Hello all, I am buying a 2012 KX100. I am 6'1" 190lbs. I am buying this bike for an ultra light trial bike. I ride very tight single track. Mostly mountain bike trails. I have rode my 125SX and 650X Challenge on the trails, but the hole time I am out I just think "damn this is hard. I wish my bike was smaller and lighter." I don't care much about speed. I will never race. I like to do very small jumps and tech. riding with a trials flare to it. I was going to wait for the KTM freeride but I figure I will ride this in the meantime. I want to make this a very light user friendly ride. Please tell me how to accomplish this. I don't mind to spend a little money as the bike is only $3500, but please save the get this bike or that bike suck comments. I need help and thanks so much. Grant
Spring rate is probably your only real concern out of the box... spring it for your weight and then ride it and see what needs to be changed... I wouold think higher custom seat, bar risers and tapers if it doesnt come with em... throw some bark busters and maybe a skid plate and you should be good to go.. .you can probably get somebody to make some carbon fibre stuffs if your so inclined, but that bike should be plenty light to start... sounds like a fun project, would be a blast in the woods... ergos are probably gonna be the most important thing here.
Start with getting longer brake hose and throttle cable. Your bars are going to have to come way up, 8-12 inches. I tried to do the exact same thing with a kx100 but only got as far as the Hi atv bars, which stretched the cables to the limit and weren't nearly tall enough to accommodate standing. The motor was pretty cool but will need a flywheel weight, it chugged ok. . I abandoned my project because it wasn't quite suitable for the woods I ride in. The short wheelbase makes it feel deflection-prone. The 16 inch rear spins up pretty easily. I didn't get around to messing with the suspension as I 'm lighter than you but i think that will be a critical element. I sold mine for $750, you might want to try a used one before getting a shiny one but i'd love to see somebody go the whole way on a kx100/ ktm105 project. I'll try to find helmetcam footage off of mine.
Ok, so I have my mind made up. I will be building up a 2012 Kawasaki KX100 Woods Bike. My goal is to have a very light weight, short wheel base, and good usable power trail bike. I will never race this bike. it is purely for getting out and having fun. I am buying a new bike and all of the parts right off the bat. I don't want a project the last for years and I don't want someones old screw up. I know I maybe ridiculed for doing this to a brand new bike, but consider this. A new Husky TE250 is around $7000 and I don't like the bike that much. I ride very tight single track in rocky, sometimes muddy conditions so I want the short and light. So I figure $3500 for a new KX100 plus $1500 in parts will equal $5000 spent on exactly what I want. This puts me $2000 under the closest bike for my riding style. I will be documenting the build up for my 6'1" 190lbs stature. This should be fun. I get the bike today and the parts over the next two weeks. The springs are custom so they will be the biggest hold up. Once I remember how to post pics I will do so.
As stated above 6'1" 190lbs. I understand. That's is going to be part of the project. I will do what is necessary to make it perfect. If it is just gearing great. If reads, so be it. If I have to put a 125 in and have someone tow me in a Jeep I will. It will work. I am one determined mofo.
I'M FREAKIN OUT RIGHT NOW! I just have three more hours till I pick the bike up. Trying to finalize my parts list. Hummm?
Did I miss a month some where? April fools day is here already? The very last thing you want for that type of riding is exactly what you're buying.:huhOutside of less weight this bike has nothing you need.On that note,keep us informed on progress, this will be interesting in the least.
So glad you don't have to pay for it. I am educated at least to some degree on motorcycles, engines, and the like. So I guess this epic failure will serve as continuing education. Although I appreciate the fact that you can and will voice your experienced opinion and I thank you for that. This is happening so the "not going to work", "not what you want", "not a good idea" stuff will get old quick as it is to late. It is amazing to me to see how many people take the time say things won't work while others are taking the time to find a way to make it work? Personality differences I guess. JK!
No one wants to see you fail, just hate to see you learn the hard way..but best of luck though!!! When you go to pick it up take some time sitting on the bike. Play around with your hands/feet placement to see what it takes to get comfortable.
As I said in the other post that got deleted, your biggest challenge at your size is gonna be ergos... ie space from pegs to seat and seat to grips. Your probably gonna want to get a custom seat made, and some decent sized risers. Which as somebody else said, you may need custom cables, so order those right away. Armor on a smaller bike that is lower to the ground would also be a really good idea. Somebody said flywheel weight, so yeah thats an awesome idea, and you may even want to think about a big bore kit... other than that, learn to use the clutch alot and you should have a ballz out good time. You already said you had springs covered, so thats a good thing... ride it like the over sized pit bike that it is... as long as it puts a smile on your face!
Maybe I'm a asshat but I currently ride a 2011 ec300 Gas Gas on exactly the terrain you described and it beats the hell out of the bike and me. With those little wheels every rock is going to be magnified every rut will be deeper. I've been at this a long time and you've either lost your mind or inherited some money.Or as I suspect ,you really have no experience on this terrain.
The spring rates I am using are .36 for the front and 6.0 for the rear. They should be here soon. I don't want to ride it until they come in. I haven't made up my mind as far as the fork oil goes. If anyone has real experience with these forks I would love accurate advice. I don't love trial and error. P.S. Also looking for a rigid grab handle for lifting the bike over impasses if anyone has a good one.
Look into kx125 brake lines or call a custom shop (speigel) and <motion pro="" and="" get="" your="" lengthened="" controls.="" then="" risers="" hi="" bars="" to="" liking.="" if="" rekluse="" doesn't="" make="" an="" auto="" clutch,="" there="" are="" other="" companies="" that="" will,="" even="" custom. call motion pro for the throttle and clutch cables. Bar risers and hi bars to your liking. Take your suspension in for work. I bet there are fat kids your weight that ride these things. Get some good tugger straps for the bike and a custom tall seat. I measured the ergos on mine and the peg/seat distances weren't that far off a standard dirt bike. i was trying for a flyweight stealth trail poaching bike with mine. The engine didn't grunt quite enough to keep from having to rev the motor into the loud decibel part of the torque curve. I'm a couple inches taller than you and lazier so i abandoned the effort. Keep track of the weight for us, also the ergo measurements. This was mine </motion>