| Author | Message | ||
     Reepicheep |
Couldn't help myself, and this thing has been stalking me on Craigslist for months now. I would keep hoping it would sell... or that it was missing something major, or that the seller wanted too much. I failed, so it's mine now. A great winter restoration project. I'm hoping to get it plated with historical plates.  Anyone have one of these "in the day"? 280 pounds, about 30 HP, should be a LOT of fun. | ||
| Prior |
Reep, That thing is AWESOME!!! | ||
| Reepicheep |
Did I mention I got it for $100?  | ||
| Prior |
Great... Heather just caught me looking on Craigslist. Nothing here for $100 though! | ||
| Court |
That is so cool . . . you guys will have a blast bringing it back to life. | ||
| Reepicheep |
I'm hoping that you'll be riding that very bike over the gap next year... It would be a riot! Oh, and look here...  http://cincinnati.craigslist.org/mcy/1981431614.ht ml | ||
| Reepicheep |
I'd recommend: (1973 Hodaka Combat Wombat- stock - the original seat needs a new cover- runs good- another good pit bike or motocross in short travel AHMRA- $800) (1968 Kawasaki 350 Avenger rotary valve 2 stroke twin streetbike- running- just needs gas tank and side covers repainted- $900 ) (Message edited by reepicheep on October 03, 2010) | ||
| Reepicheep |
Interesting... my bike is set up for right side shift and left side brake. Stock looks the other way around. Looks easy enough to switch, but anybody know why somebody would have switched it before? Used to racing old pre 50's indians or something? I also *really* like the clay smith logo... Oh, and it comes full circle! Looking at google images for the clay smith information, I see a pegasus logo, and wonder who stole it for their cafe racer without understanding what it was. I was wrong, they understand, and they made something beautiful!  Wow! | ||
| Reepicheep |
(lost image)  | ||
| Aptbldr |
Vintage Japanese Motorcycle Club, VJMC.org. Believe these were "adjustable" for shift-brake on either side. Kawasaki's are tough if you need new parts; it's mostly down to scrounging around. I arrived at motorcycles riding "enduros" from the era; still own a '74 Suzuki TS250 and '73 Honda XL250. | ||
| Road_thing |
Did you get the carb and cover? My buddies and I raced those rotary-valve Kaw's on short-tracks back in the day. I had a 120, a little earlier model than yours. My buds had a 125 and a 175 if I remember right. They responded really well to minor trimming of the rotary valve. Kinda like porting a piston-port 2-stroke, but lots easier. We did away with the oil injection and ran pre-mix. The bikes were fast enough, but we weren't. Looks like fun! rt | ||
| Reepicheep |
Got the cover, new old stock still in original wrapping for $35 (astounding). Looks like a standard VM30 carb, so that'll be another $50 for the Chinese knock off or $95 for a real Mikuni. Pistons are all over the place as well, and it's a sleeved cylinder, so I am hopefully OK there. I'll know "the rest of the story" once I get the jug unwelded from the piston. I figured if it all goes terribly wrong with the motor, I'll graft in something else interesting (maybe gas, maybe electric). But it looks in good shape, so I am hopeful to make a near stock rat bike out of it. | ||
| Rasta_dog |
I've been stalking the same area for about 2 months now. Looking for the dirt bike so I can experience the broken bones I missed out on in my youth. Highlights that have come & gone so far: -78 RM250B "complete" + 83 RM125 not so complete $800 for both -85 yamaha XT 350 "was running" + 86 TT 350 parts bike $600 for both -nice looking 85 XR 600R $1,450 I'm not getting any younger so it's just a matter of time. | ||
| Reepicheep |
If you really want to ride, look for a fairly solid 1995 or later KDX-200 or KDX-220 for $1000 or so. Great play bikes, and cheap to maintain. Or even an earlier KDX... almost as good, just getting harder to get parts for. Of course the classics are so much cooler looking... but I got this Bison as a street bike, it's too heavy for me on the dirt. | ||
| Bluzm2 |
Bill, I remember that old Kwak! A buddy had one, I rode it a few times. As RT mentioned above, trimming the rotary valve is interesting and very effective. However, you can go too far and turn it into a light switch. Nothing on the bottom then it goes berserk. Did that on an old 125 Suzuki. A new valve took care of that... Make sure to check the crank seals on both sides. Money says they are leaking. Two smokes don't like that so much... DAHIK. I need to get my Honda 1974 MT250 back to proper running condition.. it runs but I'm pretty sure that the crank seal on the left side is leaking.. won't idle down properly as if it's lean... Ahhh winter projects.. Brad | ||
| Aptbldr |
Sellin' my XB-R to get a KDX  | ||
| Reepicheep |
Heck, you could probably sell an XB-R to get 4 KDX's. The KDX's are a great choice for a woods bike. Big mistake to plate them for the street though (IMHO). | ||
| Reepicheep |
Brad... I'm guessing crank seals mean splitting cases on this one... at least it did on my KDX. I'll have to take a look at them and see what they look like... I'm guessing they will be shot given the rubber was installed 38 years ago. Though I am amazed at how good a shape the carb and intake boots are in... I think they are original, but they look like new... | ||
| Bluzm2 |
Bill, if memory serves, you can get the one on the stator side without having to split the cases. The carb side might be the same... you have the rotor seal on that side as well. Man, been a LONG time since I tore into one of those.. | ||
| Reepicheep |
Road thing, blueM2, and others... I hear lots of people disabling the auto oilers and just running pre-mix. I probably would also if I was riding serious woods and grinding a bike to dust... one less thing to go wrong. But this is going to be a dual sport play bike with street oriented tires. I have a real dirt bike for real dirt (KDX-200). Leaving the auto oiler in there seems attractive to me, it's a nice street bike type feature. Probably makes the bike more durable as well, as it keeps oiling for long downhill engine braking. Did they have chronic problems? Or did people just bypass them because they were beating the snot out of them on the dirt... And another question... the (steel? iron? sleeve) bore is intact, I don't see any "divots" or scrapes. But it has a bunch of crust on top of it, old carbon, melted piston, old solvents, etc. I'm guessing its best to just rebore it, and I bet you could actually bore it back to stock successfully, or just go to the next size overbore. I could probably clean it and get it working without a rebore, but it would be a lot of time and energy. If I can get it rebored for $40 or $50, that would be a lot easier. There is a ton of material on the sleeve, it is REALLY thick. Any advice here? | ||
| Road_thing |
Reep, in my case, removing the oiler was one less thing to go wrong. I didn't trust the oiler for the race application. Assuming you can find the appropriate oversize piston, overbore would only add a little machine shop time and marginal expense to the rebuild. Seems like cheap insurance to me, but then I haven't seen the condition of your bore. rt | ||
| Blake |
Soak (submerge) it for a couple days in industrial strength solvent and the crust should clean up without much trouble. It needs cleaned before over-bore anyway, yes? | ||
| Reepicheep |
Thanks Tom! Makes sense. Good idea Blake, I have nothing to loose with an aggressive soak, and maybe some carefully monitored application of oven cleaner. | ||
| Aptbldr |
Oven cleaner affects aluminum, too. Simple Green break-downs organic deposits & carbon | ||
| Reepicheep |
It's a sleeved aluminum cylinder (cast iron?). So I suppose if I keep the solvents in there and off the aluminum it would be better. Don't want it pitting though... What about soda blasting? Or just green scotch bright pads? Hard to imagine either of those could remove significant material... | ||
| Road_thing |
Soak it, then take it to a machine shop and get it measured. If it's in spec, get it honed. If it's worn beyond spec, or significantly out of round, bore it to the next oversize. rt | ||
| Reepicheep |
Thanks! I think I found an old triumph restoration shop locally that says it shouldn't be a problem, and they bored out an XR-650 for a friend of mine and did good work... | ||
| Reepicheep |
Nice guy, and a ton of parts. If anyone is looking to keep an old triumph alive, give me a call and I will put you in touch with him (Franklin, Ohio). The real treat was that he was working on a customers Norton Commando 850. Beautiful! Now off to hunt pistons... I found one 2mm over, which I think will work fine, but I'd rather have another in 1mm over first to give me "one more" rebore after my restore if I need it. | ||
| Iamike |
Brad- Get that Honda running and we can take it out to Arizona next May to ride while we are doing the Springfast with Bartimus. | ||
| Reepicheep |
Pistons found and on the shelf... now hunting a Mikuni VM30SC (I think). |
