The KX 60 that shouldn't Be

     My wife, Kelly, showed me a post from a woman who was lamenting the "parts corner" her husband had created in their dining room - complete with pictures of various auto parts.  My wife just looked at me with her eyebrows up and gave me a little time to reflect on the very similar situation I had created in our own dining room. My first thoughts were that the woman doing the posting was probably pretty lucky. I bet her husband kept her car in tip top shape without her ever having to lift a finger.  Who wouldn't like that?  I knew my wife was not harboring similar thoughts.
     The hutch that we could have had in our dining room was instead displaced mainly by Kawasaki KX 60 parts, even though we sold our boys two KX 60's probably eight or ten years ago.  They were remarkably trouble-free bikes, but through various circumstances we ended up with a lot of extra parts for them! It started with the first one I bought which was a nice bike but didn't have a title. It was an old dirt bike - even then, so what did I care about a title? As it turns out, the state preserve where we would be riding required that each bike had a title. Thus, I found a titled frame and a few extra bits and switched everything from one bike to the other. 
     I liked this bike so much that I got another one for my other son.  But, I got one cheap that needed a little work...  It needed more than I thought and along the way, in addition to many new parts, ended up buying a parts bike to help finish getting it up and running.   Also during this time one of our neighbors' kids had taken an interest in the bikes and was telling my wife that his parents got him a bike, but it broke soon after and they weren't going to fix it.
     My wife felt bad for him and said he could take Tommy's bike for a ride if he'd like. Heck Ya!  He said he already knew all about riding, so after getting him a helmet and some gear my wife fired up the bike for him and told him to be careful and he could go up and down the street in our neighborhood a few times. I wasn't there, but the story I got was that he only got in a short ride.  Apparently, he put the bike in first gear and just held it pinned until he was well out of site.  Soon they could hear him coming back, apparently still in first gear and still pinned as motor came apart just as he was going past the house.  My wife went out to help him push the bike back to our garage and he told her that his bike had done the same thing.  I'll bet it did!  Anyway, more parts, with a few leftovers, to get that back up and running, and now to the present day. 
     In addition to the parts counter, there was the frame and exhaust hanging from the  ceiling in the garage.  There were also some plastics and grips hanging on the peg board out there, along with a few boxes that were supposed to be either RM125 or KX parts - I forget which, but somehow they were mixed together.  A lot of time and money could have been saved if I took an actual inventory of what I parts were not only there, but also good!  In my mind I had most of the parts and most of them were good.  
     I decided to start with the motor. I knew the cylinder would need to be repaired or replaced, but thought I had a complete bottom end. However, it seemed like it would be a good idea to replace the crank anyway and go through what I had to make sure this motor would be reliable when completed.  I ordered a complete, standard bore engine rebuild kit on ebay.  It was by Kalama, and included a new piston, crankshaft, crankshaft bearings and related parts and a complete set of seals. 
     Once I finally got started, I found that I actually had two cylinders!  One was beyond saving due to damage plus corrosion. The other was sent to PowerSeal in Phoenixville, PA where they repaired the gouge that was in it and replated it as well. I sent it with the piston from the Kalama kit that would be used (so the finished product would have the proper bore), and they did an awesome job! It came back with the piston that had been sent and the cylinder looking like new and right to spec. As an aside, I had previously sent a KX250 cylinder to them with the same great results!
     As I got into the bottom end, I saw that one of the engine cases was cracked. Although I know you're not supposed to, because they're a matched pair, I bought a replacement for just that side from ebay. I also noticed that the clutch basket was way too worn and grooved, and the water pump impellor bearing didn't feel so good, and the phillips screws that held the cases together were not in very good shape.  More purchases and more money.   Hmm, and the carb needed a rebuild kit and the carb holder was cracked. It looked like the cracks didn't go all the way through, but a new one was still in order. Hey, the reeds were good!
     The rear wheel has been and continues to be a fight! I had an Excel rim, stock hub, and a set of spokes from, uh, I don't know. There are 3 different spoke lengths that are use to lace up the wheel. I tried several times and just can't get all the spokes to sit as they should at the hub. The sprocket side is ok, but on the brake side there are some that just won't stay where they should. You can see that in the picture. I tried offsets that were not correct just to see if I could get the spokes to stay put, but that made no difference. Also took the wheel apart and tried switching up the spokes thinking that I had mixed up where they went (2 of the lengths are really close), but that wasn't the case.  Finally just decided to put the tire on and look for a stock wheel later - just trying to get this thing to roller status at this point.
     I had a brand new (unused) tire, tube, bead lock, and rim strip, except that they are all about 10 years old.  That tire was stiff! It did not want to go onto that rim! I left it in the sun to heat it up, but it didn't become at all pliable.  I did finally get it mounted and was pumping it up to seat the bead onto the rim. It was going fine until about 25 psi when I heard a muffled pop, along with a loss of air pressure, and knew that the tube had failed.  That was super depressing, and also when things started to really go downhill. 
     It was harder getting that tire back off the rim than it was putting it on! In fact, I couldn't get it off - at least not without beating up the rim. I tell myself that sometimes you just need to walk away. This was one of those times, and I knew it, but I didn't listen. I had decided by now that I wasn't going to put this tire back on regardless, so the death wheel came out and I cut the bead and scrapped the tire and the tube. Strangely, even the rim strip looked like it had been in the bike for years. It was just turning to powder!? More scrap!  That was a lot of time wasted and more parts that just weren't usable.   This is quickly becoming the KX 60 that might not be!
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​      (to be continued...) (11/26/24)
        

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