small end and big end play, plus stuck KIPS

blackduc98

~SPONSOR~
Damn Yankees
Dec 19, 2005
193
0
Hi folks. Newbie here, but I've done my research of this forum, and read everything on Canadian Dave's web site, so hopefully my questions won't be terribly annoying. Background info: 1997 kdx200 that I just purchased from an owner that clearly didn't maintain it at all. The bike smokes A LOT, so I took off the pipe and looked into the exhaust port, and discovered that the KIPS valve is stuck in the open position. Jetting of course may be all wrong, but I figure I'd start with basics. So I removed the head and cylinder, and I found that the piston has a lot of play relative to the wrist pin, and so does the con rod. I planned to do a top end anyway, but now I'm worried that it may need the big end con rod bearing too.

So the first question is: how much play is the junction between con rod and crankshaft supposed to have? What does it take to replace big end bearing, and what else should I look at if I have to split the cases? How much play is the piston/wristpin/conrod junction supposed to have?

My next question is about the KIPS advancer shaft. Once you remove the head (i.e. shaft is free on one end) should you be able to twist it by hand with some effort? My shaft does not budge, and I certainly don't want to force it. From looking at diagrams in the factory manual it looks like the shaft is only fighting the advancer spring. Do I understant that correctly? Basically I'm trying to understand why my KIPS valves are stuck in the open position.

BTW, thanks for a great forum and web site - it is really a treasure trove of info. If it wasn't for you guys, I would've never known to examine my KIPS valves, and my suspension linkage (1 needle bearing turned out to be trashed).

Vitaly
 

strider80

Member
Feb 3, 2003
177
0
I am not the expert on the amount of play in 2stk bearings.

But I can tell you that my KIPS was very hard to move then I removed the head and cylinder from my bike. After disassembling, cleaning and lubing the KIPS it rotated very easily. Yours is probably stuck due to carbon buildup, that is what was making mine hard to rotate.
 
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