Another KX500

[hughes]

My riding bud got tried of eating rocks so he has matched me on power. My bud has traded his yz250 for an 97 KX500. We are putting a new top end in this week, changing fork seals, rear wheel bearings, and levers, this will help get it back and running. Now I have some one to play with that lives in the same town. Maybe I can get him to sign up and take part in this web-site. 

[gowen]

I remember when my friends stepped up to a 250, when we came off 125s.. It was an all out battle to make ours faster than eachothers. We did that for years.. getting big bores, pipes, you name it.. it was fun. Then we grew older and stuff like that was not as important as it was before and we started learning to ride fast. Have fun and send him this way...

[hughes]

We'll have fun for sure. 

[hughes]

After getting into the top end we found some issues, the plating is shot and has worn away around the exhaust port side, and we found the cracks in the port bridges. Cylinder gone to shop for repairs. Checked his vin number and it's an 97 500, ordered new rear wheels bearings and then checked his hub it has two bearings and the kit has three. what year did they change from two to three. I'm guessing the rear wheel has been changed out.

[FPMXer]

According to Bikebandit.com all the 500's have three bearings in the rear hub. The previus owner either didn't know how to put the third bearing in or the shop that did the work was (incompatent SP?). But there should be 3 bearings in there. Two on the sprocket side and the other on the rotor side. They go in pretty easy if you freeze the bearings for about and hour or so and then add a little heat to the hub and tap them in with a socket the size of the outer race. Just in case you didn't know.

[hughes]

I think bikebandit.com might be wrong. This hub on this bike doesn't have enough room to install two bearings on the sprocket side and it seemed that the hub changed in the mid to late 90's. The clymer manual say they all have three bearings even for my 87 but it only requires two. We have no history on this bike.

[Danger4u2]

97 is when they went to 3 bearings.

[hughes]

It's cool. We installed the two and got one spare