Kawazonkey

[RickUK]

One of the all time classic trail irons that i had and totally regret selling was the Honda XL185 twin shock,lovely reliable old green laner and very hard to find these days.

Forgot to mention my all time favourite roadbike was the classic Honda 400/4 mine was in yellow,still one of the best bikes that came out of Japan,the fastest that i had but not good road handling was the legendary Kawasaki KH500 but bloody hell it was a thirsty old beast especially if you turned the wick up abit as most typical high powered 2 smokes of the day.

Cor blimey this is turning into a trip down memory lane.

[donkeychomp]

I am looking at buying a 400/4. And over the many years of biking I've had (in no particular order)

Honda SS50 (70cc)
Yamaha RS100
Yamaha RD250 and 400
Kawasaki Z1
Yamaha RD250LC and 350
Suzuki GS1000
Kawasaki ZXR400
Aprilia RS250

and loads I can't remember right now...I LOVE 2 strokes!

[Anton]

Maybe we should have a bike meet in 2015.

Or strap your bikes to your zuks and bring 'em to billing!

[courior]

Try and find an rg500 gamma .. That was an awesome machine

[donkeychomp]

The Gamma was a hoot...I almost got a knackered 250 last month but it was too far gone...

The RD500LC...now that's what I want. The prices are mental though, seen them at £13k on ebay!

[donkeychomp]

OK here she is..'lil Kawazonkey 2.

A few bits of info...1980 bike imported from the States, ultra low miles which is probably genuine.

Lots of good and bad points.

The bad...seized engine. I've changed the oils and have poured some down the plug hole...I'll let it soak for a couple of days. If that fails I strip the engine down, a doddle on a single cylinder 2 stroke.
Tank dented and rusty but the inside is clean. No rear indicators. Throttle cable knackered. Both tyres are perished, so probably the original Yokohamas it came with. Incorrect air filter. Levers are broken. No ignition switch. Speedo glass is starred. No key so the seat lock is useless. No mirrors.

The good. Frame swingarm and forks all straight. Lights are all excellent. Chrome is amazing, no pitting at all.

I've ordered a seat cover (US), air filter, levers, and indicators. Some bits I am struggling to find.
And I can't find a set of knobblies for her either, just road tyres!

Anyway she will be restored like her bigger sister, then it's do I sell her or is she a keeper?

Hmm.

[donkeychomp]

Sit rep...this engine is mullered. Oil in the spark plug hole didn't work so I whipped the head off..piston is black with carbon and badly scored. Peeked inside and the crank is rusted solid. So I'm trying to get all the rounded off screws on the engine panels off and try and turn it by hand...highy unlikely. No G5 engines to be found, or a KH one for that matter. It might have to go to someone like Stan Stevens for a rebuild. Bollocks.

[vit4x4]

I bought a brand new one in 1979/80 it was lime green, I have the receipt somewhere it cost me £427 including reg and tax, a lifetime ago

[Ladaman]

Bloody hell, has the engine been full of water?

Strange for the crank and flywheel to be SO corroded.

[donkeychomp]

I bought a brand new one in 1979/80 it was lime green, I have the receipt somewhere it cost me £427 including reg and tax, a lifetime ago

One of the first things I did was check the colours they came in...she'll be Kawasaki green!

And I have no idea how the inside of the engine got like that either...it's awful!