Ok my son has a newer kawasaki kdx 220 he purchased to race the NETRA hare scrambles here in the northeast,USA. We built the engine and she's running awesome. In the tight woods she's beating the 250's but in other spots the 250's rock. Ok my point is the opposite side of the clutch shaft the needle bearing is exploding from no oil. I thought it was a fluke at first but the second time it happened we had a design problem. The engineers installed a flat thrust washer covering the bearing. The washer was larger than the diameter of the bearing like sealing off the oil to the bearing. I ground two paths for the oil to get to the bearing inside the case. I did a spiral design. My son is so upset he drilled and tapped the outside of the bearing housing for a zerk fitting. I put the oil grooves even deeper that fed the bearing behind the washer. No more burning out the bearings. I contacted kawasaki engineering and told them I was a lead engineering lab tech for the world engineering headquarters for Otis elevator. And what my job was in the r&d lab. I got there attention. They said they knew of no such problem.??? With so many guys racing these off road they have to have a problem? We switched from the vintage husqvarna at this time when husky parts where hard to get. We never had problems like this with the old Swedish screamers.
I had a 2003 KDX220. I rode it for ten years before I finally sold it to a friend. I have also been on some of the KDX forums. I have never heard of this problem before, or any problems concerning any part of the transmission. Heck, I still have my 1986 KDX200, that I bought new, and besides a clutch throwout bearing and an occasional seal, nothing in the primary or gearbox case has ever been replaced
the clutch in my 93 DX250 all looks brand new and as far as i know its all still O.E.M had it since 96 but @292cc& 12/48 i dont use it much just pick a gear an twist
So we're talking about the needle bearing in the left hand case half that supports the transmission input shaft. This shaft has the clutch on the opposite (right) side. I have heard of occasional failures, but definitely not widespread failures. I've had several very high hours KDX motors apart, and have not seen any problem in this area. However, I do see the logic in your approach to increasing lube to the bearing. And it's definitely a PITA to replace since it's in a blind hole. Hopefully no more failures. And it's great to see KDXs in the races. What suspension mods did you do for NETRA? What's your son's ability level? Any pics?
His first hare scramble he came in 11th, his second scramble he came in 6th out of 40 riders both scrambles. He would race this weekend but his job is taking him out of state for the weekend. My buddy who is a guru with the dx' s set up the bike for his weight. He has a 220 dx & a 200 dx. He likes the 300 kantoon(ktm). I have a feeling he will go bigger power wise soon. He has a lot of seat time on my 83 wr 430 so when he got the 220 he could throw it around. He is hard on the bike and he is in the 250cc class so he's pushing the 220 bike. I told him when he was looking at the new dx to consider the kx 500 after being on the 430. But in the tight woods he figured the dx would be quicker. I'll ask him what mods were done on the dx. We had the carb bored out, the fork springs were changed, spacers were added For preload. I'm not sure if they touched the valving.
It's nearly impossible to revalve the KDX forks. They have what is known as an inverted shim stack, very basic, about four shims in it. Changing out the stock damping piston with a Race Tech gold Valve kit, and shims makes a big difference in the performance of the forks. I installed Gold Valve kits in both the front and rear suspension on my 03 220. It made for a much firmer and at the same time more plush ride. I also ditched the stock .35 fork springs in favor of .38s.
That's good info, Dirtdame. I just picked up a low-hours '89 200 and I want to mod the forks. What weight fork oil did you use?
