Help 1994 Kx80 R4 Big Wheel Knocking noise after using 20:1 fuel mix instead of 32:1

Dec 4, 2023
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I have had this stock 1994 Kx80 r4 Big Wheel for around 8 years now. Never rode the bike much in that time, Maybe put 2 full tanks of fuel through it until This last Summer. I normally Run 94 grade pump gas and a cheap 2 stroke oil at 32:1 mixture.(I know I should be running at least name brand 2 cycle oil) Never had any issues running it like that until I read online that lots of people are running their stock 94 Kx80's and other Bikes on a 20:1 mixture and not having to deal with all the Spooge on the bike after a full day of riding. I thought that was great, and I did some research online to see if I might like to try running mine at 20:1. I came across a forum post (cant remember where though) that claimed it's actually better for the motor to run 20:1 rather than 32:1 because it's a richer mixture and that means more lubrication for the cylinder. Needless to say I mixed up my usual 94 grade premium with 6 oz of oil per gallon instead of 4.4 oz. I filled the bike gave it like 2 kicks and it popped right off, it was a little sluggish through closed to 1/4 throttle and I figured that was do to the mix. I leaned out the carb 1/2 turn at first, it got a little better response. Leaned it out another 1/2 turn and it ran better than it ever had. I let it warm up properly and hopped on to go for a ride. The throttle was amazingly touchy so I didn't open it up really until I hit a familiar dirt road I knew wasn't going to have any traffic. The bike was trying to pull wheelies all the way into even 6th gear when I'd crack it open. I was having a blast! then out of nowhere the bike just stalled. Tried to bump-start it (nothing) shifted into neutral tried kicking it over several times (nothing). Ended up pushing the bike home like a 1/4 to 1/2 mile home, pulled the plug and it had no gap. I knew that wasn't good! I went and grabbed a new plug checked the gap and as a precaution put the squish washer from the old plug on the new plug with the one it came with and installed it. I slowly kicked it over with the kill switch pressed a few times just in case, then I pulled the plug and inspected it. The plug was fine so I removed the extra washer and installed the plug again. When I kicked my bike over, it started on the first kick but I heard something terrible there was a low loud knocking sound and I couldn't tell if it was in the case, the clutch or the top end. I tore into the top end, and that's when I found bad news. The piston and head were riddled with pock marks and there was a triangular 1/4mm chunk out of the crown of the piston right on the edge. and it had embedded itself into the piston. I removed the chunk and polished the crown of the piston and the bottom of the head with my dremel tool and some polishing compound, cleaned up the piston and head with carb cleaner, and used some assembly lube on both. Checked the head gasket, wrist pin, connecting rod and bearrings, then checked for propper ring gap. everything was all where it should have been so I put it all back together, torqued it to specs and started it. Ran fine at first, until it warmed up some then died. It still had the knocking noise though.

My question is: where could the knocking be coming from other than inside the split case somewhere?
Could it be coming from the clutch basket, or maybe the exhaust pipe, the crank itself, I can't seem to pin point where it's coming from and I really can't afford a complete engine rebuild kit right now, so where are some places I might check? (Before I have to do a complete teardown.)
I thank you for any help in advance and I apologize about the length of the story above, I just thought it might be important to give a good thorough back story for those willing to try and help!
Oh and I apologize if this is posted in the wrong thread (I wasn't sure where to post, as I'm a new member) Again thanks alot guys, and Happy Riding 2 much BRAAAAP makes Bones go SNAAAAP!
 
Dec 4, 2023
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UPDATE: So I tore into my kx80 motor again, and this time I found out what was making the knocking noise I was hearing. It was definitely the connecting rod bearings, both the large lower, and the small upper bearings were falling apart (literally). So now I know what has to be done lol It's time for a complete rebuild.... I'm thinking it's time to get a 110 Big Bore kit for it and have it ported and polished, have the port timing adjusted, and the whole Sha-Bang done to it. (I wonder if they blueprint 2 strokes) Well it's all just a Dream anyways, so might as well make it a good one right?!!!! Well, even though nobody commented on this, I would like to Thank you all for the Platform to Post on, And if someone else is having a similar issue to the one I had, I would suggest double checking both the top and bottom end so that you don't have to do a teardown twice like I did....... Thank you and Have a great time Riding as much as Possible.

Always Remember that:
2 Much BRAAAAP, Makes Bones Go SNAAAP!
 
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