Getting KX65 Ready For 07 Racing Season!

[razorboy]

Howdy Folks....

Well, PIRU Motocross park ended its season yesterday and my son did pretty well.
He only started riding a year ago on a PW80, moved up to a KX65 four months ago and raced for the first time in October at PIRU. He placed last on the first race Saturday after being knocked down on the first heat. Second race Saturday in November brought him in 4th and then a 5th place finish yesterday (he made the only passes in both races to move up in position!!)

We are all proud of him and his efforts in getting up to speed with riders who have mountains more experience than he does.
Now we prepare for the full 07 season and a stab at the number one plate. I want to give him the best equipment I can without breaking the bank. His bike is an 02 Kawasaki KX65 in pretty much stock form.

I would like to ask the board what mods I should do to the bike to get him down the track faster. He got sandwiched out of turn one yesterday by bikes that were obviously faster going down the front straight. He made up the lost time in the corners but I need hole shot speed to T1!
I have a copy of the Kawasaki upgrades for racing on this bike which details some porting and exhaust tuning ideas as well as jetting options.

Here are some specific questions that I have:

1) I bought Boyeson two stage reeds but was unhappy with the holeshot performance. The reeds seemed to tame the response to much off the line while busting out as soon as the second stage opened up. It seemed that the original factory reeds gave him burnout/wheelie performance off the line. Whats everyones take on dual stage reeds and should I try them again?

2) The Kawi race docs speak of pipe modifications to get more low and mid response from the bike. Should I do the mods to the factory pipe or invest in an aftermarket pipe (what gains would I see in a aftermarket pipe)?

3) Can I upsize the bore on this cylinder? What should I try to get to piston size wise to get more oompff while still having a steady running machine that is not too finicky?

4) The Kawi doc outlines some porting and smoothing that I would really like to have done. Who do you trust in the Socal (Ventura County) area to do this sort of work?

Those are some questions and I will surely have more. Looking for other ideas as well but lets start there.
I hope to have a barnbuster by the last Saturday of January (first PIRU race of 07 season)

Cheers
B2

 

[oldguy]

My first mod would be to make sure he gets as much practice as possible and rides with faster riders to improve his reactions. You can throw a ton of money into a bike and see no gains if the rider is hesitating in crucial area during the race. My son has terrible starts mainly because he had some bad crashes in starts early in his racing and he now tends to back off if it gets tight- luckily he is fast enough in corners to make up alot of time.
Are you really sure he is using the bikes full potential and being held back by the bike or just isn't quite as fast as the other riders. I am not saying this to shut you down only going on my son's experiences. We did very little modding on his bikes but instead made sure he rode alot on real tracks. Corners and making passes quick are where the races are won.

now if you are intent on making mods you need to watch him and see where he needs the extra power. Is the bike lagging out of corners? Do the other bikes walk away from him on straights?

Make sure the bike is jetted properly -this will make as much real performance gain as many costlier mods if the bike is not jetted crisply. From your other post about the bike sound I am guessing you may be a bit rich on jetting hence the oil saturated packing.
Re gearing with sprockets can also make great gains in performance but again you need to know where he is lacking in power.

 

[Chili]

My .02 is that if you're going to start throwing some decent money into the engine then save that cash, sell the 02 KX and get a newer KTM 65SX.

 

[FruDaddy]

Don't worry so much about the bike, find a good instructor and get him a few riding lessons. Odds are, the bike still has a lot to offer. My son has been on a 65 for a couple of years now, and still finds himself in the wrong gear a little too often. Personal instruction did a ton to help his starts. And just last night, I had a bright idea about having him open up the throttle in third from a low rpm and feel the power hit. Even after all of the time that he has been riding the bike, he got a little nervous when the wheel started coming up.
Keep it jetted, keep a fresh air filter in it (I use Twin Air), tune the suspension, and keep him practicing. Make sure he practices hard at least half the time. Sometimes we all feel like just playing around, and if you push too hard, he will want to quit. Find a local pro that gives lessons (if you find yourself near Atlanta, GA, I can get you the name of a good one).

 

[kawicam250]

like Papa and FruDaddy stated, he needs first and foremost practice. if it lags in corners, bore the bike if it lacks in top-end, put on a PC pipe and silencer. make sure you get the suspension set for his weight and experience, make sure he has decent looking tires. theres also a lot of low-cost mods that are effective. Boyesen Power Reeds are what i run in my 125, and they helped a lot on low-end. another must-have mod is sproket changes. a general rule is this 1 less tooth on front sproket= 2 1/2-3 teeth added on to the rear sproket. if he lacks low-end consider adding teeth to the rear sproket or adding a tooth to the front and sproket and vice-versa. a Uni or Twin Air air filter will help with throttle response, make sure the chain is in good shape. get a Wiseco piston and rings. there are a lot more mods out there that i didnt state, solely because you probably wont be using every mod ive listed. remember, practice doesnt make perfect. perfect practice makes perfect :).

 

[razorboy]

All great posts guys
Even the funny one about switching from mean green to something else.... :yikes:
Sorry but if you cut us, we bleed green and only green.

You are all absolutely correct about practice. We practice 2 and sometimes 3 days a week at Piru, weather and schedules permitting. I have been his coach since the beginning and feel that I have done a good job which is reflected in his results only 4 months after he started riding a clutched and relatively very fast bike (compared to a PW80!).
When we practice ----- we practice! There have been a couple of occasions where I called days short because I felt he was not trying or giving excuses. After that, he tends to sit for 10 minutes and then goes out and kicks butt!

I made a deal with him when we both decided to go racing - and that deal was I would handle the straights and he would handle the corners. Of course this means that I would build the bike to get max straight line speed and he would be responsible for smart cornering and passing. He also gives me pretty darn good feedback about the bikes handling and performance for an 11 year old.

I do want to get him some supplemental coaching as I know there are other things for him to learn and getting help from an experienced teacher definately would only help.
But while he is doing that, I am going to be building this bike up to the best it can be.

Thanx for the replies

B2

 

[Chili]

I want to give him the best equipment I can without breaking the bank.

All great posts guys
Even the funny one about switching from mean green to something else.... :yikes:
Sorry but if you cut us, we bleed green and only green.

These two quotes can not go together if you are serious about the 65 class. You can throw the bank at the 02 kx and are still going to be behind the eight ball equipment wise. But if you'd rather bleed green (both kawi and currency) trying to stay brand loyal while having a competitive scoot for that class then go with what works for you.

 

[Chili]

I was curious if I was off base from my own experiences at our local tracks so did a bit of looking (slow day at work :bang: ) There was 126 entries at Lorettta's last year in the 65 classes. Giving Kawi credit for the Suzuki's in the field they totalled 23 of the entries. There were 4 others (Lem/Cobra) and then 99 KTM's.

 

[dimitri]

Chili is right !we had a kx 65 03 model we put every mod we knowed of, still would not run with a stock ktm, plus the ktm had the best suspension. seriously though on the kx get the jetting right put in v-force reeds a br9eix plug.go up two teeth in the rear,fatty pipe and silencer,and you will have a good running little bike,BUT be weary of the kx, they like to eat cranks.Maybe its time to bleed a little orange.

 

[razorboy]

I just noticed that you're a fellow Canuck?
I transplanted to the US about 9 years ago from TO but I have been to Winnipeg many times.

I have no doubt that KTM makes a decent bike. There are kids running them down here as well. Maybe my post should have read more like - "I want to give him the best equipment up to the point of buying a new bike"?
He has outrun KTM's in the field already but I know his skill vs. some is pretty good.
Buying a KTM is probably the easy answer and maybe I will look into the SX85 when he steps up towards the end of next year. Right now, I need this bike to work as well as possible.

I will do some common mods to the bike and then see how it works out.

Thanx
b2

 

[SteveinSpringHill]

Here's a take from someone with similar experience as you have. My son is about 6 months into racing and halfway into the Florida Trail Riders points season. This past weekend we raced on a real sandy track at Bartow. With the ever changing track conditions with 21 moto's being run, I decided to let him run the 65cc mod class 7-11. Knowing he would probably not do well but I wanted him to find the good lines for his usual class(65 7-9) which was 2 moto's after this one.

Long story short his bone stock KX65 got the holeshot in both mod class moto's, he ran 3rd until he chose a bad line and went down. (He did what I asked in trying all the different lines though).

I feel he's got his technique down better and now has a better feel for when to get back on the seat when the tire breaks loose.

My thoughts are proper training (schools) and suspension (comfort & confidence), then after a year or two he might need some power increase.


Steve

 

[Chili]

There's no doubt the bike is far more important than the rider at this point. My point was only that if as a father the goal is to supply the kid with the best possible equipment for the job it's not going to involve a green bike in the 65 class. As far as the 85 SX from what I've seen so far I wouldn't touch one of those with a 10 foot pole, fast as heck and unreliable as heck so far from my experiences.

 

[SteveinSpringHill]

Well there is a sea of orange in the class but there's an exception by a little red haired kid #92 who might dispute the equipment of choice. Here's the results (top 5) from the latest race at Gatorback.
1 92 KAW 384358 Adam Cianciarulo Osteen, FL 1 1 25
2 72 KTM 528817 Cade Moore Colleyville, TX 2 2 22
3 126 SUZ 649789 Connor Pearson Rocklin, CA 1 3 20
4 32 SUZ 569210 Taylor Witt New Prague, MN 1 4 18
5 758 KTM 380758 Aaron S. Plessinger Hamilton, OH 1 7 16


Steve

 

[Chili]

Yup and James Stewart could still win on a 125 against the 250f's :) There is no doubt in my mind also that essentially a full factory Team Green rider like AC has a bike that is capable of competing with anything in his class. AC also won the moto's that I pulled the numbers from at Loretta's. And as far as equipment of choice, when the Cianciarulo's actually purchase a 65 let me know what brand it is :)

 

[dimitri]

As far as mods go for the kx do the ones i suggested,you'll be well pleased.By the way what is the jetting now?