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1988 Kawasaki KMX 200 - A2 - rebuild/restoration

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slowlydoesit
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PostPosted: 15:35 - 12 May 2014    Post subject: Reply with quote
stevo as b4 wrote:
i'll have a look for the vid that the guy emailed me, but it was nearly 2years ago, so i might have lost it now. he fitted a 35mm Keihin carb, the KX250 silencer, boyesen reeds, and he did some porting to the cylinder. basically he just raised the exhaust boost ports 2mm and widened then by 2mm. The difference was quite marked with alot more top end. however he told me that changing the exhaust and then the carb had the most effect more so than the porting even!

Stevo, sorry to be referring to such an old post, but do you know anything more about using a KX250 silencer on a KMX? Having difficulty finding an OEM exhaust pipe for my KMX200 and the one on it now is nasty, not just loud but harsh, plus it's got a KMX125 muffer on it which must be holding it back a bit.

Wondering if a KX250 silencer would bolt on to the KMX200 pipe and/or whether I could use a KX250 pipe on the KMX...
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Kawasaki KMX200 with broken fixed powervalves and a stutter
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stevo as b4
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PostPosted: 23:54 - 12 May 2014    Post subject: Reply with quote
People have adapted KX125 and KX250 silencer's and other MX ones to fit the KMX. As long as the silencer has a link pipe and therefore baffle as big a diameter as the stinger/exit pipe from the expansion chamber, I see no problem with using any silencer personally. I would not get caught up on pipe/silencer length as changes after the expansion chamber seem to have little effect on performance but much more effect on noise.

Was very interested to see Dave's pics of the taken apart std silencer, as it's a resonance reflective chamber type can, where as most MX and aftermarket silencer's are a simple absorbstion based design.
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slowlydoesit
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PostPosted: 09:12 - 13 May 2014    Post subject: Reply with quote
stevo as b4 wrote:
Was very interested to see Dave's pics of the taken apart std silencer, as it's a resonance reflective chamber type can, where as most MX and aftermarket silencer's are a simple absorbstion based design.

Me too. Thanks for comments on silencer. In my case it seems to be the aftermarket expansion chamber that's making most of the noise. Do you know of any other expansion pipes that can be bolted on to the KMX200 or is that likely to be difficult? Can't seem to find any OEM expansion chambers in the UK!
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Kawasaki KMX200 with broken fixed powervalves and a stutter
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dangerousdave
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PostPosted: 16:50 - 13 May 2014    Post subject: Reply with quote
slowlydoesit wrote:

Do you know of any other expansion pipes that can be bolted on to the KMX200 or is that likely to be difficult? Can't seem to find any OEM expansion chambers in the UK!


There aren't any other expansion chambers available for the KMX 200.

I've looked high and low for one both new and secondhand.

The only manufacturer which produces a pipe now for the KMX 200 is Big One.

I had one of these, on my last KMX 200. When fitted to my bike, I wasn't impressed with the performance. Firstly when I bought it, it didn't fit the bike very well, the mounts didn't line up.

Performance was down, was using it with the DEP silencer. It was really flat through the mid-range, yet failed to deliver much top-end power.

I figured I needed to use the Big-One silencer to get the power.

So I bought one, and fitted it. Apart from being bloody loud, there wasn't really an improvement.

I jetted up, and down, but no real improvement.

My experience was that I had to rev the tits off it to get moving, as the mid-range power was not there.

Consequently, it would sometimes not pull 6th gear, even on the flat, which is bad form for a flexible motor like the kmx200. Fuel consumption became much worse, as it was working the engine harder on a bigger main jet.

I queried it will the importer, but they said that they had a proven power gain from customers. I just lived with the pipe for a while, until I fitted a new piston. To run in, I went back to the standard pipe.

The standard pipe was much, much better in comparison. Sadly the bike got nicked after that.

Years later, after I bought my second KMX200 I was looking into exhausts again.

I spoke to the importer again, and they admitted that BigOne did not actually build a KMX 200 specific pipe. What happened is that somebody modified a 125 pipe to fit the 200, by fitting a slightly larger manifold flange. Internal dimensions were unchanged. They felt it improved the power of the 200, so they began selling the pipe as such.


TLDR: Standard Kawasaki KMX200 pipe gives the best power. Keep looking, one will turn up
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1988 Kawasaki KMX 200

Previous: Yamaha YZF1000, ZZR600, KMX200, DT50, KX80, CG125, PF50
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dangerousdave
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PostPosted: 18:32 - 13 May 2014    Post subject: Reply with quote
slowlydoesit wrote:

Wondering if a KX250 silencer would bolt on to the KMX200 pipe and/or whether I could use a KX250 pipe on the KMX...


A previous owner modified this silencer to fit my KMX.

It looks like a Suzuki RMX250 OEM pipe.

It breathes quite well. Its really bloody loud. Any MX silencer will be.
Not road legal either.

Standard KMX200 silencer below it.
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1988 Kawasaki KMX 200

Previous: Yamaha YZF1000, ZZR600, KMX200, DT50, KX80, CG125, PF50
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slowlydoesit
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PostPosted: 18:41 - 13 May 2014    Post subject: Reply with quote
dangerousdave wrote:
slowlydoesit wrote:

Do you know of any other expansion pipes that can be bolted on to the KMX200 or is that likely to be difficult? Can't seem to find any OEM expansion chambers in the UK!

lots of useful stuff


Thanks for all this and the post with the photos, very useful to hear from somebody with first-hand experience. I have a Big One expansion pipe and the OEM 125 silencer, plus another DEP silencer... Rolling Eyes Time to widen the search for an OEM pipe as a first step!
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Kawasaki KMX200 with broken fixed powervalves and a stutter
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dangerousdave
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PostPosted: 00:27 - 14 May 2014    Post subject: Reply with quote
slowlydoesit wrote:
I have a Big One expansion pipe and the OEM 125 silencer, plus another DEP silencer... Rolling Eyes Time to widen the search for an OEM pipe as a first step!


OEM pipe is pretty good on the '200.
Can't really go wrong with it.
They do turn up for sale every now and then. Just keep an eye out.

Its thick steel too, so much more durable than the aftermarket one.
Plus it is a lot quieter too, as it has a double-skinned construction to get the bike through noise regulations.

Not everybody values a quiet pipe, but they have some definite advantages, I prefer it for the kind of riding I do.

I did look into a custom pipe build a while ago, made a few enquiries, spoke to a guy from twostrokeaddicts.com, called Kenny. He made a set of pipes which featured in Practical Sportsbikes magazine, which boosted the power of an RGV250 by a surprising amount. He knows his stuff.

He asked for more info about the timing and port dimensions, but we didn't have the info to hand, or the money to do one off pipes, so nothing has progressed for the time being. If a few of us have an interest in this kind of thing, we could pick it up again.

TLDR: Standard pipes are good for the 200, and can be found cheaply on auction sites. If anybody is interested in getting a custom pipe made up of the 200, I know a guy who can make them if he is provided with the info he needs.
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1988 Kawasaki KMX 200

Previous: Yamaha YZF1000, ZZR600, KMX200, DT50, KX80, CG125, PF50
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dangerousdave
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PostPosted: 22:49 - 14 Jul 2014    Post subject: Reply with quote
Decided I fancied trying out some white panels for the back of the bike, as I'm not totally sold on the resprayed green and yellow panels fitted at the moment.

Problem is Kawasaki no longer do them so old plastics cost a fortune ! And I wouldn't put expensive plastics on this sort of bike, as sods law I'll drop it and scratch them up anyway. Takes the fun out of riding them.

I found a really cheap pair with some marks and scratches, knowing its possible to polish them out with some patience and perseverance. Began looking like this:

https://i1329.photobucket.com/albums/w544/bikemars100/ScreenShot2014-07-14at221453_zps26e8ae43.png

Then after about an hour, some very light wet-and-dry, some T-cut, then some polish looked a bit more presentable:

https://i1329.photobucket.com/albums/w544/bikemars100/ScreenShot2014-07-14at221536_zps5408df9f.png

On the bike they looked pretty decent, problem is now am thinking I'd like a blue seat cover ....

https://i1329.photobucket.com/albums/w544/bikemars100/ScreenShot2014-07-14at221634_zpsc586555d.png

My radiator panel has been long broken. I was looking out for a plain green panel just to match the tank, but didn't come across anything half-decent. I had this one in my spares, so needed to get rid of the decal:

https://i1329.photobucket.com/albums/w544/bikemars100/ScreenShot2014-07-14at221705_zps974f3457.png

Some time with a hot air gun, being careful not to heat the plastic too much, brought it back to this:

https://i1329.photobucket.com/albums/w544/bikemars100/ScreenShot2014-07-14at221725_zpsf8c702ed.png

After a clean up of the remaining glue and a polish it looked pretty good. There were a few imperfections where I'd been overly enthusiastic with the heat gun, but its a learning process.

As far as the wiring goes on this bike, previous owners have chopped the loom about a bit, some non-standard connectors, a radiator fan wired in, and an immobiliser switch. As I had the near-side panel off, I spotted this on the reg/rectifier:

https://i1329.photobucket.com/albums/w544/bikemars100/ScreenShot2014-07-14at224623_zps8f323acb.png

So there's a fair bit of work to be done clearing out these electrical gremlins.
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1988 Kawasaki KMX 200

Previous: Yamaha YZF1000, ZZR600, KMX200, DT50, KX80, CG125, PF50
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slowlydoesit
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PostPosted: 22:59 - 14 Jul 2014    Post subject: Reply with quote
dangerousdave wrote:
Decided I fancied trying out some white panels for the back of the bike, as I'm not totally sold on the resprayed green and yellow panels fitted at the moment.

Good work. Amazing what you can do with some elbow grease and some T-cut! Might try that on mine.
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Kawasaki KMX200 with broken fixed powervalves and a stutter
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zbraff
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PostPosted: 22:21 - 30 Jul 2014    Post subject: Reply with quote
I see one problem with bigger carbs:

If you fit a bigger carb like the TMX30, the amount of oil delivered by the oil pump won't be correct as the mix ratio changes. So how do you adjust the oil pump?
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dangerousdave
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PostPosted: 11:30 - 04 Aug 2014    Post subject: Reply with quote
zbraff wrote:
I see one problem with bigger carbs:

If you fit a bigger carb like the TMX30, the amount of oil delivered by the oil pump won't be correct as the mix ratio changes. So how do you adjust the oil pump?


Just adjust the oil pump to deliver more oil.

The oil pump on my bike is already giving more oil than specified by the manual. It seems a cautious previous owner has increased the flow rate to give the engine some protection.
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1988 Kawasaki KMX 200

Previous: Yamaha YZF1000, ZZR600, KMX200, DT50, KX80, CG125, PF50
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Old Thread Alert!

The last post was made 9 years, 266 days ago. Instead of replying here, would creating a new thread be more useful?
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