looking for kx 500 parts and advice

[vagassasson]

hey everyone i am trying to hunt down a few parts for a 98 kx 500 i picked up over the weekend .
i am looking for a window cut piston for a factory bore cylinder.
a v force 2 reed cage... i heard those were the ones to use
what jetting should be used at 600ft above see level
the guy that owned the bike before me was scared to death of it so he has the gearing all wrong to the point the bike is like a tractor and doesnt even want to pull a wheelie... whats a good gear ratio for this bike... something between high speed and still torquie
the bike is actually in great shape because it never had a crazy rider on it. from what i can tell the guy probably never opened it up... the best part is i got it from him for $1300

[reklessj]

Welcome to the site!! Sounds like you scored on the K5, I paid that much for a 1994. Use the search for jetting it will get pointed in the right direction. There are some straight up jetting guru's on here in fact I got a member helpin my dumb ass out right now! As far as gearing goes 14/47 (stock) works pretty well for all but wide open desert or dunes for me. Where abouts are ya from? Post some pics as soon as ya can.

[vagassasson]

Yeah I'm pretty happy with the buy its just way to sluggish at this point and needs to be a little more peppy for my taste.
I'm located in Patton Missouri
And I will post some pictures as soon as I figure out how lol
One other thing I have heard of is that the CR 500 connecting rod is better than the factory rod in the k5.
If so does anybody know how to perform that work and clue me in on what all is needed to do that ?

[sandblaster]

Here's how to post pics:
http://www.kxriders.com/forums/index.php/topic,10040.0.html
We have members with bikes turning over 10k RPM's with stock rods.
If you feel you need a aftermarket rod, Wossner makes them and you can get the windowed piston and rod from Alward25

[vagassasson]

So I just took the kips out of the head and I'm 99% sure that some idiot had installed it wrong before I got the bike on the left side kips valve the dot on the gear was 180° from the mark on the slide.
Perhaps this is the reason for the sluggish ride

[vagassasson]

Ok I'm going to try the picture uploading thing
Here is a picture of the bike when I bought it
And here is the picture of the kips valve the way it was when I took it out

[Goat]

Nice bike and good price.

Factory rods are excellent. As far as I'm concerned Wossner is the only aftermarket rod I'd ever use. Had way too many customers with issues/breakage from other aftermarket brands.

Kipps not installed correctly will make a huge difference in how it runs. Jetting should be in the very close range of 55/168, stock needle at 3rd position, 1.5 on the air screw.

On my 98 I was running 14t front and 48t rear sprockets for trails. At one point I put a 50t on the rear but the front end was never on the ground

Someone on here was making reed spacers for a really good price. I forgot who it was. I made one for mine and what a difference. Crisper throttle response, smooth idle and better power delivery throughout the rpms.