It seems that everyone goes with buying the big bore kits from B&B or Kustom Kraft. However, has anyone taken their cylinder to a machine shop that specializes in boring out motorcycle cylinders? The shop that I was looking at in my area does this type of work, will provide the piston and the sleeve if needed. I am not sure what the pricing is yet, but I would think it would be cheaper than B&B and Kustom Kraft kits, where you have to tie up $700.00 or more of your cash. Also, what is the biggest bore that klx 250 cylinder head will take?

 

You don't bore the head, you bore the cylinder, or barrel. I really doubt your local shop will be cheaper. I do similar work as BB and KK do, but for a different application. People always think they can do it or get it done cheaper, but they can't. In the long run, it's almost alays a better idea to go to the guys who specialize in your particular application.

 

Web, you're in Houston. There have to be at the very least one or two shops that do motorcycle cylinders with a degree of quality. Why don't you call around and see what the prices might be? I think it would be interesting to find out. From my experience having a cylinder(s) bored in my area, I had to provide the piston(s). You might find a performance shop there that has access to a good piston candidate.

 

shops that do a big range of things have more overhead than a specialist will because of all the diffrent tools they need and won't know that motor as well and that right there is the big one for me and because its what someone like bill every day i would trust the product more

 

I would rather use someone that specializes in KLX's and uses the same kit he is selling.

Would you take your ford to a chevy garage, can they fix it? yea... are they the best shop to do it? no.... Thats the way i looked at it.

 

Hey Websurfing101, when the big bore dons make you an offer you can't refuse.....

Talk like that on this forum may result in you waking up with a dead klx cylinder head lying next to you in your bed!! ;-)

 

You may very well save a few bucks, but you'd be (suitably) worried about the end result I think. At least I would.

With KK and BB you know they use their piston/cylinder combos every day, they work and have a long track record. I'm sure they both made some adjustments early on (after testing) that allows them to get the most out of what they are selling. Also, they come with the appropriate support items like gaskets. If something goes wrong - I suspect they would honor their work more readily than a local shop. I live in rural Maine and that type of service is totally unavailable for me. I'd have to drive so far to the nearest location to have it done that the gas alone would probably offset any savings on the price.

Having said that... I'm very interested in what you find. Please report back.

 

Thank guys for all the feed back.

 

I'd do the B&B kit because it isn't far off what you would spend buying the parts and getting the bore job done. The key point is Bill knows what clearances should be and it is a virtual bolt in when you pull it from the box from what I gather. No need to do ring gap checks, no having to order special parts, which makes me wonder if you can simply go buy a big bore 351 or 330 piston with rings for reasonable money. Sometimes a known product is worth the money to not have to screw with things. Then there will be willingness on the part of the seller to give you some additional tips that might be necessary on jetting, pipes, etc. due to their experience with said parts.

But I will say in absence of a given source back in 2000, I took a Vulcan piston and had my 650 cylinder bored and honed to work, gasket trimmed, rings/wrist pin/clips ordered (piston was a freebie in my case - a bit of luck) and the work done. I might have had jetting issues except that I was using a Dial-A-Jet and it compensated for all changes without any jetting needed other than the idle mix screw. So I've done the bit-piece method.

 

Thinking about this further, since the KLX uses a plated cylinder I think I'd be leary of what some non-KLX-specialists might do with the sleeve issue. I'm sure there are some out there who could handle it, but...

All my past bigger bore setups I've had done locally, I was getting an already sleeved cylinder bored. I think I'd feel a lot better about letting someone who's done a lot of these sleeving jobs on a KLX plated cylinder handle this.