaiplw.jpg)
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Here's another angle on the top rear pipe mount, showing the rubber grommet for vibration absorption. I'm going to switch it out for a stock KX 500 pipe mount.
(http://i870.photobucket.com/albums/ab265/howiemel/IMG_0657_zpsjhhlc7lp.jpg)
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Here's a shot of the realignment of the pipe in order to clear the spigot and hose on the cylinder. In the picture, it looks like the pipe is touching the hose, but there is about a 1/8" gap, so there's no direct contact. That's a great improvement over the original alignment, where I couldn't even put the spigot in place to bolt in on.
(http://i870.photobucket.com/albums/ab265/howiemel/IMG_0655_zpsuwp6z1fv.jpg)
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Here's a pic of the extended frame mount and modified pipe mount. Steve welded an extension to the frame mount to move it out another inch or so from the original position. He then cut the two halves of the mount on the pipe and re-drilled it so that the two mounts aligned perfectly, using the factory KX 500 rubber mount. It looks and will work real nice.
(http://i870.photobucket.com/albums/ab265/howiemel/IMG_0653_zpsdrebphci.jpg)
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I shot this pic from the rear wheel well, looking toward the engine to show how Steve aligned the FMF silencer (CR 500 model) with the Dynoport pipe. It looks real nice and clears everything well too.
(http://i870.photobucket.com/albums/ab265/howiemel/IMG_0659_zpsjkz3obty.jpg)
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This shot shows how Steve cut the weld off the lower spigot on the 450 radiator and turned the spigot straight up, so the hose aligns without any twisting or pinching like it was before, with the spigot angled toward the cylinder.
(http://i870.photobucket.com/albums/ab265/howiemel/IMG_0662_zpsrpcme2xe.jpg)
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Looks like you have made some good progress.
When's the maiden voyage?
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This shot shows how Steve plugged the bottom spigot on the right side 450 radiator, since I ran the hoses in the stock K5 pattern. I didn't need this spigot, so I chose to weld it up, rather than run a rubber plug on the spigot.
(http://i870.photobucket.com/albums/ab265/howiemel/IMG_0663_zpsciqi4stz.jpg)
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I'm hoping to race a hare scrambles in the Hillbilly Gran Prix Series, next Sunday, 1 March. I only have final assembly of the rest of the bike and I think I can have her ready for a practice ride next Saturday with the race Sunday afternoon. The race course includes a grass airstrip where everybody pins it in top gear for about five seconds. It seems like an eternity, especially when it's cold and sometimes the ground is frozen. That's a perfect course for unleashing the beast, though!!!
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If your jetted and geared right and your engine is in a good state of tune there should be few that can top you on the straight :evil:
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Hey guys, I wanted to post an update on my build and the pipe fiasco I told you all about.
George contacted me a couple of days ago about the pipe. It seems he never received my original text with the four photos of the pipe problems (he was switching to an iphone at that time and thinks that may have something to do with it). Okay, so when I didn't hear from him for a couple of weeks after I sent the text, I should have called him, and I didn't. that's a lick on me, not him. I'm reminded that just because you hit "send" on an email, that doesn't mean the person on the other end received it!
Anyway, he heard from another customer, who ordered two KX 250 Dynoport pipes, but received one 250 and one 450 pipe, and George wondered if I had received the other 250 pipe by mistake. When he texted me yesterday, I told him about how my pipe was stamped MPS KX 500/450, but that it fit really badly. I also directed him to my thread on here to see the pics and catch up on my story. He did, and contacted me again and offered to refund my money for the pipe and take it back. I told him Steve had cut it and modifief it and I was happy with it, now that it was moddified and that it fit great.
I sort of busted on Rich (and George) about that pipe, but I told George Rich at Dynoport wasn't doing him or his customers any favors. Rich refused to listen to anything I had to say about the pipe not fitting correctly. He only cared about the stamp on it and said that if it was stamped 450, then it was the correct pipe and the problem was with George and his design. I don't think that's very professional or customer oriented, as I stated earlier on here. Rich doesn't seem to care much about his reputation either, since he didn't want to do anything to make me happy, only to sick me back on George. If he'd only listened to my situation, he may have figured out he really did send the wrong pipe.
Yes, I'm upset about the pipe and that it cost me a total of $600.00 to get it right. I think anyone would agree that's outrageous. But, I also want to give George credit for contacting me as soon as he realized something wasn't right and offering to give me a refund and make this all right, without me even asking.
At this point, I'm still overall happy with the job on my frame and George's interactions with me, especially when I read some of the other comments people have made about him. It seems to me from looking at the photos others have posted of George's work from several years ago, compared to the quality of my frame, he is doing much better quality work. And he has been very professional and responsive to my questions and issues, when he knew about them.
My final judgment on the fit and finish will come when I get the bike completed race it. As I told George this morning, the proof is in the performance. I'll post a race report and post some pics of the final finished product and you guys can judge for yourselves.
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A iPhone he told me the same thing dude he told me the very same thing lol.
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It looks like Steve does really good work man! Your fortunate to have someone with those skills so close to you!
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Hey guys, I wanted to post an update on my build and the pipe fiasco I told you all about.
George contacted me a couple of days ago about the pipe. It seems he never received my original text with the four photos of the pipe problems (he was switching to an iphone at that time and thinks that may have something to do with it). Okay, so when I didn't hear from him for a couple of weeks after I sent the text, I should have called him, and I didn't. that's a lick on me, not him. I'm reminded that just because you hit "send" on an email, that doesn't mean the person on the other end received it!
Anyway, he heard from another customer, who ordered two KX 250 Dynoport pipes, but received one 250 and one 450 pipe, and George wondered if I had received the other 250 pipe by mistake. When he texted me yesterday, I told him about how my pipe was stamped MPS KX 500/450, but that it fit really badly. I also directed him to my thread on here to see the pics and catch up on my story. He did, and contacted me again and offered to refund my money for the pipe and take it back. I told him Steve had cut it and modifief it and I was happy with it, now that it was moddified and that it fit great.
I sort of busted on Rich (and George) about that pipe, but I told George Rich at Dynoport wasn't doing him or his customers any favors. Rich refused to listen to anything I had to say about the pipe not fitting correctly. He only cared about the stamp on it and said that if it was stamped 450, then it was the correct pipe and the problem was with George and his design. I don't think that's very professional or customer oriented, as I stated earlier on here. Rich doesn't seem to care much about his reputation either, since he didn't want to do anything to make me happy, only to sick me back on George. If he'd only listened to my situation, he may have figured out he really did send the wrong pipe.
Yes, I'm upset about the pipe and that it cost me a total of $600.00 to get it right. I think anyone would agree that's outrageous. But, I also want to give George credit for contacting me as soon as he realized something wasn't right and offering to give me a refund and make this all right, without me even asking.
At this point, I'm still overall happy with the job on my frame and George's interactions with me, especially when I read some of the other comments people have made about him. It seems to me from looking at the photos others have posted of George's work from several years ago, compared to the quality of my frame, he is doing much better quality work. And he has been very professional and responsive to my questions and issues, when he knew about them.
My final judgment on the fit and finish will come when I get the bike completed race it. As I told George this morning, the proof is in the performance. I'll post a race report and post some pics of the final finished product and you guys can judge for yourselves.
I made and honest effort to talk to george and ask to see his work before sending my stuff to him... He flipped out and started swearing at me... Really weird... I'm glad he is treating you right.
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Hey guys, I wanted to check in and give an update on my bike. I tried to load a little video of the finished product, but haven't had any luck so far.
Ride report: I took the beast out for a shake down ride about a month ago and rode three 7-mile laps around a local hare scrambles track here in MO. The bike worked really well.
I took it to Combs, AR, two weeks ago and rode round three of the Black Jack Enduro Circuit (BJEC) series, on a very muddy, technical 27.5 mile mountainous course. It was running lean because it was really cold and wet that day, so I had problems getting it to idle down. I got a front flat about 10 miles into the race, but thanks to my tubliss inserts, the tire stayed on the bead of the rim and I was able to finish. I got 3rd out of 12 riders and missed 2nd by a mere 42 seconds over a 27.5 mile distance. The bike worked flawlessly and I love the new, taller riding position with the KXF frame.
Saturday, I took it over to Wyandotte, OK, and rode a three-man, nine-hour endurance race, called the Off Road Cup. It was 31 degrees that morning and I had even worse lean issues with the motor. The thing was running away on me and I couldn't get it to idle down. During one of my breaks, I pulled the seat and tank and moved the needle clip from the top position to the middle position and baby, she caught fire!!! Unfortunately, after four 7-mile laps, both of my tires went flat (very rocky course), so I retired the beast and rode my brother's SHERCO 300 two-stroke for my last two laps. Other than my flat tire issues, the beast is performing like a champ, the pipe (Dynaport) and MPS frame are both performing well, and no problems with the welds. I have to say, at this point, I'm very happy with my bike.
My next race outing isn't until June 14th, when I will ride the Rekluse National Enduro in Upton, WY. I'll post a race report.
I'll get some pictures and hopefully a video on here shortly so you can see her in all her glory. She's beautiful and I've gotten nothing but compliments about how she looks.
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good...looking forward to seeing/hearing the video!
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Hey guys, here are a couple of pics of my AF after the White Rock enduro a couple of weeks ago. It was a little muddy, but the beast ran great. I finished 3rd out of 12 riders in the 50+ age category. Not a bad ride...
(http://i870.photobucket.com/albums/ab265/howiemel/KX%20500%20AF/KXAF%20Left%20Side_zpsmpk1pehr.jpg)
(http://i870.photobucket.com/albums/ab265/howiemel/KX%20500%20AF/KXAF%20Right%20Side_zpsfjdrtjye.jpg)
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Here's a video of my completed KX500AF project. I raced it in an enduro in Arkansas back in March and it ran great! I look forward to your comments. Howie
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UChZHXEp3GuRmKIsccX6bdMw (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UChZHXEp3GuRmKIsccX6bdMw)
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it looks good....was really hoping you were gonna fire it up. so we can hear it too :wink: