Worn carb slide - 95 KDX-200 -Keihin PWK35

[reepicheep]

The teardown continues... the kickstarter gear is all tuned up and working great, now I am tackling the carb.

The bike seemed to run OK (considering the mess in the airbox and the leaking exhausts from broken mounts everywhere) when I started my tear down. But having not ridden this bike before, who knows how "OK" it really was. It pulled harder then my old KLR-250, but that's not saying much.

Anyway, I have the slide out (or as Kawasaki and Keihin call it, the "Throttle Valve"). It shows some beginning wear in the extreme corners, where it looks like some sort of plating has come off.

Its still really small at this point, perhaps some fraction of a millimeter wide and maybe 2 mm tall at it's worst. And it seems "recessed", not raised. The throttle showed no signs of hanging during the very brief time I played with the bike before tear down.

I'll try and post pictures tonight, but I would rather not start ordering $70 parts if they aren't broken yet. And I don't mind doing another tear down next season if I can get a year or two out of the current one before it starts hanging.

So how bad can these things wear before it becomes a problem? Does ignoring it cause the carb body to wear, and sign me up for a new carb instead of just a new slide?

Its amazing the thing ran... the PO had a filter in there that was falling apart, and had a big hole in the middle. There was mud partially filling into the bottom vent tube... which also no doubt contributed to the slide wear.

Next job is to pull the head and radiators so I can weld back the radiator mounting tabs onto the frame... Thank God for steel framed dirt bikes...

 

[reepicheep]

Oh, and so I don't get accused of a second thread that is worthless without pictures... :)

 

[mudpack]

I would not worry too much about the slide's condition. It will work just fine. It does look like the chrome plating has been worn off, but it is in an area of the slide that will not cause problems.
Put it back together with a good air filter and ride on!


Great picture, by the way, I can't take sharp close-ups like that with my digital camera... :(

 

[reepicheep]

Fuji F31 FD in macro mode... reasonably priced all around good point and shoot. Its claim to fame (justified) is that it'll do 1600 or 3200 ASA and keep good quality... meaning you can shoot in just about candlelight with no flash. Thats what made that macro look so good... it's not "baked" by a flash, natural light always looks better.

Now back on topic... thanks! I'm pricing replacement slides now... looks like its about $70. I don't want to chew up the carb body and turn a $70 problem into a $250 problem... Decisions... decisions...

 

[julien_d]

The carb will be fine. Just smooth that off a bit with some wet sanding and put it back together, as Mud said. Slides wear, and sometimes quickly. If you replace it, it may look the same next year if you ride hard and ride a lot. It's no big deal, for real. I'd bet $70 you can find a better place on the bike to spend $70.

 

[reepicheep]

$75? I wish. I'm pushing close to $400 now... this was an $850 craigslist "runs good" bike. It had... issues... but is coming back together nicely. But that includes new number plates, a new seat cover, new sprockets, new chain, and a nice new rear tire, so a lot of what I spent was for "wear items" anyway...

I put the carb back together tonight... had to dig all sorts of mud and organic gunk out of all sorts of crevices, its amazing the thing ran at all with so many plugged ports. These PWK carbs are a lot simpler and harder to screw up then the CV carbs, that's for sure.

Next, I pull the head and the reed valve. Who knows what adventures await me there! :)