KX Riders

General => In General... => Topic started by: FuriouSly on June 02, 2006, 07:00:12 AM

Title: Happy B-Day Arigato ! ! !
Post by: FuriouSly on June 02, 2006, 07:00:12 AM
Can't wait to see the "Wasabi" at Coral Pink....  Should be some great riding for the weekend.

Peace.....  Sly
Title: Re: Happy B-Day Arigato ! ! !
Post by: gowen on June 02, 2006, 07:34:01 AM
Happy Birthday Arigato!
Title: Re: Happy B-Day Arigato ! ! !
Post by: metallicarebal on June 02, 2006, 08:07:23 AM
Happy birthday dude  :-D   You have the sweetest K5 ever. Life's hard, ride hard :evil:.
Title: Re: Happy B-Day Arigato ! ! !
Post by: Timbowe on June 02, 2006, 08:47:30 AM
Have a goodie Bling Bro! :wink:
Title: Re: Happy B-Day Arigato ! ! !
Post by: alan on June 02, 2006, 11:38:18 AM
Happy Birthday and have a great time at the "Pinks" :-D :-) :-) :-D :-)
Title: Re: Happy B-Day Arigato ! ! !
Post by: air on June 03, 2006, 04:01:29 PM
d**n wish I could go there that place looks pretty sweet my birthday is on the 10th of this month and im going to winchester bay to rip up the sand  :evil:
Title: Re: Happy B-Day Arigato ! ! !
Post by: Arigato on June 04, 2006, 10:41:50 AM
Thanks everyone.  FuriouSly and I had a great time at the dunes.  He's getting his bike on track.  You know how everyone seems to have problems with their kickstart levers?  Ask Sly about his solution.  I'm not going to steal his thunder, but I'm glad my bike has his ingenious mod.  Ask him about it.
Title: Re: Happy B-Day Arigato ! ! !
Post by: Timbowe on June 04, 2006, 08:23:37 PM
OK Sly what this flash kicker mod your onto?
Title: Re: Happy B-Day Arigato ! ! !
Post by: gowen on June 05, 2006, 03:58:33 AM
OK Sly what this flash kicker mod your onto?

I've been living by welding a solid corner onto the kicker to keep it from over rotating. I'd love to know of other ways around this.
Title: Re: Happy B-Day Arigato ! ! !
Post by: alan on June 05, 2006, 04:24:49 AM
Got any pic's in the gallery?
Title: Re: Happy B-Day Arigato ! ! !
Post by: gowen on June 05, 2006, 04:29:26 AM
If you were refering to myself Alan, I have not yet. But I will get some pictures asap and post them up. Nothing big, just a piece of iron welded to the kicker (nonaluminum part) It has worked for awhile now, but haven't ridden all that much either. :-)
Title: Re: Happy B-Day Arigato ! ! !
Post by: FuriouSly on June 05, 2006, 06:08:53 AM
   Hey all....   Happy Post Birthday Arigato  :-P   I am not sure where you guys want this to be posted, but it would make a great tech tip for the KX5 riders:

   I bought my KX5 used from a guy about 2 months ago that rode desert.  He bought a new kickstarter for it that had about a year of use and had another older repaired one as a spare.  These were both the pre '04 "thinner" collared kickers.  Anyway, I cleaned the bike up a bit and took it out for the first dune ride....  and broke both kickers within an hour of each other....   :x

   So, I decided to see why:  it is because the milled and inserted steel pin on the upper portion (aluminum lever) does not fully contact the very small seating surface of the lower portion (steel pivot mount).  I believe this leads to over-rotation of the lever past 90 degrees during the kick stroke resulting in excessive force being applied to the aluminum "collar" and causing stress fractures.  In extreme situations (excessive wear) it looks like the lower portion (steel pivot mount) will actually rotate to the point where the seating surface creates a pressure point, like a can-opener, onto the aluminum collar which definately results in a failure....  Anyway:

   Here are some pictures of Arigato's new kickstarter that I modded and polished for his B-Day present at Coral Pink Sand Dunes...

(http://www.sly4family.com/Pictures/Tech%20Corner/KX5%20Kickstarter%20Mod%201.JPG)

(http://www.sly4family.com/Pictures/Tech%20Corner/KX5%20Kickstarter%20Mod%202.JPG)

   These are both the '04 thicker collared kickers from Kawasaki.

   In the second picture, the stock kicker on the right, you can see the steel pin is only touching the seating surface by about 50 percent.  This is a brand new '04 thicker collared kicker and is very poorly designed.  The modded kicker on the left has the seating surface extended about 5/16 of an inch and seats perfectly on the lever surface.  The modded steel pivot mount will never let the lever rotate past 90 degrees and will always contact the milled steel insert pin 100 percent.

   The steel collar is made of an alloy that has a good amount of nickel and stainless steel in it I believe.  I use a high carbon steel in my wire feed welder, which polishes up like chrome very nicely.  The tab is just built up wire from the mig welder with some shaping with a grinder and sander.  Then I detail sanded the collar and kickstarter and threw them both on the polishing wheel.  The steel collar needs the appropriate compound to cut it before the final polish.

    I also suggest hitting the local hardware store and pick up some rubber o-rings that will fit on the steel pivot mount like the stock ones.  Having the o-rings fresh, lubed, and the pivot ball lubed and the tension set appropriately will also prolong the life of the kicker.  Those o-rings wear very fast and are the only things that keep the slop on the pivot to a minimum.  Don't forget loctite on the spring set screw and the mounting bolt.

FuriouSly
Title: Re: Happy B-Day Arigato ! ! !
Post by: hughes on June 05, 2006, 07:06:13 AM
That's the same mod I made to mine and it worked great. I had a machine shop lenghten the stop as you did and it has worked great and has not even attemped to over rotate during the last two years uf use. I was going to post a photo of mine on the other post about this but just got my home computer up and running again. Thank,
Title: Re: Happy B-Day Arigato ! ! !
Post by: Arigato on June 05, 2006, 07:55:10 AM
Ask Sly about his bad-ass buggy whip mount too.

I got's mine! 
Title: Re: Happy B-Day Arigato ! ! !
Post by: gowen on June 05, 2006, 08:12:34 AM
Awesome, that is just about what I did. Same concept. I'm glad it works, because I've not done enough riding to see if it will not last. Awesome pictures, thanks for taking the time to explain in detail.
Title: Re: Happy B-Day Arigato ! ! !
Post by: John on June 05, 2006, 08:18:52 AM
I wish I had friends like FuriouSly. Not even my better half has polished my kick start!!

This is a very good idea!

Happy Birthday Arigato!


//John
Title: Re: Happy B-Day Arigato ! ! !
Post by: Timbowe on June 07, 2006, 08:14:12 PM
Well done chaps! Good mod.