New KDX Owner - Hello....

[Joe Diver]

:) I bought a bike today!

It's been 25 years since I was a young teen with a 125 Hodaka Combat Wombat....and since my best friend and his wife bought bikes last year and have been riding, I finally decided to get back into it myself. I found this forum and posted over in the "What Bike Do I Get?" forum, and they were really helpful. After alot of research and looking, I bought:

2003 KDX220. The guy I bought it from obviously has been riding bikes for a while and has taken meticulous care of this one. It's really clean and has a fresh Wiseco top end, FMF Gnarley pipe, Acerbis hand guards, Boyesen reeds, Renthal bars, new front tire, new front brake pads, about 75% left on rear tire and same on chain and sprockets. Well, he told me that about the chain and sprockets, I have no clue but they look good to me. It has a really nice seat cover with the grippy stuff on top, and smooth vynal on the sides with colors and stripes that blend with the radiator shroud. Says Kawasaki and N Style on it. The radiator also has some metal guards on it, and there's a skid plate too. He gave me some parts: fork seals and clips, stock handguards and pipe, oils, lubes and stuff. Cold, it started on the 2nd kick and idled down once it was warm. Felt really solid and perky when I took it for a spin down the street. Man, I haven't done that in 20 years....and the exhaust smell really took me back.

So, looking further at DRN I found this forum...which seems the perfect one for me....just wanted to say hi, and forgive me please if I ask/say something stupid, for really, I know not what I do.

 

[04kdx200]

I bought my first bike last year.. 04 KDX 200, best thing i ever did.......... well, almost. Welcome to the Kawa-familia.

 

[kmccune]

Sounds like you know exactly what your saying and doing! Welcome to DRN and the KDX forum. :)

 

[seancza]

http://rockymountainhodaka.com/combatwombat125_new.html

wow a combat wombat....I remember those

here's a link, check it out boys

 

[MY KDX 220 R]

Welcome to the green, not much chrome but alot of in your face green.
Enjoyed the memory lane
Thanks ;)

 

[Michelle]

So, you've got N-Style graphics with a gripper seat cover (aftermarket, not stock). Way to check the chain is to put a spanner between the chain & rear sprocket and see how much teeth you expose when pulling the chain away from the sprocket - the spanner just locks the sprocket (hmm, does that make sense, I can picture it, just not explain).
I've found my kdx likes the choke on when first starting it, but not to be left on once running (i.e. uses it for about 1/2 a second). She also likes a fresh plug now & then. Skid plates & radiator guards definitely aftermarket.
One thing I'd get if riding in rocks (or around stumps) is a spare rear brake lever - they're a wierd design & prone to bending & ruining people's days. I bought one about the same time as I bought my bike (I'd seen someone have their day ruined by it) & so far have been through a few. I've also gone through gear shifters - I don't think any of them have ever ended up on my bike, but the day I don't have a spare I'll need it.
Welcome to DRN & the green room, take a seat, hopefully you'll be staying a while :)
Oh, check out the just kdx site, too - link is in Fred T's thread posted at the top of the forum. Lots of useful info there.

 

[Joe Diver]

:)

Yes, that's exactly the bike that was my first...I sure wish I still had it today! Seems to be a collecter's item. Back in those days, '79 or so, there were quite a few Hodaka's around, but mostly Dirt Squirts and Ace 100's...I had the only CW I knew of in the area. My friends at the time had XR75's and YZ80's....and there was a Bultaco and Husqy....me, the Bultaco and Husqy used to just smoke the others. Ahh...those days...it's a wonder we're all still alive or don't have brain damage because of what we used to do/try, and nobody wore helmets back then. When I bought my riding gear (pants, jersey, boots, gloves, helmet and goggles) I started thinking about that, and have to giggle to myself...my gear back then: Hodaka jersey, orange with the "H" surrounded by a gear, Levis, Justin Ropers, bandanna for sweat....and that's it.

Thanks for the hint Michelle...I'll go out and get a brake lever. I was just at Kawasaki yesterday because I needed a new gas cap...the nipple to the breather tube broke and I'm a stickler for everything working right...

I did do my homework on bikes for several weeks, asked about it here, and shopped Cycle Trader and local ads, in addition to new bikes. I've got everything I need now, ('cept a brake lever!) and my buddy and I are going to go out for a couple of hours tonight to a local field so I can get a feel and try to bring back some skills. Tomorrow we're going over to Marshall Creek, a local trail spot, and do some more serious riding.

I need to service the bike today first. I know the guy I got it from took care of it, but it is a couple of years old and I'll do these things just so "I" know when and if they were done: Change/flush coolant, spark plug, xmsn oil, flush fuel since it sat for at least a month, clean air element, adjust chain tension, tap out the spark arrestor, check throttle/clutch cable tension. I have the owners manual that came with the bike and tells how to do this stuff, but I really need to get a Kawasaki Service Manual.

So, I'm excited, equipped, and ready to go. When I was at Cycle Gear getting my kit, the guy asked what kind of bike I bought...when I told him, he nodded and said "You couldn't have chosen a better bike." :cool:

 

[John Harris]

Not to give Michelle a hard time--You never win giving a female a hard time--but I am on my fourth KDX200 (well, first one was a 175) and I have never had a brake pedal problem. Spend your money on an O ring chain or a skid plate if you do not have them already! Cheers John

 

[Feanor]

Hello! and welcome!

I'm a relatively new rider that got my 04 KDX-220 (First motorcycle of any kind, EVER) solely on the great advice/information/insights of this great forum...

Did much of the requisite modifications to the bike based on same great info here (though it sounds from your description like you're pretty well set on the mods already! :) )

Am I happy with my choice? Well, yes and no... Yes, because I am having the fun of my life on a great bike! and No because now I am so addicted to riding that I'm even thinking about a street bike!!! LoL! I should have started all this when I was 20, not over 40!!!!

Have fun and congratulations on your new KDX!

Feanor

 

[xsnrg]

My riding gear from age 10 or so up to age 20 was work/hiking boots, jeans or camo pants, whatever shirt I happened to have on, an open face helmet and goggles, and maybe a set of gloves if it was cold. I broke one bone in the bridge of my foot in all those years of riding...amazing.

 

[Michelle]

Not to give Michelle a hard time--You never win giving a female a hard time--but I am on my fourth KDX200 (well, first one was a 175) and I have never had a brake pedal problem. Spend your money on an O ring chain or a skid plate if you do not have them already! Cheers John

I guess it depends on where you ride. We have lots of stumps (some at a nice height) and brake levers do get collected. I think a spare is about $30NZ (so I'd guess around $10-15US), but that's going back a while. Anyways (yeah, I guess you're right, don't give a female a hard time) - he says in his post he has a skid plate (nothing about the o-ring chain though) lol ;)

I just keep the lever in the car, rather than taking it with me - but I reckon as soon as I don't have one, I'm going to take mine out on a stump or something (hey, it's a karma thing). I'm either on the 2nd or 3rd lever and just replace it whenever it's been required.

The kdx is still a good bike, even if it's 10 years old.

As for the riding gear discussion, a friend stuffed up a while ago & crushed his foot between his bike & the side of a rut. Once we got back to the vehicles, we sat & discussed the old-style riding gear. He decided at that point that he'd have broken his ankle (at least) if he hadn't have been wearing riding boots. I remember going through a pair of jeans a ride (not really, I just kept ripping the same ones till they were dead) when I first started riding - now I'm starting to kill riding pants too.

I've fallen off (road & dirt) so many times I can't ride without gloves - I've got a feeling I fell off once without gloves on the road & that converted me - typing with gravel rash just isn't fun. Goggles to me are optional (I know it shouldn't be), kidney belt & knee guards are a memory, but boots are a necessity.

 

[Joe Diver]

Yep....got an o-ring chain! :)

 

[fundgh]

new to the dirt with my 01 220

Hey welcome, I am fairly new here as well, and made the same choice (bike) that you did. I also have been gearing up, and I found the boots very valuable. I got riding pants for their durability and ventilation. After a few rides I also got a Kidney belt, which I found to be a great piece of equipment, especially if you are sporting any kind of fuel cell! I already had the gloves (mandatory) and elbow and knee pads, which are nice to have if you like to roll in the dirt like I do. Can you get away with less, of course; but it is your body, and if you can go to work monday with one less bruised knee, or bloody hand, it is worth the extra $. Have fun on your new bike!

 

[KDXFORU]

I had all the gear I though I needed until last Wed. Went riding and thought nah I don't need knee and elbow pads, Well about an hour into the ride I hit a 2 footer, my big ol feet hit the gear changer lever and away we went. grabbed a hand full of throttle and traveled about 15 feet on my side in the air around 4 feet off the ground. first thing to hit was my elbow and forearm next was my knee then the bike landed on top of me. Lets just say knees and elbow are shredded. the next morning I was waiting out side the local bike store for more pads.

It good to never need them but after that mishap and not even going very fast I will use all padding I can, cause you just never know. Guess thats why they call it an accident.


oh yeah and the bike is fine :laugh:

 

[Joe Diver]

:laugh:

I bought all the gear I thought I'd need....and while riding through a pretty tight woods trail Friday, ducking limbs and taking them on the helmet or shoulder, as I rounded a corner there it was, waiting for me....a nice small limb at neck level, with one of those nasty long black thorns on on it. :yikes: I desperatly twisted my body, raised my shoulder, but it hit just in the right place....and produced a nasty scratch on my neck. Oh well, I tried to think of everything and Murphy's Law took over....

 

[xsnrg]

You pretty much need to just put your head down and let the helmet take those! But, you hate to put the first nasty scratch in a new helmet. You can't ever think of everything. I broke a finger last year with a simple front wheel slide-out in a water hole. Just the reflex of putting my hand out to break the fall. I choose to ride without knee, elbow pads, chest protector and kidney belt, but won't ride anywhere anywhere without helmet, goggles, gloves, and boots. The pants offer some protection, but the jerseys are pretty much for comfort and looking the part in my opinion. Basically, it is a trade off between comfort, protection, and the risk you are willing to take.

 

[kmccune]

You know it’s funny because I seem to get hurt more seriously going slow. I’ve crashed into the face of whoops and jumps, actually landed in a pine tree once, lost it in 6th gear and stepped off over jumps. But when I fall over whit a warped front rotor on the pavement at all of maybe 5mph I get a dislocated elbow. When I grab a little too much front brake (hey maybe its a front break thing) on an off camber corner I get a big eggs on may forehead ( with a good helmet) lets see, a tip over going up a tight hill and hit the only large rock on the county got me a broken pinkie finger. I tore a ligament in my right knee riding my brother in-law Husky 360 in an enduro again going slow, the list goes on and on and on ..... Good thing riding gear works or I’d be dead by now from all my high speed crashes I didn't tell you about :)

Wear it all...all the time!

 

[Joe Diver]

I do now for sure...wouldn't consider riding without the gear.

When I was a teen on my Wombat, the thing that used to get me the most was the sudden encounter with soft sand...front wheel turns sharply but I continue straight over the handle bars. Or climbing a hill very aggressivly, back tire finds the only rock around that is probably a buried boulder, bike launches and I'm standing on the hill. Ahh, the memories...

 

[xsnrg]

sudden encounter with soft sand...front wheel turns sharply but I continue straight over the handle bars

Hey, that happens to the best of riders. It cost James Stewart a 250 SX race last Saturday!