86 overhaul

[byron909]

tuck the holes on the back of piston have to do with the porting.

i have done some more to the bike, but it is not finished. been busy at work this week, not much time, also bad weather slowed me down.
some progress
mounted footpegs, used oem hardware



exhaust mounted


as mentioned i am using a honda rear wheel, but didn't have one built laying around. i had all the parts, so laced a wheel up last night. once mounted built the rear brake, bled, etc. if anyone cares, i can elaborate on what it takes to mount a honda rear wheel.




used a 88 up rear pedal. little bit longer than oem 86-87. used honda master/ caliper/ line, 240mm rotor

trimmed off the oem honda caliper guard brackets, left the oem kawi bracket. looks pretty normal i think.
on the front brake issue, i found that the bolt spacing on 89 forks are same as 04 up honda. problem is the caliper is located in a different spot on fork tube than honda. so honda bracket will bolt up, but not work. since i am using a 260mm front rotor i tried a 04 up 260mm rotor bracket for honda, was worse. here is what the oem 240mm honda bracket looks like where it needs to be

you can see the lower mount needs to be fixed. i made a tab to mount it up. it will work perfect.
i was getting anxious, so i mounted the fuel tank, and installed a carb.. using a pwk off a late 90s cr250 or kx250. bike fired almost right up, everything sounded fine. no clatter from powervalves or anything. after a minute or so of running i noticed the rear of head was leaking water. i bought a athena gasket kit, but regardless the gasket was leaking to the outside. i let it run a little more, shut off, re tourqed head, started back up and seems fine. we'll see i guess. i really didn't like how the head mounted. it doesn't seem to center up well. i remember i just squared everything up. would be a good thing in future to pin it or dowel or something.
i put on the right sidepanel and stuck the seat on.

i have a tall foam mounted on a reproduction cover. the radiator shroud is just hanging there, looks pretty tweaked. junk maier stuff.
didn't plan on using yellow carb vent lines, all i had a laying around.
looking at the pic it brings back some good memories, been a while since i had an old kawasaki around.
on my steering issue, i ended up taking a hair of material of each side of upper clamp, then welded up stop on either side on frame. i lost about 2-3 degrees sweep each way. the upper clamp is solid where i removed a little, shouldn't affect a thing.
am little bummed about the head. hopefully re tourqing it did the trick. think i will need to end up removing though. would prefer all metal gasket. cometic makes a gasket kit for top end, maybe theres' is like a late model. i tried my compression release also, didn't seem to do anything much . need to put a guage on it. was really wanted to race a kx tomorrow, but one more week isn't going to matter.

[The Flyin Hawaiian]

Looks really nice!

[Goat]

That is all kinds of sex. Excellent job.

[traileater]

Brings a tear to my eye....I loved that bike. One of the best out of 20 some bikes Ive owned! Thanks for the thread.

[1989kawasaki]

that seat foam looks absolutely ridiculous 

[DoldGuy]

that seat foam looks absolutely ridiculous 

You must be "Vertically Challenged" 
DoldGuy

[1989kawasaki]

that seat foam looks absolutely ridiculous 

You must be "Vertically Challenged" 
DoldGuy

nope

[DoldGuy]

that seat foam looks absolutely ridiculous 

You must be "Vertically Challenged" 
DoldGuy

nope

Okay then, just challenged 

[1989kawasaki]

that seat foam looks absolutely ridiculous 

You must be "Vertically Challenged" 
DoldGuy

nope

Okay then, just challenged 

naaa. i think the seat looks like a box. lololololololol

[byron909]

when i built that seat a year or so ago i didn't like the height it ended up, looked weird to me as well. but after installing it the other day, with my lowered pegs the bike feels perfect. i am 6 ft 5 and most any old bike except a ktm seems to be made a for a person a ft shorter than me. the seat to peg height is where i want it. in person it looks more normal, but still kind of a hoss. as long as it works for me i don't care really how it looks.

[sandblaster]

That's the way it should be.
It's like my Grand pappy use to say, "I don't care if you play the trumpet through your nose as long as it sounds good".
So, it does not matter how it looks as long as it performs good for you.
Good job.

[byron909]

more or less finished the bike today. need to bolt on the skidplate, brake snake, and mount some old decals i had reproduced.
i had a spare shift shaft for my 94, turns out 94 up have bigger spline. was able to bolt up my nice shifter afterwards.
re sealed the airboot, cut out a pc racing pro seal to help seal the filter

put a fresh twin air on, cover and it was done

right side

front, need to mount handguard sheilds


motor left side


front wheel, front caliper/ master/ hose from honda, you can see lower mount bracket i had to make, 260mm rotor

controls, i need a new kill switch. i went to tighten the strap, housing broke. throttle from late model kx

motor right side

oe louvers were black, but used 88 up radiators, so went green

best part

i always liked those decals. behind shroud you can see beefed up pipe mount

[byron909]

for the longest time i have been looking for a backwards keihin for my 85 125 and this 86. i knew that tuning this with normal carb would be tedious. i managed to find a right side adjust 35mm pwk for my 125, but never anything for this 500. so now to adjust air screw and idle the airbox needs to be off. but with no airbox it is not the same. i think i will buy like a uni sock filter to help. but i did get it in the ball park. the needle feels lean, but overall ok.
i rode it for about 30 min total today, it is a pretty smooth motor. sitting on stand when you rev it things vibrate, but not much. once your'e on the bike and riding it feels fine. the crank work definatly is worth the $$.
i haven't been on a kx in a long time, used to all my hondas now. but this bike feels fine for me. the tall seat, lowered pegs, rc high bars, tall mounts make everything fit perfect. it seems to shift fine, but the clutch is dragging a little. i had a nos ebc clutch kit i used. will ride some more before taking back apart.
the bike feels light, seems pretty stable. broke the brake pads in, everything works well. head hasn't leaked again yet. the powervlaves are nice and quiet. the weather around here has been all over the place, may be a day or so before i can ride it again. hoping i can make the jetting right without too much more fuss.
i would have liked to put the oem 500 decals on, but the maier sidepanels i bought had louvers like a 88 up right where decal goes. i have since found a company that makes exact replica sidepanels. might one day invest in those.
i have another old bike race in a few weeks. hope to have all the bugs worked out for it.

it's nice to be on a green bike again. i grew up riding 80's kxs, must have had 10-12 or so though the years, this bike brings back lots of memories. i'll admit it took me about 30 minutes to shut the door on it today, was just sitting there looking at it.

[1989kawasaki]

AMAZING!!! that bike was scrap metal before the resto.

[iamsofaking]

I can't believe how gorgeous that thing is.