KAWASAKI KX500 PROJECT THE REYNOLDS WAY: 2-STROKE TUESDAY

This Kawasaki KX500 project has tons of sentimental meaning behind it. Garry Reynolds rescued this motorcycle in honor of long-time motorsport enthusiast and all-around great guy, Mike Hasson. Unfortunately, we lost Mike to Covid last year, Mike’s creed was always “#AtATrack” it didn’t matter what kind of racing it was; he was an enthusiast of it all. 

Garry purchased the bike from Mike’s family and tore it down to the frame. Garry, his dad, Rod, and long time friends, Derick Personette, Jerad Butler, and Colton Gallaher helped rebuild the bike better and badder than before and promised Mike’s family that it would continue to always be #AtATrack in his honor.

If you build a KX500 two-stroke and don’t put a FMF pipe on it is it really finished ? We were lucky enough to find a pipe but as you can see from the other images we had to use the stock silencer because an FMF version was nowhere to be found.

Stopping power on any big-bore 2-stroke is important! Galfer Wave rotors are CAD-CAM designed out of 420 high carbon proprietary virgin stainless steel laser cut and heat treated for each specific application.

Dean at Fast Blast and Coat  provided specialty coatings on this KX500 that included powder coating the main frame, swingarm and subframe a satin black while using a bronze cerakote on the OEM hubs, cylinder head and water-pump cover . 

Just like the chrome plated sprocket the Dirt Tricks new Zirconium rear sprocket features their minimalistic design for lightweight, backed with a two year guarantee and made in the USA. The new coating was formulated to reduces friction by 50%, increases durability and give the sprocket a unique look.

Garry worked with a lot of industry leading companies like FMF, Dunlop, Dirt Tricks, Galfer, Decor Graphics, ODI, Acerbis, IMS, Bolt Hardware, Works Connection, All Balls and SKF on this project. Stay tuned for more!

TWO-STROKE BEHIND THE BUILD

When it comes to 500cc two-stroke projects, they usually go one of two directions: the first is a complete restoration of the stock steel-framed chassis, or the second is taking the two-stroke powerplant and fabricating it into a modern-day, four-stroke, aluminum-framed chassis. The debate on these two types of builds could go on until the end of time about which concept is better, and even the magazine staff is torn in different directions.

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