Home arrow Latest News arrow Race prep your 2008 KTM SX65 part II
Race prep your 2008 KTM SX65 part II

Part 2

So we don’t get to far ahead of ourselves and have to many things taken apart at one time, you should now have the front end put back together.

Next

Start by removing the seat, gas tank, rear wheel and sub frame.
Now remove the rear shock. This is a good time to go ahead and change the spring and set it so there is about 5mm of preload on the spring. We will adjust it to the correct settings after we reassemble it on the bike.

Now that we have the shock and sub frame off the bike remove the swing arm pivot bolt. Remove the swing arm.

Inspect the bearings and go ahead and re-grease the bearings in the swing arm with water proof grease such as Belray.

After applying a very thin coating of grease to the bolt, you can now reinstall the swing arm torque the nut to the specified setting. (Refer to the manual)

While you have all the parts off the bike tighten all the bolts including the engine mounting bolts. Ensure to use the specified torque settings.

The gas tank-
Sometimes the fuel tanks are not properly cleaned out and may contain plastic particles from the manufacturing process. So you will want to flush before use. While off the bike fill the gas tank approximately ¼ full. Use an appropriate container; dump the fuel into the container. Repeat this with clean fuel until there are no remaining plastic particles inside the fuel tank.

Once complete you may reinstall the gas tank.

Air filter-This one is simple. Just re-oil the filter with high quality foam filter oil, such as Maxima Foam Filter Treatment and reinstall it. One thing we found is necessary, before reinstalling the filter inspect the plastic filter cage for any excess plastic parts remaining from manufacturing. (See the picture) Before you asked the question, yes there was a part from the injection molding still attached to our cage. This is a part that could get stuck within the carburetor slide.

Rear wheel-If you need assistance take your rear wheel and replace the tire with either a Michelin MH2 or MH3 to suit your terrain. Here in Arizona the stock tire just did not seem to get the same bite. The stock tire may be suitable for your terrain.

We also changed the rear sprocket from the stock 50T to a 48T. This is something that will change from track to track but, the 48T is pretty universal and the 50T did not work for most of our motos or desert riding. If you have tighter riding conditions such as woods or deep sandy conditions the 50T may work for you.

At this time you can reassemble everything.

The stock chain seems to stretch a little premature so you will want to have a good quality chain ready to install. After experimenting on a few chains we ended up using the Renthal’s R1 chain. This is a good all round high “bullet proof” quality chain.

Spring adjustment- There are really only 2 measurements you are concerned with. Static sag and rider sag. Use these formulas and measurements to calculate the each sag setting.

A=While the bike is sitting on a stand and the rear wheel off the ground take measurement from the center of the axle to a point you will mark on the rear fender.

B=Remove the bike from the stand and push down on the seat a few times with your hands. Once the bike has settled to a height take a measurement from the rear axle to the mark you had made on the rear fender.

C=with rider with gear sitting on the bike in riding position take a measurement from the center of the rear axle to the mark on the rear fender.

A-B=Static sag.

B-C=Rider sag.

Where to start? These measurements are standard for all bikes. The only change is the length at which you set the rider sag. The Static sag usually is a measurement used to ensure you have the correct spring selection. If the static sag is longer than recommended your spring is to soft. If it is shorter than recommended the spring is stiff.

Before you can determine this you will need to set the rider sag.

Most 65cc bikes Start by setting the rider sag so the calculated length is between 70mm-75mm. This is just a guideline so you will need to will need to make minor adjustments to suit the rider.

 

You have now finished the minimum requirements to ensure you have a safe reliable motorcycle for racing.

You can customize the bike for the conditions you ride and race in with the following products.

 

  • Handle Bars: Protaper SE Hon Mini 02-5258
  • Hand Guards: Motoray Revolver (white) 42-12-003
  • Levers: ASV Inventions F1 Series BCF1M or SUNLINE ARC FLEX FORGED BRAKE LEVER - SILVER
  • Sprockets: TAG metals Rear 48T 23002-48, Front 13T 13002-13
  • Chain: Sunline SL-1 Works Chain 101-420-120
  • Pipe: FMF Fat Boy
  • Silencer: FMF Shorty
  • Reeds: V Force 3
 KTM has a complete line of the following parts;
  • Brake Rotors
  • Carbon fiber parts, skid plate, pipe guards and more.
  • Chains and sprockets
  • CDI ignition
  • KTM VForce Reed
  • 2 Piece Clutch Cover
  • Billet Aluminum Ignition
  • KTM Factory Mini Graphic Kits
  • Hand guards
  • Levers
  • Throttle Tubes
  • Hour meter
  • Pipes and Silencers