2007 KAWASAKI KX250AF BUILD

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Not much to show today...
Just a little clean up...

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Didn't get a lot done in the last few days but we did get the frame rails removed from the holders..

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OEM-CYCLE.COM 2007 KX250AF BUILD 124.JPG (247.47 KiB) Viewed 9457 times

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On the AF conversions, one of the problem area's is the cradle.
A lot of guys have trouble with the down tubes cracking around the engine mounts.
Just for grins, I wanted to see how Honda does their Y section and was a little surprised at what I found.
In this next pic, look at how little material actually goes up inside the main tube..

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In this pic, look at how thin the tubing is.
The wall measures approximately 1/8" thick.

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Getting closer....

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Just a little bit more trimming...

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Almost ready for weld..

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OEM-CYCLE.COM 2007 KX250AF BUILD 128.JPG (52.5 KiB) Viewed 9445 times

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So... My buddies idea is confirmed!!!
You can use the cradle from a 01 CR250 in the KX450F frame.
It takes a little grinding and fitting but it fit's amazingly well.
And I'll tell you.... It was a L.O.T. easier fabricating it using the Honda cradle then it was building a cradle using pre-bent tubing.
And, we get a really strong Y section to boot.
The only drawback is scraping a 01 CR250 frame.
Then again, there is a lot of earlier CR250 frames on the market for cheap.
In fact, I found frames on eBay delivered for less money then the pre-bent tubes.
Time will tell if this was really a good way to go as we have a lot more of the build to go but it looks very promising.
Our goal is to build this bike as a weekend trail rider that can still go to the local MX track and give the 4 pokes a run for their money.
In the mean time I need to confirm using some of the earlier CR250 frames 97-99.
I will make a tracing on the wall of our cradle so doing the next one should be a lot quicker.
Stay tuned :-0

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My buddy Jason who is doing most of the work on this build.

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Old cradle.
Will save it for a rainy day

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Building a head stay

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So far everything is lining up great.

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Nice clearance on the gas tank.

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The tightest area is around the Y and the head stay.
Unfortunately in order to get the cylinder off you will need to remove the engine mounts and loosen the swing arm pivot pin, the tilt the engine back.
Not a big deal but it would have been nice not to have this issue...

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We will be making some engine mounts like this..

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The head stay mounts are almost done.
The bolts are temporary

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The rear frame rail to frame plate is done.

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