Where's The Grease?

[CZ511]

Did a little maintenance today on my KDX, which, by the way, only has 23 miles. I have read before that the factory puts very little grease on the shock linkage and swingarm. Well, I can tell you this is very true! I removed the shock, linkgage and swingarm and found very, very little grease! Real glad I took the time to repack this stuff. Now onto the steering head bearings!

Also, just as info, I read several posts regarding the good ole air box lid and snorkel. Some say, throw the lid away, some say drill holes, others say, just remove the snorkel. Well, today I removed the snorkel and drilled two 1 1/4 in. holes in the lid. The bike ran better but had too much baaa whum going on. I reinstalled the snorked and bingo, two 1 1/4 in holes in the lid was the ticket! The bike runs great. I am running the stock exhaust (yuk) and raised the needle to the second notch from the top. Real curious what will happen when I install the FMF exhaust.

 

[McRider]

CZ511,

I think you actually lowered the needle by putting the clip in a higher notch, but that's what the bike probably needs.......to run a little leaner.

 

[CZ511]

Yes, your right, my error in words. I raised the clip, in order to lower the needle. The bike is stock and was running rich.

 

[kelseybrent]

On this topic: I am a procrastinator by nature, but I uncharacteristically went over my 03KDX200 and greased the rear suspension. swingarm and steering head bearings when I got the bike, mostly because of a bad experience with an XR400 swingarm bolt. I just tore it back down and everything was nice and shiny and still greased, except for the lower shock mount. I pried the seals out, pushed the race out and a couple of rusty needle rollers followed. I don't know if I just skipped greasing it or got stalled at getting the seals out and forgot about it when I put it back together. That's why I can't have nice things ;)

No big deal. It's a 16 IDx22 ODx12 LG needle roller and they stock them at McMaster Carr. She's all better now.

 

[G. Gearloose]

Jetting via a variably restricted airbox sounds bass ackwards. Should you be satisfied by restricting the gazinta?

Just open it up and jet by actually changing the jet.

 

[cicone]

Gearloose---does the gazinta affect what happens to the gazouta??

 

[CZ511]

Sure, I could remove the lid totally and then go from there...... it will probably run lean but I am not going to go crazy with it now. After I install the FMF exhaust I will spend the time to do the jetting. As for now and a quick fix, two holes in the lid and lowering the needle made a big difference. Also, this time of year "winter" is not the time to begin jetting the bike. As a rule of thumb, the colder it is, the leaner a bike runs and the hotter it is, the richer a bike runs (the air is heavy "dense") in the summer.

 

[gwhII]

Originally posted by CZ511
As a rule of thumb, the colder it is, the leaner a bike runs and the hotter it is, the richer a bike runs (the air is heavy "dense") in the summer.

Howdy CZ511,

You've got the lean/rich part right but the air density is backward. When it's cold the air molecules are less active so it's more densely packed meaning more oxygen per unit fuel. In the summer, with the sun/heat, the air molecules are more active meaning less oxygen per unit fuel. That's of course leaving jetting as a constant.

Best,
Greg

 

[canyncarvr]

Look for that bottom bearing to be bad most of the time...whether it's greased well or not.

The oem bearing is junk to start with. Note that the rollers are so loose that they appear crooked?

With a good quality grease I've gone from having to replace it every several months to at least being able to clean it up and make it work...sorta.

There has been talk of replacing that bearing with a bushing of some sort. That's on my 'to do' list......figure out which one/type would work best..and with/without the sleeve.

Under the heading of, 'Words mean things...'

Maybe a reference to 'heavy' air in the summer is meant to indicate humidty. He IS on the right coast. It gets REAL heavy out that-a-way.

You do need to jet more lean for increased RH (relative humidity)...cuz there's less air, or, another way jetting left alone it will run comparatively more rich the 'heavier' the air gets.

A further BTW, there is no room for confusion if the clip positions are referenced by numbers. They are numbered 1-5 (or 6 if you have 'em) from the 'top' 'blunt' end toward the 'bottom' 'pointed' end. That gets away from raised/lowered the clip/needle, problems.