1986 kx500 parts compatibility

[gonger]

Hello all.. new kx500 owner here.. this site has some great info..I'm having trouble locating some of these old parts so Im looking for compatible. I did find a nice document on here for 87 kx500 compatibiliy and kind of want to do the same for the 86.

 I just wanted to start a thread and review my research.

1. Piston's- research seems to indicate that 88 and newer has dual rings and will work?

2. flywheel- I want a FWW and light kit. it seems the 86 was unique.. I found some info that the 88 and up flywheel and stator will work.. is this correct.

3. clutch-- I found some are having trouble with clutch parts being unvailable. those problems seem to go unresolved.

thats all for now thanks for any input..

Curt

[iamsofaking]

I have some clutch parts from having to buy a complete set when I just needed a couple of parts.  Do you need something in particular?

[gonger]

I m not activley looking for clutch parts right now.. But would like to restore or retrofit any parts that I can as needed..

I do have the piston out right now.. tring to find compatible replacement.. Hard to believe that in a big city like phoenix that I can not find a piston locally...

[iamsofaking]

I've had a really hard time getting parts for my '86.  One of my favorite sites is denniskirk.com because I can set up the input the particulars and it tells me what it has for my bike.  its mostly accessories, though.  Not a lot of engine parts.

[JBKX]

I have a later style piston in my 86 motor, it runs fine.

[Hillclimb#42]

I wound up with a 86 rear wheel on accident. A big thanks goes out to Ebay. Really I am working on a kdx and was looking to go to a disc rear brake and wound up getting a drum style wheel from an 86. Its a nice wheel with some scratches and rusty spokes. It has a tire on it thats wore out but the tube still has air.
  Sorry don't know anything about interchangeability, obviously.

[dnmac1999]

I just put in a piston out of an 88 on. Works great. The clutch the only thing i have found was clutch fibers and steel plates. Not even springs. I have heard the same thing about the flywheel also.

[tobys 2 strokes]

I wound up with a 86 rear wheel on accident. A big thanks goes out to Ebay. Really I am working on a kdx and was looking to go to a disc rear brake and wound up getting a drum style wheel from an 86. Its a nice wheel with some scratches and rusty spokes. It has a tire on it thats wore out but the tube still has air.
  Sorry don't know anything about interchangeability, obviously.

Its not an 86 if it has a drum brake. That was one of the selling factors when I bought my brand new 86 it was the first yr. to have front and rear disc brakes liquid cooled powervalved and great suspension. I went from an 81 KDX 420 to an 86 kx 500 and thought I was in heaven.

[don46]

Hello all.. new kx500 owner here.. this site has some great info..I'm having trouble locating some of these old parts so Im looking for compatible. I did find a nice document on here for 87 kx500 compatibiliy and kind of want to do the same for the 86.

 I just wanted to start a thread and review my research.

1. Piston's- research seems to indicate that 88 and newer has dual rings and will work?

2. flywheel- I want a FWW and light kit. it seems the 86 was unique.. I found some info that the 88 and up flywheel and stator will work.. is this correct.

3. clutch-- I found some are having trouble with clutch parts being unvailable. those problems seem to go unresolved.

thats all for now thanks for any input..

Curt

The flywheels and stators should be the same from 86 through 89, they were smaller in diameter, in 90 they went to a larger flywheel. If you picked up an ignition off a 90 or newer you wouldn't need the fww and it would work perfectly.

[gonger]

Great.. I got a piston ordered from rockymountain should be here tommorow..

thanks for the flywheel info too.. it seems that the 86 was unique because threaded part for removal tool is not flush with the face. so the FWW cant be mounted. I was leaning towards putting later model parts on whenever I can so I can keep the bike supportable. so ebay will by my friend.

[Hillclimb#42]

I wound up with a 86 rear wheel on accident. A big thanks goes out to Ebay. Really I am working on a kdx and was looking to go to a disc rear brake and wound up getting a drum style wheel from an 86. Its a nice wheel with some scratches and rusty spokes. It has a tire on it thats wore out but the tube still has air.
  Sorry don't know anything about interchangeability, obviously.

Its not an 86 if it has a drum brake. That was one of the selling factors when I bought my brand new 86 it was the first yr. to have front and rear disc brakes liquid cooled powervalved and great suspension. I went from an 81 KDX 420 to an 86 kx 500 and thought I was in heaven.

 My bad again, (used to my bikes swapping wheels 250/500) its a 86 250 wheel. At least that was what I found out later. That seems wierd though. Would the 250 wheel be drum and a 500 wheel be disc first? Also used to the 500's taking a bit of a backseat in developement. Or what was the last year of the 250 drums? Sorry hijacking thread, I guess. Just trying to find out what wheel this is, so I don't burn anyone, when I sell it.

[don46]

I wound up with a 86 rear wheel on accident. A big thanks goes out to Ebay. Really I am working on a kdx and was looking to go to a disc rear brake and wound up getting a drum style wheel from an 86. Its a nice wheel with some scratches and rusty spokes. It has a tire on it thats wore out but the tube still has air.
  Sorry don't know anything about interchangeability, obviously.

Its not an 86 if it has a drum brake. That was one of the selling factors when I bought my brand new 86 it was the first yr. to have front and rear disc brakes liquid cooled powervalved and great suspension. I went from an 81 KDX 420 to an 86 kx 500 and thought I was in heaven.

 My bad again, (used to my bikes swapping wheels 250/500) its a 86 250 wheel. At least that was what I found out later. That seems wierd though. Would the 250 wheel be drum and a 500 wheel be disc first? Also used to the 500's taking a bit of a backseat in developement. Or what was the last year of the 250 drums? Sorry hijacking thread, I guess. Just trying to find out what wheel this is, so I don't burn anyone, when I sell it.

Don't know what wheel you have, but in 86 all the big KX's had disc brakes front and rear. 85 was the last year for rear drum brakes on the kx"s

[Icerider]

I'm looking for a 86-88 flywheel and cdi if you want to sell your old parts?

[kwakman]

ive been researching which later model parts fit the 86 for about 3 yrs now.86 -89 ignitions are the same.you can use a later setup but you have to use all the components, cdi, stator and f'wheel.as for pistons, the later 2 ring works fine, with just a slight drop in compression as it isnt domed like 86 piston.if you ever need an exhaust you can run fmf from later models if you use your imagination when mounting it, but they fit and run well.i am thinking on the clutch side it might be possible to transplant the 87on clutch as a whole to alleviate the scarcety of parts.the 86 clutch runs a 5 spring/bolt arrangement and the later ones are 6.HTH.