'87 Radiators

[HodaddyB]

All you guys w/ '87 KX500s.........have any of you substituted later year radiators? Any gotchas in doing so?

[jonny500]

i have gone the other way. i put an 87 rad on an 89 bike. i far as i know the rads are interchagable between 87 and 04. when i was looking for my rads i found older models, pre 87 had the middle rad mount was towards the front of the bike where as the 87 and on had the middle mount towards the rear.
when i put the 87 rad on the 89 i checked part numbers and they were different, but they looked so similar i risked it and bought it anyway, it payed of as it was a perfect fit. there is a chance the guy i bought it from got the year wrong but i dont think so.

[jonny500]

above is 87 mounts to the rear and below is 89 also mounts to the rear

[jonny500]

heres the 86 mounts to the front

[jonny500]

just 1 last think the guards/louvrers were different. oh and 1 more thing as a temperary fix i used 88/89 250 rads they bolted on  ok but the hoses were a struggle as the left/non filler bottom hose mount is is striaght and not angled up to reach the 500s taller head. the 250 rads also have 1 less vien in them
hope this helps
best regards
john

[HodaddyB]

Great, thanks for the input. The hoses were my greates concern. I figured I could get something together that could remedy any mounting issues, but depending on what they did with the hose barbs it could awfully tough to fudge.

By "guards" are you referring to the shrouds? For some reson I am under the impression that *some* later years will fit.

I'm a bit suspicious of the fiche. I don't remember if it was KX500 fiche or something else, but compared two different years that I *knew* were different, and it was the exact same picture w/ different numbers.

Thanks again!

[jonny500]

by gaurds i mean the grill on the front. everything else is bolt perfect between 87 and 04

[HodaddyB]

Fantastic. Thanks again, bud.