The Fleet

[hadfield4wd]

Had major title issues but finally got it sorted.

Kinda been a pain. Moral of the story. Don't buy a "streetable" motorcycle without a title.

I fired it briefly on Saturday. It runs. I'm in the putting back together stage.

Swingarm bearings greased.
I have a new rear shock. It's a little shorter so I have to make some tabs for it.
Took care of the oil leaks.
Should have my new fork seals in this week. I already have the springs.
New tires.
Oil, filter and plug done
carb rebuilt
Gas tank cleaned and coated. I plan to have it painted today.
I managed to find all the plastics on ebay. Getting them all cleaned and treated.

Amazingly all the light bulbs work. Including all the stuff on the cluster. :rockon:

 

[hadfield4wd]

My parts showed up Friday but I didn't have time to work on it Saturday due to our exchange students being here. So I worked until 2am on Friday night.

Then my friends Gabe and Chuck showed up Saturday morning and finished everything up while I went to the lake with our exchange students. They knew I wouldn't be here so I guess I owe them. I buttoned it up this evening.

Here it is.

http://youtu.be/R3DvZJzxgSQ

Pretty happy with it. I do have some things before my first real ride. The oil looked like cappuccino even after the change. So it's either the water pump, or head gasket. I need to adjust the valves. And figure out why my temp gauge is not working.

Plus I have a couple more cosmetic things to do.

Other than that it pulled pretty strong.

 

[hadfield4wd]

Pulled the motor apart to replace the clutch. Figured I'd adjust the valves and do the "doohicky" mod. That's a cam chain tensioner that is a cronic problem with these motors. Turns out the cam timing is 180 deg out. Yeesh. We'll get it straightened out though.

I also will be adjusting valves and replacing my rear tire.

New trailtech

Before

After

New bars.

Also at Hatfield McCoy I lost my plate. The bracket on the back just broke off. I didn't like it anyway so I mounted it up on the fender.

I don't have a before picture but you can see it in the video of the first drive. Here is the after looks more "dirtbikey"

So since the Trail Tech install I keep blowing fuses for the headlight and melting LED's for the neutral light. They are both on the same circuit. I hate wiring.

 

[hadfield4wd]

I ended up having a dead short that was blowing the LED's. Got it fixed.

Some suspension work. The front end was a little squishy. It had alot of brake dive at and would bottom on jumps. So I scarfed Chucks old bent forks that had a stiffer rate, progressive spring in them. I swapped out the springs. Took less than an hour.

Also the lower forks on these are known to be a spot of flex on these heavy bikes. fortunately there are several manufacturers that make fork braces. I picked up one from Eagle Mike.

I have a new pipe on the way that should help with my throttle response. I am pretty amazed what a difference in jetting is required with realative small changes in intake and exhaust. Also I dropped off the tank and fairing to be painted. I can't wait to see them.

 

[hadfield4wd]

Tank is really green.

I'll put it on to see how it breaks up. It needs to cure over the weekend.

I also got the exhaust in yesterday.

The pipe portion in 33% longer so I will need to trim some side plastic.

Still waiting on the fairing.

All together. Went for a short ride. Pipe made a huge difference. Fork brace stabilized the front end as well.

 

[hadfield4wd]

Nothing like jumping a 312lb dirt bike.

So last trip I cracked my left side cover. I smacked the shifter into the case. Kinda glad I just bought and installed the MSR shifter. So I bought a new case gasket and jb welded the crack both sides. We'll see how it goes. Had to do a quick fix as we are riding this weekend at Hatfield McCoy then Friday and Saturday after Thanksgiving.

I also went through it and fixed my other leaks. Oring on the oil filter, oring on the oil fill cap, seal on the clutch mechanism on the case. One final leak is on the valve cover gasket but I'm out of time tonight. I'll do that later.

Been working on the front suspension. I was under the impression that the forks were pretty much identical to the 650 forks. The springs are the same, and both 38mm. However when I went to install the cartridge emulators from racetech, they don’t go down all the way. They stop about 6” from the top of the fork tube. Well turns out the 600 tubes taper to a thicker wall at the bottom triple. So the internal dimension is 29mm vs 31mm. Stronger forks than the 650. Racetech helped me out in measuring my stuff and getting me the part that would fit. The new ones are on the way. Which is good because I already drilled the holes in the dampening rods which essentially means I can’t go back.

Just in case you are reading this and don’t know what an emulator does, it basically allows you to adjust your dampening and rebound independently of each other, by putting a valve in the fork. So it’s been on my stand for a couple of weeks looking like gonzo from the muppets.

This has allowed me to do a couple things that I’ve been putting off. No excuses now because I can’t ride. I fixed some wiring issues. I wrapped the harness in places where it was rubbing in rubber tube. I also rerouted it to remove some pinch points. Finally I made a new hot lead and my ends were pretty bad.

I also took off my stator cover again and JB welded it as I whacked it on the snow ride and it was leaking again. I need to work on some skids.

 

[hadfield4wd]

The emulators worked awesome. What a huge difference being able to tune the forks. I was able to keep the front end planted. I was able to do stuff I wasn?t able to before. I?m really very pleased. I?m sure I have some fine tuning to do. I want to see how they do at peddler next weekend. I hope these cure all the bottoming.

Also I finally had to let go of the old Kawasaki bag. It was tearing pretty bad and I was afraid I?d start losing tools. I bought a Moose one and I like the quality. Comes with a rain cover. It?s a little bigger than I wanted but I can get both tubes in with a small tool kit so I?m happy.



Old

New

Some video of novice riding by me. This is actually a forest service road so tags etc are mandatory.



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ylgqpVf2O6Q



Same road.



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Czc-UTQ2fI













I sold it shortly after this. I was starting to do more technical stuff and could only justify 1 bike at the time. Got a good couple of years out of it. My new KLX 300 fit the bill well. There are times I wish I had this bike back. It did many things well. I even had a chance to buy it back but 2 duals sports is overkill. And I'm sure my KLX is quicker, but doesn't have the legs to pull 70 mph all day like the 600 did. Oh well that's why I have a BMW.

 

[hadfield4wd]

And here is a Jeep I built.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qS-cHsA-6ys

 

[hadfield4wd]

Next installment. This is my dual sport and was my "everything" bike until I got my gasser.

Anyway I only had what I got out of my bike for a new one. So I started looking for these 3 bikes. Honda XR400, Yamaha WR400, and Kawasaki KLX300 (98-2004). The biggest downfall is all these bikes are kick start only and do not have a title from the dealership so they need converted. Lots of people do it but it takes time. And with my last title woes I just wanted to ride and go. Much to the chagrin of Gabe the XR was my last choice. Heaviest, oldest technology, worst suspension of the 3. I basically had a tie between the WR and KLX. Suspension is comperable on both. Power on the WR is way better almost 10 more HP. Which is alot on a dirtbike. KLX is the lightest by a large margin. 25lbs also a huge difference on a dirt bike.

Long story short I was negotiating with 2 people yesterday. 1 - WR400 in Pittsburgh with aftermarket suspension, pipe etc. I'm pretty sure it was a ripper. No title, bill of sale only. 2 - KLX300 in Akron with aftermarket pipe, suspension. Stock motor, but a street legal title. I ended up with this one. It's missing a rear fender but I'll get that. I wanted this bike more anyway because I like Kawasaki green and always have even since I was a kid. It's got a full street legal conversion kit etc which is worth about $1200. I got the whole bike for $1200. So I throwing caution to the wind and leaving after work on Wednesday, or earlier if I can driving the 6+ hours to Akron picking up the bike then driving home. I should be back in time for work on Thursday, which will suck.

 

[hadfield4wd]

Mirror, LED turn signals and tail light installed. My new trail tech will be here this week.

 

[hadfield4wd]

I also cleaned up some wiring. The previous owner had started the dual sport kit, but just left the bulb socket and a bunch of wire on the bike. Last trip it was falling out and dangling. So that’s all gone.

Suspension done.

On the list.

Four Stroke Works Header
Valve adjust
Port and Polish head
Star Wheel shifter mod
Retime ACR for easier start
Water pump guard
Front brake line guard
Radiator braces
Pumper carb
replace idler gear. (this is a known week part of the KLX so I'll just replace it)

I’ve been remiss on some updates. All the guards and braces are on except the MSR rad guards. They are on backorder.

Here are some pics.
Rad brace



Front brake line guard


Water pump guard



Got started today. Got it torn down. The head goes to the shop tomorrow for a port and polish, and new valve seals and guides. On a surprise note when I tore it down I realized that it was not a stock so did a bunch of research and found it has a thumperracing.com 340 big bore kit. Which is awesome because I was going to spend the money and go big bore next winter. Don’t need to now.

The pumper carb is a 37mm Keihin. Its borderline too big. The jetting will be a challenge.


It will take some custom fitting. Also I have a fourstrokeworks header. Here it is next to the stocker.

I’ve also had the rear shock rebuilt by a local racetech trained tech. It really needed it.

So here she sits waiting for a good cleaning and reassembly.

 

[hadfield4wd]

So a known issue with these is play in the idler gear then they hit the spur gear and crack the case. The bushing wears out. So I put a new idler on.

Play in the idler gear.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-jYV6e9nWsM&feature=c4-overview&list=UU8BaGszUjyK4Bxd420Cnn9Q
New one in and ready to go.


Also they will pop out of gear occasionally. Four stroke works makes a new star shift gear for this.

Old on top new on the bottom. Also comes with an aluminum spacer for more spring tension.



Old



New



Got the carb in. Had to grind down the intake and put a grove in it with a file. Also had to cut out half of the top motor support. I’ll be fixing how it looks once its running and moving.

It is a really tight fit.

I took it to my who does all our carb tuning. I should have it back in a week or so. He lives 2 hours away and is coming up next weekend so hoping he has it with him.

 

[hadfield4wd]

Well carb tuning seems to be going well. Fitment is tight and I’ll have to work on some bracing in there.

Started up second kick with the carb tuning based on internet research. Pretty happy. You can see in these pictures this carb sits high. Looking back I’m sure there would have been a better FCR37 to put in this but oh well this is what I have so I’ll make it work. You can see where the push cable from the throttle hits the tank and doesn’t allow it to sit down all the way.



Here you can see the nasty angle of the push as well. Throttle was not smooth at all.



So we’re going pull cable only. Here’s what it looks like with the push cut off. He still protected the cam on it.



Also the cable then didn’t work right so we went with a KX500 throttle and a custom cable. The cable is being made by motion pro and should be ready in a couple of weeks. Once we’re sure it works I’ll order a spare.

While I was at it I ordered a new clutch cable and a MSR Pro-raptor clutch lever assembly with the hot start lever. I needed the hot start lever and I like the adjustable clutch force on this. Should make the clutch super easy. Although we had a bit of an issue. The hot start lever hits my horn button. So for now Chuck is just getting the bike running and when it gets back to my house I’ll fix that. I have some ideas in my head on how to do it, I just need to see it to see if they’ll work.





So basically we’re waiting for the throttle cable and we’re done.

 

[hadfield4wd]

Well the cable showed up Thursday. They really has us bend over though. $75 when their website says $35. Chucks been tuning the carb. Has a little to do in the midrange. Changing a jet and moving the slide one more spot. The ap shot is awesome he said. Will do power wheelies in 3rd gear!! Too speed is about 65. I may regear for a little more, but I don't want to lose top much in the bottom.

Got my new chain a sprockets on. Cruising speed is now 55. It'll go 75ish but that's not a god idea in a dry bike with unbalanced tires. I did actually get the front balanced as it was so bad. Also had to rebuild the forks. Picked up a spare rear rim to mount my other tire so based in conditions. Mud tire and dry (trials) tire. In addition I picked up a new frame with a clean title so I can register this properly as well as make some modifications. The sub frame which holds the seat, rear fender and airbox is welded on. A lot of bikes have a remove able subframe to get the carb easier. I will make this one removable. And also fix some known weak spots. And finally I have some better forks on the way. I will get more adjustment. My current forks have compression adjustments only and rebound is adjusted by oil weight. My new forks will have both compression and rebound adjustments. They will need a total rebuild and new front rim so it'll be a while yet for this.

 

[hadfield4wd]

So an update. I’ve got about 300 miles on it.

This thing is great.

Still some little things to iron out.

Lets talk tuning of the FCR37.

170 main jet
Needle 3rd clip from the bottom
45 pilot jet
2 turns out on the fuel screw
40 leak jet
No oring yet but I might do it still. I’m undecided. There really is very little bog if any.

This is hands down a great mod. I know I did a bunch of performance stuff all at the same time, so it’s hard to determine what did the most but this bike really is fast.

The hot start works great. Never had a bike with a hot start. Makes starting easy.

Got the front tire balanced as it was so bad. Also had to rebuild the forks due to a leaky seal. I used 7.5w 95mm from the top. I have some better forks on the way. I will get more adjustment. My current forks have compression adjustments only and rebound is adjusted by oil weight. My new forks will have both compression and rebound adjustments. They will need a total rebuild and new front rim so it'll be a while yet for this. Probably this fall.

Picked up a spare rear rim to mount my other tire so based in conditions. Mud tire and dry (trials) tire. Probably get that mounted up tonight.



In addition I picked up a new frame with a clean title so I can register this properly as well as make some modifications. The sub frame which holds the seat, rear fender and airbox is welded on. A lot of bikes have a remove able subframe to get the carb easier. I will make this one removable. And also fix some known weak spots.

I put the bike on a shipping scale to see how much it weighed. I was hoping for 263ish. This is full of fuel. I just filled it up before I got there.





The issues I’m working on.

The hot start lever hits the horn button. Plus the kill switch on this switch pack is broken.



I am working on new switches at the moment. Looks like I could get away with 4 switches on the left side. (left turn, right turn, kill, horn) Then move the head light and hi/lo beam switch to the right.

This would be ideal. However I’m trying to find a solution like that and the guys at highwaydirtbikes.com have been working with me. The easy solution is to get rid of the turn signals, which I may do, not sure yet. They have some cool switches and have been helpful.

The second issue is my mirrors suck. I can only see my shoulder. They don’t stick out enough. And they are cluttering up my bars. With the mounts for the mirrors there I don’t have full adjustment of my levers. So I’ll be doing some sort of custom deal here.

Also I have a dyno appointment for 5/29. 1 to get hp and tq numbers and 2 to make sure the A/F ratios are good.

Then get to work on my frame and forks.

 

[hadfield4wd]

Mirrors fixed. Before I hit the dirt I can just take them off with the thumb screw and put them in my backpack or truck.

Before





After





Took off my turn signals. Apparently I broke one of the back one riding again. So instead of just replacing them I ditched them. I ordered a couple of really nice switches from http://www.highwaydirtbikes.com they look really nice. So I’ll have a kill switch and horn on the left hand and the lights on/off and high beam on/off on the right hand. This will allow me to use the hot start. I also ordered a key switch as anybody can just get on my bike and kick it and go.

I cleaned up the wiring to the back of the bike when I took off the signals. I’ll clean up the front with the new switches I’m putting on.

Before



After



Finally I got my DOT trials tire mounted on my spare rim. That rim also needed a new sprocket to match and new wheel bearings. Its 2” larger than the mud tire. That will make a significant difference in RPM’s. I haven’t had a chance to ride it yet as when I get home from work it’s raining. I am happy to have the extra rim. If I get a flat riding at HMT or any place other than street riding I can just swap and go. Easy and fast.

Anyway here are the pics.

 

[hadfield4wd]

Ok so I got my switches all wired up, heat shrunk and in loom. Pretty happy with the result. Also made a quick bracket for my keyswitch. I ditched the turn signals. Here are the pictures.

Before.





After

Kill switch is Red, horn is black



Red is Low Beam, black is hi beam.



Keyswitch. The slot in the top is for the wires. I soldered it all up before I realized it comes in from the top. So I needed the slot. Not bad for 30 minutes. Function over form.

 

[hadfield4wd]

Well some updates. New skid plate. Moose racing.



Also new frame guards, works connection. Before and after.









Also I was excited about my forks. I decided to not wait until fall. So I went ahead and had them valved and rebuilt by D’Orazio Dynamic Engineering Suspension Services, https://www.facebook.com/DDESuspension. He’s done a couple shocks for me as well. Apparently ’94 KX forks are considered vintage. I had a hard time finding springs for the right weight for them. I stumbled on Cannon Race Craft. http://www.Cannonracecraft.com. They custom make springs at very reasonable prices. I was very surprised to see the price. Well worth the phone call. They also were great to deal with and told me my springs would be custom wound to my exact specs and delivered in 3 – 4 weeks. Turns out they were way off. I had them in my hands in 2. Great customer service.

Also got a Galfer brake line.

Out with the old.



Old forks sitting next to new forks.



Installed including UFO fork guards.



She’s ready for our HMT ride in a couple weeks. I’ll be hitting some local stuff here in the next couple of days hopefully getting some video.

 

[hadfield4wd]

So I absolutely love the suspension on this thing. Very balanced.

I had custom retro 90’s graphics made. I really like the way they turned out. I’ll post pics when they are ready to be put on.

But Kawasaki for some strange reason primes and paints their aluminum swingarms. So all the scratches come out as black (primer color) I didn’t want to put new graphics on a painted, scratched swingarm. So it’s off and ready to be stripped. Plus this will keep me from riding it before my knee is ready.





We’re using this I thought it ironic that it’s “Aircraft Paint Remover” but the rear of the can says “Do Not Use On Aircraft”

 

[hadfield4wd]

Quick update. I'll go into detail later but love the look. Shiny swingarm and retro 90's graphics



Shrouds.



I have some more on order so no overall pics yet.