My father gave me his 1989 KDX 200. He used it for 7 hour endurance racing in the South African bush, similar to the terrain in this video. He raced it for 6 years and won his last 4 races overall. He gave the bike to me in 2007 when he bought the last generation KDX 200. 2024 and my 1989 KDX is still running competitively, the single piston brake calipers are a bit outdated but newer bikes can't pull away from me. Parts are a bit scarce but these bikes are dirt cheap so i bought another one for spares. The only reason I needed parts is because I hit the rim hard after putting the front wheel down crossing a make shift ramp to get over fences during a race. The front rim cracked and split perpendicular. I never needed to buy replacement parts for the engine and it never ceased. Regular basic servicing had it running like a dream. And thanks for the great video, you got the review spot on and I couldn't do it better myself.
I really miss these XR vids. I personally am mad in love with these old bikes. It really hits home to see you ride them like they were built to do. Just awesome 👌
Without a “kick start” and a dead battery for the starter, as talked about in the video; Is this bike feasible for: Starting the motorcycle with 2 possible techniques: pop-start and thump-start. You can pop-start it by pushing, towing, or moving it on a slope in 2nd gear. However, you can thump-start it by spinning its rear wheel with another motorcycle or your hand and putting it in the 4th gear. Just wondering, I use to start my Honda XR 80 when I was a kid when I couldn’t kick start it by getting a good push on preferably a down hill slope and then jumping on bike and popping the clutch when I had the bike in first or second gear. Obviously, this was a little bike compared to the “Big Pig” 650. 👍😊
You telling all this info made me realize, where mine is pre-owned i thought it was just a 125 and now i realize mine is the 125le or it just has a ton of modifications
Thank you for your advice!! I bought a 70mm forged piston from SXParts and their 36/31 Big Valve Head and now my XR150L breathes 🔥 and can do 75mph with stock gearing. It can now power wheelie whereas before I had a hard time clutch-upping. I definitely recommend a big valve head.
I was sceptical about buying it but dam does this work ! The video was simple and I got the information I needed lol. I have 3 tubes on my road bike that punctured very very small ones. I can’t even find the hole. But I’m sure this will seal it super easy ! And in the end I’ll have 2 extra tubes sitting in my garage for any use.
Where are you at on the spectrum? Baby powder and a blanket for your new bike for 500 miles or redline burp it out of the box to warm up the oil and blow out the chinese factory grease? I think I am in the middle with I try to be nice for 100 miles and do an oil change at 100. Nice is tough to do though.
I had a 2015 DR200 as my first bike. I'm so glad I learned on it bc it's such a pain to ride. You better choose a good line bc you can't hop out of it. You better land a jump right because the suspension won't do you any favors. You better hit a hill climb in the right gear because you can't tractor up. I sold it after a year and got a DRZ. I feel like the DR200 taught me all the fundementals. Now offroading on the DRZ feels like cheating.
Suzuki pe 175 had a good smash plate under frame and wire cage to protect headlight. It would flick big rocks back even with curved big back fender. Flipped the PE twice. Never flipped the KDX and learned how too change gears on one wheel starting in 3rd.
What do you think of WPC treatment? Had my YZ250 top end done, crank pin, conrod, and the entire transmission. Transmission is butter, piston was good. Debating cylinder next time it needs replated
