Planet Minis

Minitard

I am racing a KX65 in a gp series and I am looking at some upgrades, but wanted to see if anyone has much experience. The 65 is pretty much stock, except the wheels and stiffer springs on the front. Here is what I am interested in so far. I am somewhat budget oriented so things that would make the biggest difference are what Id like to tackle first.

Motor: maybe a 73 kit (I just had the top end blow, I havent got a chance to take it apart yet).
V force reeds
possibly exhaust
are there heads available and would they free much up?

Suspension:
Dont really know, Ive heard of a guy that will stiffen up the forks and shock and revalve it for like 500 bucks, Im not totally sold yet.
fork brace
Or possibly an 80 front end if I can find one.

brakes:
I dont know, Id like to have a better front brake, possibly a larger rotor or another calliper. Does anyone know what is available? If I got a larger rotor I would need some type of adapter and I dont know where to find them.

Does anyone have any experience or advice?

w650gb500

Teddy, hello Teddy. You out there? Help this guy out.

stik__boy

motor... stay stock. easy, cheap, reliable.

suspension.... a must... spend your money here.
"power is nothing with out control"

brakes.... race pads and a good bleed.

Minitard

That sounds like some sound advice. The bike is fairly quick, but there is a lot more to get out of it with some stiffer suspension that is set up properly.

What pad manufactuers do you recommend? My brakes have decent power, but are always pretty spongy, especially considering that I have steel braided lines. I think Im going to try bleeding them in reverse to see if theres a bubble that I just havent been getting out. Also, when Im racing, they do pretty well for 10 or 15 minutes then it seems like im overheating them and they get more wooden and require quite a bit of lever effort. Do you think that is pads? I know they just werent designed for the kind of abuse 150+ lb riders in endurance races on street tires throw at them.

Suspension is my biggest question. I already have some stiffer springs in the front and a little heavier fork oil (I dont remember what exactly, I bought it already done). But the entire bike is still too soft, especially the rear shock. Ive heard of some guy on the west coast that did a KX for a mechanic out here that worked pretty well but it was over 500 bucks just to get the forks and shock reworked.

The other option Ive heard is just run stiffer springs up front and 20-30 wt oil. The biggest problem with that is it gets compression damping close but rebound is overdamped so you have to drill holes to do it right.

I desperately want to stiffen up the rear as well, but Ill also want to revalve it to match. Any recommendations on spring rates and revalving?

Minitard

Ok so it looks like to do a rear shock right youre looking at a little over $600 for the shock alone. Ouch. So, I guess I am more looking for what other decent alternatives are available as far as spring rate/revalving to tweak the stock suspension.

Also, if anyone knows of someone who does good work at somewhat reasonable prices let me know. (or if they just do good work)

w650gb500

Don't fall into the "pipe, silencer, reeds, etc...." game, as the motor already works very well in stock configuration. As Stik said.

If you search around and wait until the right deal comes up, you can find an Ohlins rear shock(used) for $200-300. It will work well just as a bolt-on or you can have it re-valved by Ohlins specific to road-racing specs for about another $200 or so. You will need a spring in the 1000-1200# range depending on your weight.

Front forks are pretty simple. MiniBikeSprings.com sells the heaviest forks springs available(0.43 I believe), but make sure you get the correct ones as they changed after 2002. Some heavier fluid and set your pre-load with some spacers and go test them out. A fork brace helps too once you get sticky tires and better brake pads.

Handlebars are a debate. Some people like low bars and some like taller ones. Its a personal thing for whatever fits you and feels better.

Find someone here or on Supermotojunkie.com who sells 2.15" rims and then get the correct Buchanan spokes to lace them to the stock hubs. Fairly easy conversion. Wrap them in some new tires(another debate) from either Dunlop(TT-92's), Vee Rubber or Sava and you are ready to start gringing off your shift lever and footpegs.

I hope this helps a little. Keep posting if you have any more questions. THere are also threads on SMJ about building 65's.

Dan

teddy

Okay............

My budget Kx65.

Minibikesprings.com fork springs with 30 weight fork oil, Race-Tech emulators (yellow spring) and a fork brace so far it works better than it did last season with the same srpins and 20 weight oil......

Stock rear shock with a 6.2 spring, massaged valving, heavier oil, lowered 1", works MUCHO better than the stock set-up.

Apex Clip-ons.
Apex Rear-sets.
GPTech stunter rear brake.
2.15 rims.
Buchanan spokes up front, stock spokes out back!
16-46 cogs.

No pipe no reeds no nothing.......... performs about the same as a 63cc NSR

I'm never going to be the fastest rider in my class........... but i do pretty good.

44, 190lbs, never was a racer in my youth so i have had to learn everything over the last few years from some great riders coaching me........

Minitard

That sounds a lot like the set up I am going for. My biggest question is what did you do to massage the valving on the rear shock and what weight oil did you use? Also, how do you lower it?

How are your racetech emulators working on your fork? Are rebound and compression in the ballpark? Can you adjust them with spacers or something once they are in?

stik__boy

i tried to lower my 65 by making some longer links for the rear.... i lowered the front accordingly.... yeah,.... this DID NOT work for me. i'm not sure what the deal was exactly, but it wanted to spin the ire EVERYWHERE. anything over 1/2 throttle and the back end came around. i know that longer links put more leverage on the shock.... but it didn feel as if it was bottoming and spinning..... it was just sliding. i was a coldish day..... but as soon as i put it back to stock here were no problems. i have an ohlins rear with heavier spring and MBS.com springs.... need emulators and a revalve on the back. my wheels are a little different from anyone else's set-up, so i cant help you there.

teddy

The rear shock is lowered internally so it cannot extend fully, thus lowering the ride hieght 1". theres a much heavier oil in it, Ryan at tech-care.com did all the work....... I don't have details on what he did exactly, i just let them do what they do. They are a suspension shop first and foremost......... they did it to their flat/track specs for my weight. They removed the rods from the forks and replaced the valving with the Race-Tech gold valves. Yellow spring....... its adjustable.

So far I have only been to my local track one time, GREAT results front and rear! I have been to Beaverun Pa. and raced with ohioysr.org and i also had reasonable results........ we only had 1 practice session and then 4 sprint races. So I did not have time to really think about what was or was not happening....... I was able to get within one second of my lap times from the end of last season though. So i guess thats a good thing?

What do I fell it did for me?
1. The rear of the bike does not rise up when under hard braking.
2. The front is much smoother over bumps.
3. The front does not push in corners like it did before.
4. The rear does not squat when accellerating.
5. Overall it is more stable or neutral feeling due to the suspension being in better balance everwhere on the track.
6. I no longer have to let the bike smooth out prior to entering a turn, its so much smoother. (let the front come back up, and the rear settle back down).

Oh yeah I customized an Xtreme front rotor to fit and a generic 2 pot caliper to the front wheel Works just fine for me, no frills very inexpensize!

I need some more practice laps with my note book and document what happens on the tracks..........

How did I find Tech-Care? MY local Supermoto racer friends and Superbike friends pointed me there. Needless to say there are many shops like this one across the country and I'd bet there a shop near you that does this stuff everyday! No shipping, face to face, no BS, these dudes are there if i ever need it looked at or adjusted internally etc..... IT was well worth every dime i spent doing it compared to my options!

Oskar_Z28

If you don't mind me asking, how much did you approximately spend on the rework of the old shock plus spring? I am thinking of going the same way.

teddy

I think off the top of my head maybe $200-250 certainly no more than that...... Kinda costly considering...... but hey shop rate is shop rate........ and thats what they DO, suspensions....... Satistfaction guareentEd It works very well for me on 100% pavement.

pookiebear

Hey the 2006-2007 gsxr 750/600 shock fits on the kx65 with a little grinding at the top. Also spread the links at the bottom out some with some washers. took about an hour to install. If you dont get shock with a remote resevoir though you lose the airbox. I just went to a pod. here is a pic of the shock. See how the resevoir is at a 90 degree angle from the shock body. that is what makes it fit under the seat the earlier models had a weird angle (upwards) and would not fit. It is same length as the stock shock. It ran me pretty good on a kids motocross track today and I weigh 210. And it was $30 off ebay. TOns of them there. funny stuff.

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sanfret

read this article fist... A great way to mini road race...a KX65 on a budget! News Article :: MiniGPX.com

teddy

Just imagine it tuned.......... I bet the total cost makes it a KILLER deal

Lots of options if your willing to actually try some simple mods

moto234

this is good thread to learn a litle about this stuff

schofell84

heres a cheap way to make more power on a stock set-up that no one has mentioned yet (maybe it was implied). since your getting the top end rebuilt, have someone set up the squish right. it definitely helps throughout the power band. (buy some new power bands too lololol)