Reuniting with the KDX family, looking at a 01 KDX220

[Dirtdame]

I ride in a lot of dry rocky loose terrain out here. I like the desert (rev) pipe on my 220. The bike has a soft, smooth hit on the bottom and once you hit midrange, there is plenty of quick acceleration. This type of power delivery agrees with my riding style in tight, technical stuff. And I really like the fact that the power keeps going after midrange. It was something that I really disliked about the stock pipe....jerky power delivery off the bottom and the motor just went dead after about half throttle.

 

[sr5bidder]

I'm gonna pull the top of the cylinder off Sunday, I hope. Relatives are down on the wife's side so I have been locked in, trying to stay out of trouble. I still have not got my shop manual yet, I need to call them some time and get the scobby on "Where it is" I'm assuming I need to drain the Radiator just to get to the top of the cylinder off?, I have not really got down and looked at it. Been doing a lot of research on what the 220's possible faults are. Dennis

yes you will want to drain the coolant out, take the tank and seat off,and remove the radiators for better "working room around the cylinderhead.

I would also remove the pipe and carb/ reed block to so you can peak in at the cylinder walls and piston skirt.

when you have the reeed block off you can inspect the reeds and see if there are 607's in there already too :cool:

 

[denbsteph]

sr5: Sounds good, I'll get on her tomorrow afternoon. I'll look at everything before I make any decisions on what I will be buying. Dennis

 

[denbsteph]

I still have not got my shop manual, WTF!!! in-laws are still here, took them out to the lake today, cooked some food, talked junk. Had a good time.

 

[sr5bidder]

I still have not got my shop manual, WTF!!! in-laws are still here, took them out to the lake today, cooked some food, talked junk. Had a good time.

well do they deliver mail on sundays in Tn.? :whoa:

I if didn't have something by saturday I would not expect another shot of getting it till monday

 

[jb_dallas]

Well, here's how it's been told to me. The woods pipe simply doesn't match up well with the 220's porting. Doesn't do much to improve low end, and kills what little top end there is.

Likewise, the rev pipe does not sacrifice bottom end on the 220, but will add a bit of midrange grunt and over-rev. You could consider it a "torque" pipe for the 220 and a "rev" pipe for the 200.

I haven't got personal experience here, so consider that regurgitated information.

Here. read this bit from the justkdx.dirtrider.net tech tips section



So yes, you can use the woods pipe on your 220. It won't necessarily add much more bottom end than the rev pipe though, and will leave you with a bike that requires short shifting.

I bought the bike with the woods pipe installed. Based on the information in this forum, I would have gone with the Desert pipe. I guess I could spend the $200 and have first hand experience with the pipe issue. Maybe I could sell the woods pipe to someone with a 200.

 

[julien_d]

I bought the bike with the woods pipe installed. Based on the information in this forum, I would have gone with the Desert pipe. I guess I could spend the $200 and have first hand experience with the pipe issue. Maybe I could sell the woods pipe to someone with a 200.

Often times a 220 guy with a woods pipe trades to a 200 guy with a rev, seeing how one works better for one bike and the other better on the other... lol.

It's certainly worth a shot. Of course, you DO have a very valid point. If the majority of your riding is in super tight technical terrain low RPM stuff, and you rarely have opportunity to wring it out in a straight trying to catch your buddy on his 450, then the woods pipe is certainly not a bad choice for you.

 

[denbsteph]

jb_dallas: Thanks for the info, and you are correct, I like the low end to mid range pull. When I did ride her, the top end pull was there, it kept pulling. I have only ridden her for a short time. As far as what type of riding I will be doing on it, not sure I'm dialing into one specific type. I will take her to WV (Outlaw Trails) possibly NCMP (trial run) and more than likely Hatfield and McCoy's trails. I have been to Brushy Mountain, not enough rolling straight a way's for me to crank her up for a short distance. I had my 150 up there and found the riding "cramp", if that makes since. Then again, I was up there when they had a Hare Scrambles race and half the trails were closed.

sr5bidder: I have not gotten a chance to do any wrenching, hopefully I can get started tomorrow, shop manual or no shop manual. The in-laws have vacated the premises and the weather is supposed to be bearable the next couple of days. As far as the mail running on Sunday in TN, not really sure, I reside in NC and it does not. I was gone all day Saturday and got back late, that's why the "WTF" comment LOL!!. Dennis

 

[sr5bidder]

ok got mixed up

 

[denbsteph]

Well I found out why I have not received the Supplement and Service manual, the sales rep failed to tell me that it will be 2-3 weeks before it arrives at Ron Ayers! Holy Sh**!! Kawasaki sends it by snail mail...........aarrggghhhhh!!!

Anyone out there running the stock pipe but has re jetted it to lose that LOW END jerkyness? (is that a word?) Looking to keep the stock pipe at this time and get it smoothed out. Dennis

 

[denbsteph]

UPDATE: UPDATE: UPDATE:

I pulled the top of the cylinder off this evening, actually it was pretty easy, took about a hour to get everything off. First off there is NO NUMBERS on the top of the piston. I had an idea that there was no Wiesco piston inside due to, what appeared to be the OEM RED/PINK locktite on the nuts and bolts. Everything came off fairly easy, no surprises with the nuts, bolts or hidden damage.

Next off is the carb and the reeds, however when I emptied the tank, a "pigtailed" red piece of plastic came out when I turned the tank upside down. Anyone have any idea what this is/was? Is it important? Strange, very strange. I'll try to download some pictures.

 

[denbsteph]

Having issues attaching pictures, I have a MAC. If anyone can aid to the cause, PM me.

Anyway, the cylinder is smooth, no dings, scratches or anything. I was thinking, should the cylinder be done 10 over or is it safe to put a new Piston and Rings in it when the cylinder has been seated to the old hardware? If I'm not mistaken, the majority here is using the stock cylinder as is, no machining or anything. Let me know if this is incorrect, Thanks Dennis

 

[denbsteph]

Ok, I got the cylinder off without damaging the KIPS Shaft. A HUGE thanks to Mr. Bryan Kimsey's Top End Pictorial article that he was gracious enough to post. A couple of things I want to ask concerning the KIPS gears themselves. I did all this with out the Shop Manual, I know some one is out there cringing right now. And going "What a freaking idiot!!" The Manual is three weeks out, she will not get put back together without it them, need correct Torquing numbers.

1) The gears themselves are incredibly clean when I mean clean I mean no oil ,splooge or anything. I can still see the "White markings" that were done at the factory. That is for both gears. I'm going to assume no splooge is a good thing? Should there be some kind of lubricating going on?

2) On the gear holder there is a "Dot" and it was lined up on the outer gear that was lined with white paint. I'm assuming it needs to go back on the mark? I know, I know I had to ask.

3) The cylinder, to me looks like it is in very good shape, however I do see some "lines" near the bottom, towards the exhaust, if you rub your finger on them, you cannot feel them. Anything to be concerned about?

Dennis

 

[denbsteph]

Pulled the KIPS valve cover off, looking for mass quantities of soupage. No soupage or splooge just a real light coating of black oil. It reminds me of the soupage coming out of the exhaust when I first brought it home. I wiped it with some q-tips as best as I dared. Looks brand new to me.

Question about the Piston that is in there now. How can you tell if it is the stock piston? Will it have a different color, some type of markings?, anything? Dennis

 

[julien_d]

If it was wiseco or other aftermarket it would have a part number on top. If it was oversized OEM it should also have a stamp on top. sounds like it's probably standard.

 

[sr5bidder]

you can check the side of the piston where the pin is and see if it says ART

and you can clean the carbon from the top and find your numbers wiseco has about 6 or 7 nubers that look like they where put on with a dot matrix type of printer

 

[sr5bidder]

sorry if it says art on the side it is either a stock piston or pro-x piston

a forged piston (wiseco ) will be smooth on the iside where a cast (stock or pro-x) will have a texture.

not that you have anything to campare against but wiseco normally has thinner rings

 

[denbsteph]

I'm assuming a pro x-piston is just as bad as the stock piston?

 

[julien_d]

Pro-x is exactly the same as stock.

 

[sr5bidder]

didn't think of explaning that

 

[sr5bidder]

so does it say art on the side or not?

 

[denbsteph]

Just went out and scraped some of the carbon off. The top and the sides of the piston have very fine milling on it ,the top is in a circular motion as well as the sides. The sides are silver in color, the top is gray. There is a arrow on the top of the piston as well as the letter "B" on the back portion of the piston. Stock piston?, does this mean anything? I'm gonna guess the "B" is for the back of the piston and the arrow is for the front. There are NO markings regarding "ART" on either sides near the clips. Each ring appears to be "split" but intact. I have looked on the sight regarding OEM stock piston markings, but nothing hits. Looking to get that piston ordered and get her back together. Don't mean to be a pain in the arss, but I'm pretty motivated at this point to continue tearing her down and get her right.

 

[julien_d]

Probalby a pro-x piston. They are available in standard A, B, C, D. These are very slight oversizes to compensate for manufacturing differences or cylinder wear. OEM pistons may have an A or B designation as well.

A wiseco would definitely NOT have a B stamped in the top.

 

[denbsteph]

lets just say for kicks and giggles, this is a OEM or pro-x piston.
I might consider doing the following:

The cylinder SHOULD be resurfaced to accommodate the Weisco that I intend on getting. The smart thing to do is order the Piston and have it in hand, take it to a machine shop or send it to Fredette racing and have it "Honed" to get a clean fit.
Does this make sense or is this over kill?

 

[reepicheep]

Talking to Eric Gorr, if you are going to do cylinder work, the 225 kit is probably the way to go. The factory cylinder has some kind of vapor deposited tungsten coating or something, which can interfere with new coatings. So boring it out gives you clean fresh aluminum for the Nikisil.

So I'd either go big bore, or stick with stock until you start to see cylinder damage. I'm not sure if modern coated cylinders still need a hone or not, I'll let others weigh in.