Rear tire, gasket mat'l, swingarm brg.

[MX175]

I have a KDX175 that has a 4.00x18 on the rear. I am re-building an '83 KDX200 that has a bigger 4.50x18 on it that needs replacement. What size do I replace it with?

And with the engine work I am doing, do I get a gasket set, or should I use some type of gasket in a tube?

Finally, what are the recommendations for swingarm bearing replacement; OEM or after-market. Hey thanks, this is a great forum.

 

[andrew]

Hey Mate,
Since no-one else seems to have given you the courtesy of a reply, let me try.
In my experience, the air cooled KDX's don't make as much power as the later models, and so you may be better off with the 4.00 rather than the 4.50 (the wider tyre sucks more power).

As far as engine gaskets go, definately buy a head gasket, but for the rest of them a good quality silicon gasket goo such as Permatex will do nicely. You can even use it to seal the joint where the pipe goes into the head.

bearings - OEM or aftermarket? whichever is cheaper! shop around. Generally speaking, Kawasaki bearings aren't overly expensive, and sometimes you find them a bit cheaper!

Good luck, hope I've been of some help.

 

[canyncarvr]

CBR Industries, Inc.

1257 Claremont Rd.
Carlisle, PA 17103
USA
Tel: 717-249-8635
Fax: 717-249-1909
http://www.cbrcnc.com

................
Good things said about CBR.

Pivotworks makes a number of 'kits' for shocks, swingarms and such. Be advised they are uncaged bearings, meaning the liddle biddy rollers fall all over the place. That gives you mor bearing surface, also more hassle.

Don't forget to replace the seals when you replace the bearings.

Silicone sealer on things like reed cages can be a bad thing. Obviously you don't need any of it in your cylinder. I'd choose a gasket set.

Don't know what your tire question means. You're replacing the 175 tire or the 200? The wider it is, the more ponies it'll take to spin it. It'll be taller, too. I've run a 110x100 dunlop (biggest I can get) for quite awhile. Bike handles it fine.