Considering a KDX 200.

Perfect pick. The KDX-200 will be at the high end of what you probably need in terms of power... a 25-35 HP dirt bike will feel stupid fast to a new rider...

You can find KDX-200's in that price range pretty easily, but thats just the start. Anything in that area will probably need a lot of work. The $1500 to $2500 range are the garage queens (but they might also need a lot of work, it's hard to tell when looking at them).

Really expensive ($150 and up)
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Bent / out of round rims.
Worn plating on the rear shock shaft.
Cracked piston.
Scored cylinder.
Worn carb body (play and missing plating in the carb slide / body).
Bent radiator.
Stripped output shaft on transmission.
Crank or crank big end bearing.
Crank seal (behind stator, stator chamber should be dry).
Damaged suspension parts (not just worn bearings needing service, but actually hogged out bearing holes)
Damaged cases.
Slipping clutch.
Damage (operational, not cosmetic) to fork lowers (they hang down pretty far).

Moderately expensive ($50 to $150, and frequently necessary anyway)
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Missing spokes (Figure about $10 per spoke).
Leaking fork or shock seals.
Rear suspension bearings (Lift up rear of bike on stand, and lift the rear wheel up and down and right to left and see if it has free play and clunking).
Broken plastic ($50 each... side panel pair, fender, radiator shroud pair, headlight cowling).
Worn sprockets / chain.
Worn tires.
Torn up seat cover ($50-$100).
Damaged seat foam ($70 from Guts).
Bent bars.
Damaged cables (clutch / brake).
Damaged controls (levers and grips).
Trashed air filter.
Torn carb boot.
Fork boots ($30).
Missing kick stand.
Bent or broken rear subframe, frame extension protecting water pump, or radiator mount tabs (it looks and sounds bad, beacuse you can say "aack! broken frame!", but in reality is a pretty easy fix with an oxy acetylene torch and some Duplicolor green high temperature engine paint (not quite a match, but pretty close).
Goo'd up or broken KIPS assembly.
Wheel bearings.
Odo drive assembly / cable (if you even care, I just use a GPS).
Missing airbox cover (OK to open them up with no snorkel or a few extra holes, but gone completely creates other headaches).

Bonus points for generally desirable extras:
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FMF or Pro Circuit Torque Pipe (+$100 to +$150)
FMF or Pro Circuit silencer (+$100)
Boyesen RAD valve or VBLock (+$150)
Pro Taper bars (+$50)
Proper bark busters (i.e. real aluminum bar) (+$25)
Upgraded stator for street lighting (+$100)
Boyesen 607 reeds (+$20)
Aftermarket pegs (i.e. IMS Superstock) (+$20 to $70)
200 with the Fredette Racing or Eric Gorr big bore kit / porting (+$400 if fresh, $300 if needing a new piston).
Weisco piston replacement ($50 to $200, depending on how many seasons it has left on it).

Unfortunately, a lot of that stuff is hard to check without a teardown, so to some degree you roll the dice and take your chances.

None of the individual things are that expensive, and parts are still very easy to get on both ebay and from the factory. But it's *really* easy to buy a "decent" KDX-200, then tally up the bills a month later after you clean it up, and realize you spent $500 to $1500.

So that's the bad news. The good news is, that if you bought any other bike, you could make a list just like the one I have above, except the prices would be 2x to 10x more. And once you get it sorted, a KDX-200 is a cheap, durable, and incredibly fun trail bike.

That's my hard won recent experience anyway :yikes:

You really have only a couple differences in any of the more modern models. 89-94 was the E series. Somewhat dated, yes, but still great machines. The engine had more low end torque than the newer H series bikes. 1995 brought about the H series, which remained unchanged other than graphics and colors up until 2006 when the last one was produced. The KDX220 started in 97, and again, was unchanged from then until the end of it's life.

Basically if you're shopping for a 200, buy it based on condition rather than year. The regular rules apply when shopping for a used bike. You want to make sure it starts well and idles correctly. Check the swingarm and front/rear wheels for bearing slop. Look for indications of oil leaking from the forks and shock.

Oh, and if it's a 220 with a stock piston, start it up to make sure it runs OK, then don't turn it over again until you put in a new aftermarket piston. The stock pistons had issues.

Long live steel framed dirt bikes! Repairs are within reach of mortal welders...

:ride:

well reep has a good list but all you really need to do is look at the general condition of the bike, the frame by the foot pegs ..how worn is the paint the radiators ..slightly treaked is ok but crunched is bad ,, also the footpeg return spring and the suspension play as mentioned..tires are not an issue you'll be wanting new ones. if it doesn't start up leave it there unless everything else is real good and the price is 300-400 then you can freshen up the engine for 3-4 hundred more and know you'll get lots of hrs out of the bike..
I got mine for 700 bucks and lots of rides out of her untill we went for a swim last sunday