Fettling a Kawasaki KMX 200

[Kickstart]

Hi

Personally, if the filter is catching it I would just run it like that, and keep an eye on the filter. Change it when it starts to fill with rubbish.

All the best

Keith
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Traxpics, track day and racing photographs - Bimota Forum - Bike performance / thrust graphs for choosing gearing

[slowlydoesit]

[Kickstart]

Hi

The grit still seems to be mixed up, not settled. Is that the fuel level in the filter, or a separation? Could be water from the tank, with the grit sitting in that at the bottom and fuel floating on top.

All the best

Keith
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Traxpics, track day and racing photographs - Bimota Forum - Bike performance / thrust graphs for choosing gearing

[slowlydoesit]

[Kickstart]

Hi

White powder is odd (assuming it is not powered by fuel from Licence to Kill), but milky kind of liquid could be a water / fuel emulsion.

All the best

Keith
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Traxpics, track day and racing photographs - Bimota Forum - Bike performance / thrust graphs for choosing gearing

[slowlydoesit]

[Kickstart]

Hi

The white in the emulsion wouldn't be from sediment, just tiny drops of water in the fuel (or the other way round).

All the best

Keith
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Traxpics, track day and racing photographs - Bimota Forum - Bike performance / thrust graphs for choosing gearing

[gavcarter]

I swilled my tank out with rust remover, and although inside the tank turned back to nice shiney metal, I nowhave a lot of white powder / scale inside it, Ive flushed the worst out with petrol, will have to clean properly after painting it....

Maybe someones done something similar?

[slowlydoesit]

[gavcarter]

I would have a walk down to your local fishing tackle, outdoor sports type place and get either a tub of lead shot, or metal BB's, slosh them round with a bit of petrol, should knock the worst off....

[slowlydoesit]

[slowlydoesit]

Pictures now uploaded. Annoyingly there's something rattling around inside, sounds metallic. I can't see it; maybe I can get it out with a magnet.

Looks very clean on this side...

https://i.imgur.com/vqYi7jC.jpg

...and on this side too.

https://i.imgur.com/SulVdD6.jpg

Bottom of the tank has surface rust.

https://i.imgur.com/5doyFwQ.jpg?1

Doesn't look like a problem.

https://i.imgur.com/DATQPvH.jpg

The bit round the lip of the filler is solid - current tank has flakey paint there.

https://i.imgur.com/gMMZkZ6.jpg?1

Inside looks good, as far as I can see.

https://i.imgur.com/EPzUUv6.jpg?1

https://i.imgur.com/oOtnhsz.jpg?1
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Kawasaki KMX200 with broken fixed powervalves and a stutter

[dangerousdave]

Tank looks about as clean as they come, used.

Rattling is probably a bolt, possibly when previous owner removed the tank cap. Better out than in.
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1988 Kawasaki KMX 200

Previous: Yamaha YZF1000, ZZR600, KMX200, DT50, KX80, CG125, PF50

[stevo as b4]

Echo that, it's a very good clean tank indeed!

I would wire brush and de-rust the underside of the tank, and paint it with brush on Hammerite etc, and then rub on a thick layer of wax polish and leave it on, before you fit the tank, to protect the underside for ages!

How are you finding the braking now with the 2pot caliper? Any noticeable improvement?

[slowlydoesit]

[Nexus Icon]

[slowlydoesit]

More glorious weather in West Wales. I cruised over to the workshop and did some work on the KMX. The new tank is on and seems to work fine. The graphics clearly don't match the bike, but it'll do for now.

https://i.imgur.com/H0YWi5L.jpg

The blu-tack has been removed and the rattly thing, which turned out to be one of the inlet pipes for the fuel tap, was hooked out with some welding wire. I took the bike for a spin and found that the engine no longer has the problem of racing at higher revs, which has been a concern. As per the pictures above, there seemed to be a white paste (perhaps from the treatment that was given to the previous tank?) contaminating the carbs and that at least seems to have stopped. It no longer smokes like it used to and it starts easily. So far so good.

On the other hand, when I wind open the throttle from mid-range on - about 5,000rpm, but varies - the bike stutters and won't rev to the top of the range. The actual rpm at which this happens depends on the gear, so sometimes it happens at around 4k and sometimes at 6k. I'm thinking that although I have a new(ish) tank and fresh petrol, the sludgy petrol from the previous tank may have contaminated the carb and be causing a sticky main jet. I have already stripped the carb twice, but that was before I realised that the residue from the old tank was the problem.

Continuing (but different) fuelling problems aside, it was a good day. I rode the bike for a few miles along country roads and it felt pretty good to be cruising around in such great weather. Bike is well balanced and easy to ride, though I'm having a few problems getting used to the lack of engine braking. I think the clutch could do with some adjustment as it feels to me as if you have to pull it back a long way to change gear, but that's something for the future.
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Kawasaki KMX200 with broken fixed powervalves and a stutter

[dangerousdave]

Stuttery running does sound like muck in the carb.
Be interesting to know if it responds the same immediately after the carb had been cleaned and the jets blown out with compressed air.

If performance is the same after this, same stuttery running then check your jetting. Somebody may have altered the jetting from the original spec when the Big One exhaust was fitted. Look at the needle clip position, believe it should be on #2 for standard setup. Then check the main jet size, this should be #112.5.

Check the air filter is clean and lightly oiled also. The spark plug may need a clean/replacement, they are cheap anyway.

Hope that solves it.
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1988 Kawasaki KMX 200

Previous: Yamaha YZF1000, ZZR600, KMX200, DT50, KX80, CG125, PF50

[slowlydoesit]

[dangerousdave]

These two-strokes can be a little finicky, unless the set-up is perfect, they won't run right. Its good you now know the jetting is correct, for the standard set up.

Good shout on the coil, didn't think of that myself.

Old filters can cause rough running if they are limiting air flow. Spark plugs can cause problems as well if the gap isn't right or if there is a carbon build up. I clean the plug regularly.

Any air leaks between the carb and the air box will throw the jetting out. Be worth checking if anything obvious, tears in the rubber, cracks, or fastenings which aren't tight or no longer sealing.

Any leaks around the near side KIPS resonator cover? The threads can go causing a proper seal on the cylinder to be impossible. If this is leaking it may have trouble below 6,000, as it will loose compression.

Finally, any leaks on the exhaust?
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1988 Kawasaki KMX 200

Previous: Yamaha YZF1000, ZZR600, KMX200, DT50, KX80, CG125, PF50

[slowlydoesit]

Now I have a problem with the HT coil I bought to see if it would cure the stuttering issue at higher revs. Partly my fault: I should have looked at the existing part and taken a photo before ordering the new part. Basically, the existing HT coil was fixed to the bike with a bolt that passed at 90 degrees to the frame rail through a lug. The new HT coil has a hole that runs parallel or in line with the frame rail.

There's no way it will fit, though I could bodge it by securing it with a cable tie. Would that work or does the coil need to be earthed on the frame? The old coil has no metal in the mounting hole, so I guess it can't be earthing.

And why the hell would the mounting holes be different? A search on Ebay for "KMX HT coil" bring up both types. Why would that be? Something as basic as a frame lug surely wouldn't change over time would it?

https://i.imgur.com/IhiSTuw.jpg

We also seem to have inadvertently destroyed the spark plug cap when we pulled out the HT coil cable, which was secured to the plug cap with a screw and two washers (see below). The plug cap seemed to contain a resistive element of some kind, which is the red part in the picture. Is that normal?

https://i.imgur.com/Vq4WGWR.jpg
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Kawasaki KMX200 with broken fixed powervalves and a stutter

[Bunny Lingus]

Isn't that a suppressor to stop TV interference? I wish they had those on Chinese peds...
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Bunny Lingus & The Flipside Faggots

[gavcarter]

the resistor in the cap can also stop damage to your electric system. Running an un-resisted cap when it is designed to be resisted can blow expensive black boxes if your unlucky.

As for the coil, I would just use a large jubilee clip round the frame and over the coil.

[dangerousdave]

[blurredman]

If the spark plug is resistored (which most are now) you can discard the resistor in the cap. You only need 5k ohms to adhere to law etc, 10k ohms is just reducing your spark unnecessarily.

It is thought as good practice now, to integrate the resistence into the spark plug therefore changing both at the same time, and less issues with degredation, contact clenliness and availability of resistors in the caps.
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CBT: 12/06/10, Theory: 22/09/10, Module 1: 09/11/10, Module 2: 19/01/11
Past: 1991 Honda CG125BR-J, 1992 (1980) Honda XL125S, 1996 Kawasaki GPZ500S.
Current: 1981 Honda CX500B - 91k, 1987 MZ ETZ250 (bored to 295cc) - 38k, 1989 MZ ETZ251 - 49k, 1979 Suzuki TS185ER - 9k, 1973 MZ ES250/2 - 17k.