KX250 rebuild - after all I've ridden it half a dozen times and it's worn out

[Ducky848]

Great thread. KX is looking mint and good on ya for giving the poor old thing a birthday.

[Jinxycat]

good progress mate, great to see, its not always about the re sale value, the fun and satisfaction alone can be worth it, cant wait to see you out on the trail scene.

[meteor]

Bumpity bump. Any more progress on the rebuild mate? this was the best thread on KB since ages ago...

[Blagger]

Is that garage too cold to work on the bike in?

[DVS ME]

any more progress? please dont let this thread die.

[Arronduke]

Hi honey I'm home..... well back on the KX after my last post 1 July.
Now how things have turned out since then !!!!!

Finished my bucket racer.... with a third place in the bucket 2hr, built a GL145 bucket for a mate... XL185 barrel, CRF150F piston, over sized valves, cam, head ported... etc....plus fitting body work in a NSR frame. Goes well... but not as good as mine.... obviously..!!

Next cold kiwi... now 500 beers over two days is not wise..... enough said there!

New RS38 carbs for my katana... (cool) and I'm a little on the broke side after that..and finally now have time to work on the KX I started to assemble the KX.

So .... with out further suspense... my I present the kx with the rear suspension installed. What a mission. But with new bearings etc and everything nicely greased its cool.

For good or bad I put grease on the bolts in the suspension... when working on packaging machines with pneumatic cylinders pins flog out, the wear is reduced 75% if the pins are greased... so I greased the bolts...

Oh and to add... cant get the air box rubber gasket any more so I used silicon and are happy with the final result... you can see this in a picture... if your not blind and have hairy palms... casued buy...mm well you know

Cleaned up the plastic with CRC and and scothbrite... works mint. Not keen on buying new plastic ..!!! Now time to start building the engine... heaps of new stuff. ....... an old picture for ..well... dam it looks shit...

[dave hamilton]

nice job well done its looking great

[Arronduke]

Started on the engine today... after taking the kids to Rainbows end.... now that free fall is cool, and the wife was pleased I did not take beer.... as tempting as it was... after all she used the word picnic... now that involves beer.... haaa hot dogs and chip... F#$k the picnic shit.

First job was to start removing the old gasket crap...

Options....

Window scrapper.... kitchen knife..... chisel.... flame thrower...... acid...(and the stuff you swallow will do little to help) ...

After rebuilding many engines.. (self taught) I like things that as hard as I try I cant munt the casing... to me that's important. Experance has told me big mother scrapers looks cool but with minimal effort removes large chunks off aluminum and I have found that is not ideal.

So as manly as I am... (me and horses have one thing in common and its not hair)..haa .... I like to use weee little tools to remove that hard to remove gasket shit.

- Small scalpel blade, scotch bright, .... CRC (I love CRC) and a small needle file. You have to work VERY HARD with this stuff to munt a casing... very hard.... and to finish a small needle file to take off any high spots left from screw drivers and previous train mechanics that may have worked on it before hand. Soak in CRC and then go to town.... try not to wipe the motor with your tee shirt and then use it to open beers for obvious reasons.... you might need to use that tee shirt to wipe other bedroom TOOLS.... and belive me... CRC and MRS do not mix!



DO NOT FORGET ... beer... most important!...





Small file..... and YES I have some big mothers...





Nice and clean and high spots removed... still needs a clean before any assembly work can take place, and dont laugh the dish washer is usful here... make sure she is out and you do try to remove as much oil as possible.... last point very important..!... I know.



Other wsie FA done... bolted on some more stuff. decided not to remove the fuel tap and have to buy a new gasket... just cleaned it with degreaser and ... wait for it... CRC... did I say that I love CRC... best stuff ever made.





Looling cool...fitted the tank after cleaning it for ever and sraping off 19 years of crap... (GOD is it that old)...Did not want to remove the fuel tap which would mean new gasket for sure...! and hay it works fine. Funny thing is its the newest bike in my shed and at the moment and there are 10.... who said kids need clothes and food.

[george formby]

Seeing this thread is like getting a Christmas pressie.

I have a water cooled KDX 250 which too all intents & purposes looks the same as your KX, apart from having a metal tank & wiring loom. Sad to say not only have I not done any work on it other than get it running, I have not even given it a good wash. Goes like a cut cat though. Must buck my ideas up......... New Years resolution number one.. All the best!

[Arronduke]

Thanks George for your comment... I do enjoy comments as it means people are enyoying my rebuild... so please keep the comments comming. Good or bad... I like and appriciate them all.

Now being on holiday and leaving the wife to feed, scrub and read to the small people who are meant to torment and generally anoy me which incluides spending all my money I am able to go to the shed and drink beer and enjoy myself and do some more work on the KX... Dam it good to be a bloke. There is one draw back.... yep and we know what that is.... so I might as well wipe grease, CRC and spill beer all over my tee shirt because guess what.... if I want any..you now... it will be self service..! Its a sad day when I choose the SHED, BIKES and BEER....

So today I have installed new bearings and seals in to the crank case halfs.

Freeze bearings (15-20min if sitting on ice) and use a heat gun to heat casings.... baerings GENERALLY just drop in which make life sweet as.
(have a punch and hammer close by just in case... and hit the outer bearing 180 deg moving either clock or ant clock wise to stop the bearing locking up and keeping it square when installing it). Heat gun expands the casing while the freezer shrinks the bearing... needs FA to make life sweet as.


And dont heat the seal... heat the casing mass around the bearing housing.


After the basket was moved... nice and cold.


Dropped stright in...cool!


Bugger tools...


A good scoket set is the perfect thing for installing bearings and seals etc... a socket to suit every size and a perfect drift which make beating the hell out of something piss easy.

final result.









Also... some new foot peg springs..


And thats all folks...

[Jinxycat]

good to see the posts comming through again, love the rebuild stories and if they have pic's even better, she's looking good now, not far to go now, keep up the good work

[motor_mayhem]

Outstanding work mate, keep the updates coming.


P.S. If you get withdrawal when you finish this, my bike could do with that sort of treatment.

[george formby]

Outstanding work mate, keep the updates coming.


P.S. If you get withdrawal when you finish this, my bike could do with that sort of treatment.

Oy!! Mine first

[Arronduke]

Thanks for the comments... BUT true ... you dont want me fu%king with your bikes.... remember I like Lion Red..!

A little more done... first up was radiators... they had marks on them !!!! ... so I had to paint them... true.
And yes the paint looks TOOO shinny but in the real world it looks OK... but hey who is going to see them ?

[TrentNz]

fucking nice build mate! better hope the missus doesn't see this thread haha
when your done feel free to come and do a few touch ups on my 07 kx250f tbh its not that bad but ill throw in some lion reds!
whats left to do on the kx250 now?