Sean Colliers KX500 Project "I was only going to inspect the top end"

[Sandblaster]

It's really hard to see but I got the edges of the grooves nice and shiny..

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Just a touch of clean up on the Primary crank gear and the kick idler gear..

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[Sandblaster]

Almost done with the cases...

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[USMC 500]

So pretty!! So since the original 1997 frame was found with broken shock linkage tabs we have to use this frame that was provided by FMF a while back as a spare.....I have not run the numbers but the graphics on the swing arm that came with the frame suggest that it is a 1991 model KX500. This frame was sent in a while back to have all the Team Green gusseting performed on it and it was meant to be the platform for the new KX500 bike for Sean but now we have to use it as a replacement frame for the current bike. This frame has had all the Team Green gussets done and a stabilizer post welded on to it which left many bare metal spots in addition to the years of off road abuse and needed some new color. I decided not to go with powder coat for a few simple reasons....

1. This is the current KX500 (Beast) bike and not the new project bike
2. This is an extreme budget rebuild and $300+ for powder coat was not even an option
3. Time is our enemy and powder coaters in my area were giving me time frames of 2+ weeks

I went to the local auto body shop in my area and they have this color which seems to be close enough to Kawasaki green that I can't notice any difference. for $125 bucks they were able to hand sand the frame, paint it and get it to me the very next day. This is a basic single stage polyurethane paint job and I am curious to see how it holds up. I will be adding thick strips of clear Gorilla tape to the down tubes where riding boots usually wear the paint off. I will also be inserting the new steering stem bearing races, chasing all the threads with a tap and I will be removing paint from all the engine mounting locations, electrical mounting locations with a wire wheel.

If anything at least it will look good for a few rides before we tear it apart again to make this bike a "KX Guru Racing" bike

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Nice, love that color...

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Unfortunately a bunch of the gears were really worn so Jason spent a lot of time cleaning them up including touching up the dogs.
The results are pretty good.

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JASON!!!!! I TOLD YOU A MILLION TIMES TO WEAR YOUR SAFETY GLASSES!!!

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[Sandblaster]

Ok... You should never use a old piston and rings especially if it's a Wiseco but... it's what I had and it won't change the performance over what the engine was except it may hold together a little while longer so... It is what it is

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The cool thing is that it cleaned up very nice..

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[Sandblaster]

I really hate filing clutch baskets.
For as long as it takes to file one down you could buy a new one.
But again, that isn't in the cards so I'm doing the best I can with what I have to work with..

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Even the hub got some polishing...

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[Sandblaster]

And we discovered today that the cylinder mounting area on the cases are off by about .001" from one case to another so it's off to the machine shop on Monday...

[USMC 500]

This is my buddy Tommy Roberts. Tommy is my age and was 18 years old in 1996 when Kawasaki Team Green signed him to the factory contract and the KX500 that was supposed to be Danny Hamel's. Tommy and Danny were very close and I could think of nobody better to get that ride. Well Tommy came over today and hung out with me. Since Tommy was one of the fastest and best at changing BIB Moose tubes I gave him a little project. Thanks Tommy for mounting new rubber on Sean's bike for me.