Plated cylinder rebuild preparation, honing
Honing of the cylinder before installation is mandatory before re-installation regardless if the cylinder is plated or not. Here are some tips and tricks that relate directly to plated cylinders before installation.
As far as honing goes you can hone a nikasil (chrome plated) cylinder with a ball hone. A ball hone is preferred on a 2 stroke cylinder as it will automatically chamfer the edges of the ports which will minimize ring catching and speed up ring seating. This also removes old burnt on oil and carbon deposits, but will not remove the plating. When done properly it will put a good finish on the cylinder wall to aid the rings in breaking in properly as well as retaining oil for lubrication.
Kawasaki OEM plating.
The original plating on a KX/KDX cylinder is one of the thinnest and is easily removed. Use caution when ball honing the original Kawasaki plating. A correctly sized hone, lots of lubrication and consistent speed and stroke must be used to keep from damaging it.
The cylinder needs to be washed in warm water with some dish washing liquid or detergent. This needs to be done even with new cylinders back from re-plating and non plated cylinders. The warm water and detergent will cut the honing oil down and actually remove all the grit and dirt from the honing process. After the cylinder is washed completely, use a lint free white paper towel and dry the bore off. The paper towel should not show any signs of dirt. If it turns a little gray looking this means there is still grit and oil that needs to be re-washed and dried again. Coat with some quality 2 stroke oil before re-installation.
You can watch a video related to honing and measuring your cylinder in my "Barn Fresh Restoration" series in episodes 3 Engine teardown ,4 Measuring the egine parts 5 Engine assembly and installation
As far as honing goes you can hone a nikasil (chrome plated) cylinder with a ball hone. A ball hone is preferred on a 2 stroke cylinder as it will automatically chamfer the edges of the ports which will minimize ring catching and speed up ring seating. This also removes old burnt on oil and carbon deposits, but will not remove the plating. When done properly it will put a good finish on the cylinder wall to aid the rings in breaking in properly as well as retaining oil for lubrication.
Kawasaki OEM plating.
The original plating on a KX/KDX cylinder is one of the thinnest and is easily removed. Use caution when ball honing the original Kawasaki plating. A correctly sized hone, lots of lubrication and consistent speed and stroke must be used to keep from damaging it.
The cylinder needs to be washed in warm water with some dish washing liquid or detergent. This needs to be done even with new cylinders back from re-plating and non plated cylinders. The warm water and detergent will cut the honing oil down and actually remove all the grit and dirt from the honing process. After the cylinder is washed completely, use a lint free white paper towel and dry the bore off. The paper towel should not show any signs of dirt. If it turns a little gray looking this means there is still grit and oil that needs to be re-washed and dried again. Coat with some quality 2 stroke oil before re-installation.
You can watch a video related to honing and measuring your cylinder in my "Barn Fresh Restoration" series in episodes 3 Engine teardown ,4 Measuring the egine parts 5 Engine assembly and installation
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