my 2001 rebuild

[ftc]

bought this bike in january, it had sat for a number of years but fired up and seemed to run fine.
scary power really, never rode a 500 before
i probably paid a little over what its worth but oh well.
came with race tech suspension, scotts damper, stock and oversized tank, stock and pro circuit pipes and silencers/ spark arrestor, hand guards,
seems to be a pretty clean bike so far

[ftc]

brought it home and ordered up some basic stuff-
new air filters- the one it had was starting to disintegrate
fresh packing for the silencer- it was probably never done, full of ooze
then i thought why not pull the pipe and clean it out as well right?
lets have a look inside the cylinder just to make sure its good right?
noooo....  i was so bummed!  wasn't planning to rebuild this thing right off the bat.

[ftc]

hard to see from the last picture but off came the head and cylinder to send off for a replate.  the nicasil was bubbled up and flaked off on the intake side.
so off it went to millennium for a replate and new piston.

[ftc]

now is as good a time as any to tear it apart further and re grease the linkage and just clean it up in general.

[Foxx4Beaver]

Eh, you're better off going through the whole thing now, and get it over with....then you'll know what you have.

Looks like one I may have posted before in the KX500's thread.

[ftc]

reading thru all the cool tricks you guys have posted here and sandblasters kx guru site gave me the itch to do the same.
the cr front brake line with suzuki 05-06 rmz450 fork guards
and the jason tanner extended billet clutch arm that i haven't been able to try yet.  the clutch pull was pretty stout before.

[ftc]

Eh, you're better off going through the whole thing now, and get it over with....then you'll know what you have.

Looks like one I may have posted before in the KX500's thread.

yes might have been it was on craigslist for 2 months and i looked at it probably twice a day in that time, lol

[ftc]

got the cylinder and new piston back from millennium last week.  engine is back in the frame now.  decided to get the decompression head from larry and the 2 piece clutch cover from alward, so currently waiting on those 2 parts to continue putting this thing back together

[ftc]

also picked up a fancy sticker kit and american flag seat cover from evo mx in europe. 
they used it for ivan tedescos des nations bike but i thought the name i changed it to fit the kx500 perfectly

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ygE01sOhzz0

[kxpegger]

You're off to a good start!

[Polar-Bus]

got the cylinder and new piston back from millennium last week.  engine is back in the frame now.  decided to get the decompression head from larry and the 2 piece clutch cover from alward, so currently waiting on those 2 parts to continue putting this thing back together

You will LOVE  Larry's  decompressor ! It works so awesome. I'm a hagged out 53 y/o with right hip issues and there is NO way I could get my K5 started in standard configuration.  Another tip I have learned with the K5's is to double up on the copper crush exhaust gasket in the cylinder. If you run only a single washer the pipe will most likely hammer the snot out of the gasket from vibration and then the inlet of the pipe starts to smack the inside of the cylinder causing big gouges. Double gaskets and some Permatex RTV on the exhaust springs minimizes harmonic vibrations and no more broken exhaust coupler  springs. Good luck with the rebuild !

[ftc]

thanks for the tips polar bus, might have to get some extra crush washers.  head received from larry last week, very nice work, no before pics but i know it wasn't polished before i sent it out

[ftc]

replaced cylinder and new piston back in, and head installed

[ftc]

out with the old seat, in with the new...  murcia!

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as she sits now, waiting on a few plastic pieces and the clutch cover.  both due any day im sure.