The Fleet

So I’m pretty stoked how the graphics and swingarm came out. Definitely ’90’s retro. Swingarm looks great. One thing with the graphics that I didn’t realize is that they came with a grey border. I really wanted the shiny swingarm so out came the straight edge and a razor blade. 15 minutes later.
Here is the shiny swingarm showing the graphic.



Made a little pile.



On the swing arm. I put a couple of coats of clear on the swingarm before I put the graphics on.



Here it is on the bike.



Also the radiator shrouds.



And an overall shot of the bike.





Overall I am very happy. My tank is not the same color as the green on the graphic of the radiator shroud. As a result I’m having something made for that. Also the rear fender is getting something as well.

And finally the front fender. I really like the purple of the early 90’s Kawasaki’s. I looked hard for a while and finally found a front fender. This is from a ’92 KX250. It was heavily oxidized when I got it. So I went through a process to get it off. First I scraped it all with a razor blade. Then I used a headlight restoration kit. It was a 4 stage kit. Finally I used a buffing wheel to get the final shine. In these pictures it was before the buffing wheel so it’s not real shiny. I have about 2 hours into this. There is also a spot that looks like where the fender was folded pretty good. So I’m having some graphics made to cover this up. The final result should be pretty good.

Before



After scraping and sanding, but no buffing.



More to come.
 
I hate my DOT knobby so I hit this one to try.



Well got the fender on and stickered up.





Need to change the hand guards they don't match the rest.



 
One thing that really bothers me about this bike is the fact that the subframe is not removable. Makes taking the carb and airbox out a royal pain. So I had some time and I had a spare frame in order to do this to. I now have a removable subframe.

I just have some exhaust tabs to make and weld on and then it’s ready for powdercoat.

I also clearanced the cross bar for the FCR carb. This frame will be stronger.

Starting out.



Top 2 bolts tacked on. I did them one at a time so I didn’t have to worry too much about alignment.



Separated for finish welding.





Done

 
I'm going to learn how to build wheels.



I've built hundreds of mountain bike and bike race wheels.

This one had a bunch of loose spokes and the nipples were seized. Had to cut them off. Hub is getting powder coated black and I'm using he same rim.

Done. Not bad. Had the hub powder coated. Looks great. The excel nipples were bigger so I had to drill out the holes in the rim 1/16th of an inch. This would really be a pain if the rim were bent at all.





 
Doing a little preride maintenance. Heading to PA for our second annual "wifes knocked up" ride. Last year it was a bachelor party. Wonder what it'll be next year.

Anyway my linkage and swingarm bearings were in bad shape. I got all the linkage ones done, just waiting on the swingarm bearings. I'm not taking the existing ones out until the new ones are here though. With my luck they'd not show up.



If I had to pay somebody to maintain all these machines I couldn't afford to do it. Seems like there is always something that needs done on something.
 
So an update. I hate the plastic radiator guards. I've had braces from 4stroke works and they have worked well but I wanted a little more protection.

I heard read somewhere that radiator guards from a 2006-2007 klx250s will fit our bikes 1997-2004 klx300. But I have had no confirmation so I was a but hesitant. Anyway I watch some things to look fir sales and Emperor Racing had their #1504 guards on sale for $39.99. Regular $89.99. So naturally I jumped on this. As we have 2 of these I bought 2 sets (in for a penny, in for a pound). $90 shipped. Couldn't ask for anything else.

Well I am impressed. They are nice and thick for good protection and includes a brace so I could remove my 4SW braces. Very happy with this.









 
OK final bike. This is my sons KLX300.

Sold his RM. We had fun building it together. And he had lots of fun on it.
Bye bye



He wanted something he could turn into a dual sport and since I have one and know all the pitfalls we decided on another KLX. So this is project number 2.

This one is a 1997. It?s bone stock (Except for the pipe), dirty, leaks a little and needs some maintenance. After selling the RM and buying this I had cash for the parts.





It will be getting:
A good cleaning
The free mods
Fork seals
Chain and sprockets
Tires and tubes
ACR retime
Idler gear
Star wheel
Shock rebuild
Brakes front and rear
Wheel bearings front and rear
Carb tuning

That?s at least the start.
 
Rear shock rebuilt by D’Orazio Dyanomic Engineering.
Everything is done.

New tires and tubes as well.

Went with a Bridgestone M59 front and Maxxis M6001 Rear.

Went with 15/50 gearing.

I put the Moose handguards on that were on the RM.

He loves the bike. It handles great and the power is way more predictable than the RM.

This thing has a screwy starting process when cold.

Fuel on
Choke on
Hold throttle wide open
Kick 7 times

Let off throttle
Turn choke off
Kick once from TDC

Starts right up.

When warm just kick and it starts

Ended up replacing it with a new carb now it starts right up. I think there was something wrong, maybe a hairline crack, who knows.

Needs:
New seat foam and cover
Oil drain bolt is stripped(ish) leaking so I’ll drill and tap it to M12. Just need to pick up a M12 bottoming tap.

We’ll keep riding it. It’ll get dual sported this spring. Also we’ll be updated the looks as well.

Oil leak is fixed. Drilled and tapped to larger drain plug.

Well got the DOT tires. I really wanted the Motoz Eunduro IT, but I purchase from my local dealer and he couldn't get them for a couple of weeks and he had to place a minimum order. I know I can get them online, but I like to keep my money local even if it costs me a little more. I'm weird that way.


Anyway I went with the same front that is on my KLX Metzeler MC6 front and it's hard to argue with the Kenda Trackmaster rear. $60 and My friends have had decent luck with them.


 
So quick update. Did a kx fork swap on this. Used '92 KX250 forks. Swap right in the existing triples. New wheel bearing and using the kx front wheel as well. Had the forks serviced and bushings done at my local suspension guy. He does a great job.

We've done a bunch of dual sporting together and its been great fun.

There are some ongoing issues that are nagging me. Nothing major, but need attention. The timing chain is making noise. I measured according to the manual and it's out of spec. So I ordered a new chain and OEM tensioner. Also throwing a piston in. No telling how many hours are on this one.

The new forks are anodized blue and the frame is purple with old graphics and a yamaha seat cover. Also the previous owner welded the exhaust to the frame. Stupid. So I'll be fixing this and putting a new slip-on on.

Painting the frame black and going with newer graphics and a black gripper seat cover.

So time for an update. I didn't get a chance to do anything to the motor on this. Just adjusted valves and jetted the carb. Engine makes a little noise. Timing chain is out of spec and compression is a little low. Also my 17 year old son didn't like the purple.



I left for a work trip with him getting started.



The previous owner did a crappy job on some things. The exhaust was falling off and breaking so he tried welding it on.







I've got a "new-to-me" White Brothers pipe to go on that looks great. Getting rid of the old heavy mega bomb.

Getting real. Frame welding and painting to come. Updated graphics as well.





More to come.
 
Frame is ready to the blasted and painted.

New tab welded on for the exhaust.



New foot pegs.



Cam chain was way out of spec. Cylinder will go for a hone Monday its all out. May need resurfaced. Final judgement on that is pending.

Frame is off for blasting and painting.

The oil pump has to be removed because it keeps the cam chain from jumping off the crank. Stupid thing is held in with phillips head machine screws. Phillips heads have their places, but inside a motor is not one of them. I had to use my impact drive to get them out. I'll be getting some button head allens to replace them. Anyway here is Caleb working on it.

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And we are up to speed. This is exactly where it sits. Frame is off to be painted.
 
I've got a new piston to go in. I cleaned a took a look at the cyclinder. It's got a distinctive mark/groove right at mid-stroke. Looks like the bike sat at one point for a while and was stuck there. So it's off to powerseal for a nikasil recoat.



 
Still impatiently waiting on the jug. In the meantime I have put in new valves, guides and seals.

Here is the frame as of Thursday.



I get it Wednesday then hopefully reassembled quickly.
 
Frame is ready.



Tapped out all the bolt holes.



New valves installed. Used a home-made valve spring compressor. 14mm deepwell with an access hole and a large c-clamp.





Head bearings and swing-arm bearings serviced. Swing-arm stripped and clear coated. I hate that Kawasaki paints their swing-arms.





 
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