Maintenance & Technical > KX500 Aluminum Frame Conversion (AFC)

My 2009 KX500AF [picture heavy] (SHE'S DONE!!!)

<< < (2/11) > >>

FL_Sharpshooter:
With the build going in a good direction, I decided to call up Packard racing and order a Lectron. He was able to set me up with a 44mm one with a power jet and his oversized billet bowl. He also supplied the throttle cable (terry cable?) and new throttle housing (domino duo 314). Just recently, I found out that this would not work with my build. The cable he supplied is entirely too long (by probably 4-5 inches - not sure how this would work on any build). Also, the cable doesn't have any threaded ends going to the throttle or the carb (very dangerous - I would've wire tied them). The domino throttle housing hits the front brake lever and there is no way to correct this. I phoned Dennis and he couldn't come up with a solution for this. Frustrated, I opted to go back to the stock throttle housing. I called Motion pro to see if they may be able to help with a cable for the stock throttle housing to the Lectron carburetor. They said yes, but it would be custom and I would need to send everything in (throttle housing, carb, etc) so that they can make one to fit. I would have gone this route, but just by chance, I decided to phone Lectron directly to see if they might have a cable that would work. Fortunately, they did have a cable that works with the stock throttle and their Lectron. Motion pro makes them a specific cable for this application (part #07-1340). I believe you can only buy this cable direct from Lectron themselves. It works with both the stock throttle and Motion pro's vortex throttle. I also needed Lectron's tool to adjust the needle (didn't want to risk damaging with pliers), so I went ahead and bought both the new cable and adjustment tool. So, a week passes and I get my new parts, everything looks great. The throttle cable fits the stock housing, but doesn't fit my Lectron. So, a phone call to Lectron it is. Unfortunately, I found out that my carburetor came with a double nut, instead of a threaded fitting  :?. I give Lectron a call (they were very nice), so more $ later, and I've got a new threaded piece headed my way now. Hopefully this will fix it up.




We can't be having any yellow on this bike, this isn't a suzuki!  :-P


Seeing as how the transmission oil was dirty as crap, I decided to replace every bearing. Starting with the clutch hub bearing. After reading sandblaster's terrible experience with chinese OEM Kawasaki NTN bearings, I opted for a Koyo. No Chinese bearings for this engine!  :mrgreen:


I also sent my new OEM rod kit off to crankworks 8-)

FL_Sharpshooter:
Meanwhile, I had some down time. I decided to re-grease every single bearing on the kx450. Linkage, swingarm, steering stem, rear shock bearings. Everything. Rather than bore you with pictures from that stuff, I leave you with a single pic of me re-greasing the wheel bearings...don't get too excited  :-D.



My dad had to order a new top end kit for his ktm 300 sx. We found the size difference between his piston and the 500's to be pretty hilarious. Bet you can't guess which is which  8-).


Meanwhile, I was able to snatch up a set of brand new beautiful raptor titanium footpegs off ebay for an awesome deal.


...and the crank came back from Crankworks! Sweet! They did a fantastic job. I had them true it up and weld the pin. Nice guys over there, and incredibly reasonable on price. I didn't want have the crank balanced.

FL_Sharpshooter:
No fancy tools here. He's making something....what could it be?


Getting the idea now?


Bottom motor mounts! Cut from 1" thick 6061 aluminum. Man! Them suckers are thick! Don't think we'll have to worry about these breaking  :-). Not bad for having just a table saw, jig saw, grinder, and a drum sander!


Top motor mounts.


Ah...the mock up...


FL_Sharpshooter:
Remember that y piece? We removed the old four stroke mounting point. Don't worry, we sanded it flush and got it looking nice.


Amplifier mount? We don't need no stinking amplifier mount! This was sanded and polished (you'll see later).


Old four stroke mounting ears. We won't be needing these.


I think it's ready for our new welder...


Sip going at it. Careful, don't stare - you'll burn your eyeballs!


Looking good!

FL_Sharpshooter:
1 1/8" thick 6061 aluminum headstay piece


Works very nicely with our 1/2" thick headstay mounting plates. We're really fighting for room on our bolts (we'll talk about that later).




Our original fuel plate with the barb. It turned out that the barb hole was smaller than the lectron's hole, so we swapped it out for a larger one (you'll see later). The bolts were all changed for genuine Kawasaki bolts throughout the frame as well.


Here's the silencer fitted on the rear stock mounting hole for the 450 pipe. We later have the welder add an additional mounting tab for the silencer's front part. We were able to use conversionparts500.com's mount for that. We were also able to use their pipe mount for the front part of the exhaust head pipe. I have to really thank cp500 for supplying me with their "hex rivnuts". We've used these throughout the build.


The head pipe has by far given us the most amount of trouble. I wish I would've been able to use Service Honda's fmf pipe, but it just wouldn't of worked. I really wanted to do a pro circuit exhaust on this build anyways. We made an insert for the back half of the pipe to mount on and pressed a rivnut inside. It was then welded inside the frame (sorry no picture of that). We then replicated a cr500 mounting tab, just had to make one a little bit longer to reach the pipe.

Navigation

[0] Message Index

[#] Next page

[*] Previous page

Go to full version