2001 KX500 Kawasaki Supermoto

[sandblaster]

A little trimming of the pin...
A little grease in the tower...
A few bolts and it's done..







Never had one before so I can't wait to try it out.

[riproost]

Sweet!

[alward25]

Motorrad won.....
But then, who really cares 

I really care   No, that's a lie, sort of

[sandblaster]

You know who you are...
Thanks for the stabilizer 

[alward25]

you need better looking handlebars

[sandblaster]

I know, they are sad...
I guess it's time for a trip to my junk piles..

[Brute]

That bike has GOT to be from Australia! Those boys have some imagination and the balls to actually build the imagination with what is on hand.

[sandblaster]

Australians are way to high tech for us yokels in Oregon.
Just give us a chaw, some bailing wire, and some vice grips and we can fix anything 

[wierdo]

i luv my scotts stabilizer, i'm taking long fast sweeping dirt road corners like it was on the bitumen, get your bum off the seat and pull the bike into the corner just like a road bike, its a real confidence booster knowing the back end is tracking in line with the front wheel. and  if you back off the adjustment you can set how far out you want the rear tyre to be in the corner, but with much better control, best of both worlds at the twist of the knob.

[sandblaster]

A little more on water pump cover modifications...



Just knocking off the rough edges...

[sandblaster]

So I'm going along on this project and figured that I should get the engine started...
I strip down the cases, push out the bears and seals, carefully inspect them looking for damage, out of spec journals ect..
Looks good.
I take the cases next door and have the sandblasted.
Afterward I clean up the outside of the cases on a wire wheel.
I don't want them polished, just a nice finish that is easy to keep clean.

I then told Motorrad what I did and what does Motorrad say, "You didn't sandblast them did you?"

I say, "I know it was a mistake.....
Which is why I started to wire wheel them and get back some surface finish that you can actually clean up.
I probably should have soda blasted them but live and learn...
I don't want them highly polished just a nice natural finish.
You can see it in this pic.



Then Motorrad says, "Its not the outside that you need to worry about after sand blasting.
its the inside..."

I reply, "Is it left over debris, surface finish, or porosity?
Or something else entirely?"

Motorrad says, " Many nascar and baja teams had this problem in the past.. of motors not lasting..
when you sand or Bead blast parts... the particulate embeds in the parts. slowly releasing over time, heat cycles etc.........
I'm sure your smart enough to know where it all goes after it becomes dislodged."

I feel the sting of the back hand across my face...  

After a few more comments back and forth I decide to soda blast the cases and wire bush them.
I went out and bought a soda blaster and cleaned the cases again.



And



Looks great and feels better on the inside.
I began thinking about what a pain it would be to wire brush the cases and almost skipped it.
I'm glad common sense kicked in and I got my Dremel out.



After just a few seconds of cleaning I noticed this, it feels gritty:



It took about an hour to do one side of this case but I feel a lot better about it now:



I air hosed it out, wiped it down, and it feels clean and smooth.
Thanks for saving my Bacon Motorrad...  

[sandblaster]

When spending that much time looking around my engine case I started noticing a few details...



Does it hurt to leave it?
Apparently not as Kawasaki thought it was ok to leave.
But I don't like it.
Should it be removed?

What about this oil hole.
Believe it or not I have a set of new factory cases and this hole does not even go all the way through.
It's as if only part of the hole got drilled 



And this hole:



Should these be clean up, enlarged, or polished?

[motopunk]

i would enlarge it a little bit and modify for better oil flow between gears and clutch.
 i always modify my oil holes when i dissamble one of my motors. . i make it close to the case-bottom for a better oil flow. 2.effect : if you drain it you could get more of the old oil out of the motor.

the drain holes on the crank bearings you can also drill 0,5mm - 1mm bigger for better lubrication... on my old 83 kx250, i changed them from the stock 3,5mm up to 4,5mm.  on my ´86 kx500 motor it was already done by the pre-owner 

[sandblaster]

Thanks motopunk.
I had another member suggest those same things.
Although there is some that say not to enlarge the oil holes for the main bearings.
Cleaning them is always a good idea 

[motopunk]

Thanks motopunk.
I had another member suggest those same things.
Although there is some that say not to enlarge the oil holes for the main bearings.
Cleaning them is always a good idea 

sometimes is only clean up the oil holes the better way to perfektion. 

its an old skill of my dad.. he wrenched on motocross bikes since the dinosaurs walked through the backyards... .
before 1990 here in old East Germany behind the Iron Curtain only cz bikes allowed or any own buildings were permitted.
.. were crazy times here  ...
in west germany they had everything all the time.  not only this old CZ-crab based on the ´70s. my dad had to tune the engines and change the frames for more wheel travel. ...thats a little bit history of my childhood...