August 31, 200817 yr I'm chipping in $5 to send this poor guys some real tie downs... Looks like real tie downs might not be long enough to go all the way round the underneath of the pickup truck like these ropes do
September 6, 200817 yr okay, someone enlighten me on the Sammy Miller muffler,looks trick does it help the performance. saving weight=good! Also, does the different clutch cover and lever arrangement have any benefits?
September 6, 200817 yr Author The muffler is a little lighter and allows you to repack it. The OEM pipe is not designed to be disassembled. The clutch cover is, I think, mainly to look cool. My stock clutch setup has never given me any problems. Changing a cable on the KX cover would be faster to do. cheers, Michael
September 7, 200817 yr Author Seems like they must have been using ones from the KXs that were current with the KT - 1975/76. I suppose you might be able to compare clutch cover gasket part numbers. I don't know if you'd have to change any additional relase mechanism parts inside the clutch or cover. cheers, Michael
July 23, 20188 yr Hey All, Seems I'm 10 years late on this topic! Just happen to stumble across your site! I have Steve Darrow's KT302. We rode with Steve in the 70's and early 80's in La Honda, CA with PITS. He sold the bike to my Dad I believe in 78 or 79. Came with 2 tanks and a ton of parts. One of the tanks read "Let the good times roll over Leavitt's bull." (Lane Leavitt) Yes, not the same color scheme but hey I was 19 when I restored it.....very long ago 1990. Now I'm going to go over it again with my 14 year old.
July 24, 20188 yr On 8/30/2008 at 6:49 AM, jaylael said: Two different bikes for sure. One is a 74 type and other is 76 type. The older one must be Darrow's bike. It has the KX kickstarter to go with the KX clutch cover, and apparently a Sammy Miller muffler. This bike must be a fair bit lighter than stock. Just the weight reduction from the exhaust alone would be like 2 or 3 pounds I bet. It looks as if Darrow riveted some white nylon to the skid plate allowing it to glide over those grippy granite rocks. I bet this was a very effective machine. The relocating of the swingarm pivot which I had done to mine, transforms the bike's handling, making it feel allot lighter, and softens up the back end because of the different leverage ratios applied to the shocks. I bet Curt Comer has some KT pics in his archives, and how about Gary LaPlante. Those guys had bikes similar to the Darrow bike and rode them in the nationals. I remember a guy from Texas who rode these as well. His name eludes me at the moment, but I remember he was super nice and a really talented rider. There is also guy from California, who built a mono KT 250 who was at Donner National in 1976. This bike looked so cool, but I understand it didn't work super good. I would love to see some photos of that bike. It had a snail type expansion chamber on it! Actually it is the same bike.
July 24, 20188 yr On 8/30/2008 at 11:49 PM, jaylael said: Two different bikes for sure. One is a 74 type and other is 76 type. The older one must be Darrow's bike. It has the KX kickstarter to go with the KX clutch cover, and apparently a Sammy Miller muffler. This bike must be a fair bit lighter than stock. Just the weight reduction from the exhaust alone would be like 2 or 3 pounds I bet. It looks as if Darrow riveted some white nylon to the skid plate allowing it to glide over those grippy granite rocks. I bet this was a very effective machine. The relocating of the swingarm pivot which I had done to mine, transforms the bike's handling, making it feel allot lighter, and softens up the back end because of the different leverage ratios applied to the shocks. I bet Curt Comer has some KT pics in his archives, and how about Gary LaPlante. Those guys had bikes similar to the Darrow bike and rode them in the nationals. I remember a guy from Texas who rode these as well. His name eludes me at the moment, but I remember he was super nice and a really talented rider. There is also guy from California, who built a mono KT 250 who was at Donner National in 1976. This bike looked so cool, but I understand it didn't work super good. I would love to see some photos of that bike. It had a snail type expansion chamber on it! Jay if you are still on here, what change did you make to the location of the swingarm pivot?
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