KX Riders
Maintenance & Technical => Kx Frankensteins => Topic started by: taddpole77 on December 31, 2018, 07:33:07 AM
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I am just finishing up my conversion. Been working on it for 4 years. Lots of breaks and life gets in the way. 89 EX500 chassis with 03 suspension and wheels. 98 KX 500 motor. I should be doing the final assembly in the next couple weeks. Just waiting on parts. I did everything myself. It is a budget build. Not supposed to be a some super pretty art piece but it should be pretty quick. I am hoping that it will be 80 to 100 pounds lighter than a stock ex. I will weigh it once it is complete. If you want to see a you tube video on it go to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YRObjSC4TnY I will be doing a first start video soon. I will post some more pics as well.
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Excellent vid..
I like it.
I wonder what the final weight will be.....
Should be a fun build.
With that much room I would go nuts with a pipe....
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I got the engine together yesterday. My last little design thing is going to be the hoses. I wish I had started with a new pipe. I was being cheap so I didn't won't to mess up a brand new pipe but now I have a pipe that has a bunch of dents in it. There is no way I would build another pipe unless i had too. It took way to much time to modify.
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It's together. I weighed it and it was 255 pounds dry. Stock it weighed 388 pounds dry. It was a pretty good diet.
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That thing is so cool. The pipe and silencer really worked out well.
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Thanks. The pipe took forever to modify.
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I bet!! That's a whole different configuration, nice job
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Very cool!
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First start
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZQmyRltwCQ&t=17s
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Holy "tingy"!!! :lol: ....sounds pretty good!
what do ya got left before the bodywork goes on?
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Nice!
Get yourself a decomp on the head.
It will start like butter and it will save starter parts from wearing out and putting stress on the engine.
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Amen to that! There is a member on here (Larry Wiechman) that does them for a very reasonable price, and his work is first rate. They make starting the bike a tennis shoe affair.
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Holy "tingy"!!! :lol: ....sounds pretty good!
what do ya got left before the bodywork goes on?
No bodywork. I don't want the added weight and I want it to be as stripped down as possible. I am dealing with a head gasket leak right now. It is a bit of a mystery why it's leaking.
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I am dealing with a head gasket leak right now. It is a bit of a mystery why it's leaking.
Have you lapped the head and cylinder to be sure both surfaces are completely flat?...that's "usually" the cause of a leaky head gasket.
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Twice now by my machinist. In the service manual it has a supplement on which orientation to put the head gasket but the gasket they show in the manual doesn't look like my gasket. It was a stock kx gasket torqued to 18 ft pounds criss-cross pattern. I have never had a head gasket leak before. Going to try a cometic gasket in it next. As far as I can tell the cylinder and the head are not cracked. It was leaking out of the head stud. New studs were installed because the old ones where rusty because the head was leaking.
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Were the head stud nuts tight when you took off the head?U might need retorque after running
No harm to countersink the barrel alittle when fitting new studs
Did u use proper spec/grade studs when replacing? {ie not 8.8}
I Use a little thread tape to the top of the studs now when i fit head gaskets
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Not sure how many guys on here do this...but I like to seal the studs in the cylinder with a little Yamabond. As studs have been known to back out sometimes.
As stated, countersinking the stud holes a touch is a good idea too.
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I used new oem studs. I checked the torque on the head before I pulled it and they were all still tight and at spec. I put loctite on the studs when I installed them and they were all tight when I pulled them to take to the machinist. I didn't look like the coolant was coming from inside the hole where the stud was. I am pretty sure the loctite would have stopped it anyway. I am pretty sure the head just wasn't sealing and it allowed the coolant to work its way to the stud. I don't think it was leaking into the bore though. Hopefully it won't leak again.
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First ride video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=037BfyXClWM&feature=youtu.be
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Sweet!
did ya get that head issue squared away?
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It doesn't seem to be leaking anymore.
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Knock on wood...
Keep an eye on it, and the coolant level.
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First ride video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=037BfyXClWM&feature=youtu.be
I love how excited your kids were to see your bike going. Mine usually just yawned and said, "neat" with no emotion. :-D
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It doesn't seem to be leaking anymore.
Did you change out the head gasket?
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I did. Went with cometic this time. I had them plane the head and cylinder again.
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Excellent!..there's several of us on here using Cometic...you should be all set.
When I do top end replacements/re-ring, I don't take the head off. It requires a bit more of a steady hand when droppin the cylinder back on, but it's easier than lappin the head/cylinder everytime.
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Excellent!..there's several of us on here using Cometic...you should be all set.
When I do top end replacements/re-ring, I don't take the head off. It requires a bit more of a steady hand when droppin the cylinder back on, but it's easier than lappin the head/cylinder everytime.
I've been lazy a time or two myself :-D
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I've been lazy a time or two myself :-D
Hahaaa :-)
I like to think of it as "being wiser with age" :lol:
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I did. Went with cometic this time. I had them plane the head and cylinder again.
I guess you've tried everything. It certainly sounds like it. I'm no expert and haven't even had my head and barrel off my KX yet (I think I know what to expect when I do). But as a mechanic I remember working on all sorts of vehicles and one thing that could cause this is the locating dowels being either slightly off, or sometimes dirt gets beneath them, or they aren't inserted well so that they don't recess to their full extent and are then raised just enough to prevent the two halves (barrel and head) from mating properly.
Really sorry if you've gone through this before, because it sounds like you've been really thorough, but sometimes it's the little things that get overlooked. Best of luck.