SUBJECT:
LEAKY KDX 200
Dear Rick,
Like so many other people who write to you, I used to devour your
Dirtbike columns as a kid back in the 1970s. I started riding in 1970
on a Honda mini trail and moved up to racing a 125 in hare scrambles. After
riding and racing bicycles for most of the intervening years, I got
into motorcycle road racing a few years ago. I gave that up (for now)
last year to ride dirt bikes with my new wife. She has a 2005 KLX300 and I have a 2004 KDX200.
Last weekend we
were out riding in the Tillamook state forest here in Oregon. When we
first unloaded the bikes and I opened my petcock, the carburetor
started steadily leaking gas out of the bowl's overflow tube. Once I
started it up, it stopped. Later, I parked my bike by the trail with the engine off to help my wife start hers after she
fell (Jesus, 4-strokes are harder to kick start than I remember). When
I got back to mine, the overflow tube was dribbling a steady stream of
gas again. Shrugging my shoulders, I ignored it and got going again. I
rode up the trail a little ways then gave it some gas to lift the
front wheel over some rocks. That's when the fun began. The damn
throttle stuck wide open! So there I was hanging on for a quick wild
My question to
you is what the hell happened? Why did the throttle stick wide open?
The throttle and cable are fine. There was no dirt I could find in the
carburetor when I took it apart. My best guess is that the float was
stuck down for some reason which caused the carburetor to fill with
gas and the resultant flooding prevented the slide from closing due to
hydraulic pressure. I don't want to repeat the experience as once was
enough and there might not be a nice small tree to catch me next time,
so I figured I better ask the expert - you.
Thanks,
Bryan
I have a KDX
200 also, and have experienced gas pouring out the overflow tubing.
Every time, I cured the problem by taking the carb apart and cleaning
the float/needle inlet out properly. Like yours, my bike sits a lot
between rides and I think that the gas in the float bowl tends to
evaporate and leave the oil to clog up the fuel inlet. I solved the
problem by draining the float bowl after every ride. As to your
throttle sticking wide open, I have not experienced that, but having
the gas run through the carb into the lower end would cause the engine
to run wild.
SUBJECT:
CABLES
Hi Rick, i got
myself a mint condition 1973 125 yamaha enduro. everything is there
except for the broken throttle cable. where can i get these vintage
oem parts.
Thanks
Craig Lowrie
Contact Terry
Cable at www.terrycable.com and pick up one of their excellent products.
SUBJECT:
SEIZURE TECH
What would cause
a 2 stroke to run lean and start pinging once the engine tempature
builds up? When the motor is cold, it does not do it. The jets have
been richened up and the fuel mixtuer is at the manufacturer's
recommended specs. Any ideas?
Thanks,
Chris
The way they
test for octane rating on gasoline is to raise the temperature of the
air entering the inlet tract. Does that tell you anything? You have to
go richer on your jetting, or be concerned about the octane level of
your fuel.
SUBJECT:
KDX200 QUESTIONS
Hey Rick,
I peruse your column late at night for great laughs, and totally agree
with your bashing of poor writing skills. I know that most dirt
bike riders aren't the smartest cookies (I am almost done with my
doctorate), but its a disgrace that high school educated Americans
still can't write worth a damn.
Anyway, in all
my grammatical glory, I need to figure out a few cheap mods for my
1986 KDX200. I need more power. I love trail riding, don't have much
money (yet) and am used to the power of an open class bike. I have
found a DG pipe new for $150. Is this worth it? Everyone talks about
using an FMF pipe for the KDX, but I can't find one.
What should I do
to the carb? Any particular size will work better than the stock one?
Finally, what
can I look for in the power valve area to make sure everything is in
top shape? I read through some columns about power valves (Fredette,
etc), but none outlined the typical problems associated with the power
valve of this era KDX.
Thanks again!
Kamal
As you might
know, I have a KDX 200 and it runs like a bear. Changes include an FMF
pipe, an Answer muffler, Boyesen reeds, perfect jetting and most
importantly, I added a few teeth to the front sprocket. I have not
used the DG pipe, but have heard good things about it.
SUBJECT:
PROJECT 230
Dear Super,
First off ,heard you were ill and hope you are feeling better.I am
glad to see your doing some performance mods to the crf 230,i cant
wait to see what you come up with to make it better.My wife purchased
one in 03,and it is a very enjoyable bike.I am a senior rider use to
riding Open Cz's Huskies,Maico's ,Honda's ,alittle bit of Speedway
& Flat Track.
In my mind i
still think im young but like you after a few illnesses the crf 230 is
agreat bike for me.I rode my wife's bike on a natural terrain track
with a friend ,another senior rider who has a cherry 80 CR250 Honda
,and i suprised myself and him also that i could stay ahead of him on
that 230.plus i could ride longer because my hands werent going numb
and i wasnt getting as tired as him because i didnt have to work as
hard to keep her on the pipe.Looking forward to your upcoming
articles,always read whatever mag you were involved with because i
felt like i was getting the straight scoop and not B.S. like alot of
those rags.
Thanks,
Ron Schill
The 230 is a
great little bike. Check out our Project 230 series in off-road.com.
And thanks for the kind words.
SUBJECT: DT1 BRAKES
Hi Rick,
Great column!
I have a 73
Yamaha DT1 that I restored with my 16 year old son. I ride it a lot on
both dirt and street - great bike. Now that he's got his license and
wants to go out on his own, I worry about the brakes. They're new and
properly adjusted, but the front drum is just not real strong. I also
ride a BMW with twin front discs - them's brakes. My question - would
you recommend my retrofitting a front disc onto the DT1? If so, any
suggestions about what might fit without too much machining?
Thanks for your
time.
Charles Wilkinson
As long as
everything is set up properly, including a good brake cable, the front
brake is just fine. Forget about the disc.
SUBJECT: RM
250 GUIDE
Rick,
Just flipping through this month's edition of "Don't Ask"
and I stumbled on to a submission by Keith titled "New
Bikes" and his question about comparing bikes from 1984 to the
current 2005 models. And after reading it I felt compelled to comment.
As a shameless vintage bike racer (yes - I am an AHRMA member) and a
current owner of a 1981 RM250, a 1990 RM250 and a 2002 RM250, I feel
somewhat qualified in this matter, so here's my 2 cents. But first
off, let me say that all of my bikes are very good runners in their
own right and have been tuned (engine and suspension) to my weight and
riding style.
The '02 clearly
handles better, has more power and better brakes - period. If your
looking for #1, look no farther. The '90 is slimmer than the '02
because the radiators are taller, but that makes the entire bike
taller too. Although it does have a no hit power band with more than
enough to keep a modern bike honest. As a matter of fact just this
spring I beat a few CRF450's and KTM's in a Hare Scramble race with my
'90 (didn't want to abuse the '02) ~ nuf said.
The '81 (aka
"The Vintage Racer") in a drag race will keep the '90 honest
~ but not the '02. The '81 is good enough to give my riding buddy's
WR450 fits in the right conditions, and it's a good "loaner"
bike when a bikeless buddy wants to go riding. Mainly because of it's
smooth power and the fact that there's no radiators to tear off in a
newbe style crash!
If I had to pick
one it would be the '02, because in addition to it's performance
advantages, the aftermarket actually sells products for it. No one
makes a decent pipe for my '81, and I always get strange looks when I
talk about updating the suspension on my '90. And while the brakes are
good on the '90, remember what happens when drum brakes got wet?, I do
just about every time I ride on the '81!
Overall, I do
believe that any good running and mechanically sound bike is worth
keeping and riding, even my friends old '74 Can-Am. Bottom line, if
you have a bike modern enough to have suspension that can be rebuilt
and tuned to you, and disk brakes (liquid cooling is only a plus) then
your safely in the game.
Rich
There you
have it; the definitive guide to the mid-90s RMs. This ought to settle
some arguments.
SUBJECT: 1975
DT 250
Rick,
I have a 1975 DT 250 that is running poorly. I've tried a number of
things and cannot get it to run well. Today, I purchased a compression
guage and took a number of readings. Each one centered on 90 PSI. Is
that low for an old bike like this? Would low compression cause it to
idle poorly and run poorly?
Geoff
It's low. You
should be somewhere between 125 and 140 psi.
SUBJECT:
THREE-WHEELER FEEDBACK
my name is zach.
i just stumbled over your site when i was looking for parts for my '85
honda atc200x, and i thought i would put my opinion in. i have rode
trikes since i was born. that is all my family has ever had. noone
that i know has ever had any real bad wrecks or anything on trikes
because we all ride with sense. i dont care what anyone says a person
that rides a trike has the exact same chances as anyone else at
wrecking. there is a 50/50 chance that you are gonning to have an
accident on a trike.
it is the exact same as a quad, dirtbike, truck, car, dunebuggy,
bicycle, or even walking down the street. there are limits to
everything you do. dont get me wrong a trike has more limits than a
quad or bike, but its all in how much you push the limits. i no the
limits on both my honda 110 and my 200x and i dont push them for the
fact that i no there is a good chance of taking a bad spill.
i have watched
many people ride throughout the years and the ones that get hurt are
the ones that push the limits of there bike to far. and when you say
most deaths on trikes are do to alcohol did u ever stop and think that
the majority of deaths on quads are do to alcohol too. the reason that
those people died on a trike is because they pushed the limits as soon
as they started it up.
it dont matter
what you are riding if you have been drinking you have already pushed
the limits too far. i dont think it is right for everyone to just
single out the deaths on trikes because i had a freind that was killed
on a banshee because he was drunk and tried to ride home. well i take
that back he made it home but when he pulled in the yard at 60mph he
hit a tree in front of his house and it killed him. i just ask dont
get on or in anything to ride or drive if you have been drinking.
Zach Lee
I agree with
you that you shouldn't drive/ride when drinking. I do, however, still
think that three wheelers are a pathetic excuse for an off-roader.
Period. By the way, do you drink when you type?
SUBJECT: RM
250 SMOKER
I bought a 1997
Rm suzuki 250 dirt bike and the person that sold it to me told me it
was running a little rich im wondering if you know wich way to turn
the screw and how much. It's smoking a little to much and hard to
start, and runs worse when it's warm
help please
Profile
Your bike
gives every indication of running rich - or perhaps is just in the
process of wearing out. The fact that it runs worse when it gets hot
is an indication that overly rich jetting is the problem. You can't
change jetting by turning the screw. This will require the actual
swapping of jets, which is clearly beyond your skills.
SUBJECT: CR
125
Rick,
I recently bought a 1998 CR 125 from a friend of mine. The bike starts
fine but after several minutes it dies like it ran out of gas. If I
pull the spark plug it's fouled. If I clean up the spark plug same
thing runs great for several minutes and dies. When the bike dies it
doesn't dump any gas out of the carburetor over flows. Any ideas would
be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Richard Masters
First thing
to do is to put a fresh plug in the bike and try it. Just cleaning an
old tired plug will just about guarantee it puking its guts out.
Chances are the bike is running rich, but there's no way to tell with
a funky plug.
SUBJECT: 1974
F11 250
I just got a
Kawasaki F 11 250 dirt bike and the preveous owner was mixing the gas
at 40:1 with oil, i've never heard of running it lean like that. All
my 2 stroke units run 50:1 The plugs foul quick making it hard to
start sometimes. When it runs, the single cylinder makes the struggle
worth while.
Any suggestions,
Thank you
Nando Roberts
Unless my
memory fails me, the F11 has an autolube system. By you adding oiled
gas, you are assuring a fouled plug.
SUBJECT: RM
125 EXHAUST
Dear Mr. Super
Hunky,
I have two questions for you.
1. I have a 1982
Suzuki RM125 that is in need of an exhaust. Suzuki dealers cannot
locate an original and salvage yards have been no help either. I would
like to purchase one of the fatty racing exhausts, but they are made
for bikes from 1996 to present. Would one of these work? If not, could
you please explain why? Or could you let me know what would work.
2. My wife
surprised me with a 1986 Rotax 125cc engine for my shifter kart. Nice
gift, but I cannot locate parts for thing. Do you have any idea where
I can purchase a cdi unit or other Rotax parts?
Thank you in
advance for your help. I really need it.
Dan Wiedinmyer
You could get
a pipe either year of the 1982 and it would work. The reason Fatty
pipes are not made for your two decade plus old bike is simply because
no one would buy them. Other than you, that is. As far as Rotax parts
go. Give Tony Murphy a call at: www.flattrack.com/suppliers.html and tell him Rick sent you.
SUBJECT: TWO
QUICK QUESTIONS
Dear Rick,
I Have enjoyed reading your articles/advise for many years -- so, I
figured you would be the perfect person to burden with two questions
that have been bothering me enough so as to cut into my beer drinking
time. Okay, maybe not, but I am truly curious what you think:
The Honda XR400R
is the perfect play bike for me (38 year old, 6'2", 200+ pounds)
and I can find nothing bad to say about my '03 XR. Honda says
something along the lines of "the [XR] is America's most popular
trail machine". That's interesting marketing for a model (I am
assuming) that Honda discontinued. Honda is replacing the $5300
bullet-proof XR with what? The $7200 high maintenance CRF450X off-
road race bike?
If 250cc
four-strokes run in the "125" class now, then how come the
standard is for 450cc four-strokes to run in the "250"
class? I assume the theory is that four-stroke create half as much
horsepower (per displacement) because of the 2 extra strokes. Anyway,
where did the 50 cc' s go? Wouldn't it be more advantageous (and
logical) to produce 500cc four-strokes for the "250" class?
Technically, I
guess that was far more than 2 questions -- sorry.
Thanks,
Charles Weaver
Honda makes
an XR 650 and the CRF line of smaller bikes. The sales of the 400
weren't enough to keep it alive. The limit of 450ccs in the 250 class
is another fine example of the AMA and its head-up-the-ass approach to
racing.
SUBJECT:
STUCK JET
Hi there, I am
rebuilding a carb for a 1998 Kawi Bayou (Keihin) using an oem rebuild
kit. There is a jet that is seized in place and the head is now
stripped.I took it to a local Kawi dealer, but could not find anyone
interested in trying to remove it for me. I would really like to get
some tips on what I can do with it if anything.
Regards,
Darren
If the jet is
really stuck in there bad. Your best bet would be to drill it out. The
brass is soft and will drill out easily. Find another jet of the same
size for comparison and use a drill bit smaller than the threaded
area. Center punch the chewed up head before you drill to make sure
drill on center. Once you have drilled out the bulk of the jet, you
can peel out the remaining threads easily using something like an
exacto blade.
SUBJECT:
OVERSEAS PIRATES?
Recently, I placed an add for a 79 toy 4x4 4spd. trans.&transfer
case.for 200. I had 2 replies from the uk wanting me to accept a
certified check for 2500. and take the 2300 and pay their shipping co.
to ship overseas.I ' ve heard of some scams going on abroad, and it
didn't seem quite right that I was going to pay their shipping
co.instead of them paying shipping totally seperately.Who in their
right mind would pay 2500.+ for an old toy trans.Are these things
golden if sold overseas?Not sure if I should proceed with sale?
something seems fishy.Any help would be greatly appreciated. I know
that your not responsible for add transactions, but may have some
insight.
Marc Pelletier
It's a scam,
make no doubt about it. Read details in a back issue of ORC: http://www.off-road.com/dirtbike/columns/editorial/scam/.
SUBJECT:
IMPORTANCE HIGH
Rick,
I found a 1978 Honda Elsinore 125M in a barn under a tarp , the guy is
about 70 yrs old said he didnt want it , it was his when he was a boy.
its 100% all orignal and about 95% complete and in mint condition. It
runs and all. How much do you think this is worth? I dont want to ride
it because its a classic and a collectors item! please help
Thank You,
Justin
The 1978
Elsinore is not that highly sought after as a collector. The cut off
year for vintage bikes is 1974 and if you had a 74 Elsinore, you'd be
in business. Your bike is not without value, though. If it's in good
condition, I'd figure about a grand.
