No, not the car. Thats been parked for a few months - i needed the break from the thing to get some sense of completing something.

So, after looking on ebay for yonks, about a year ago, i found an almost exact replica of the bike I bought when I was 17. In the days when you could just get a licence, turn 17, and jump right on to a 100 mph bike and kill yourself.

My choice was to me, the most elegant and 'techie' 250 on the market.

The Kawasaki KH250 two stroke triple.

This bike has been completly rebuilt, inc a frame powdercoat, rebore and crank rebuild. Its not the correct colour, but its near enough till i get 300 quid to burn. Single most expensive thing was the crank recon, at 340 quid.

About 1200 quid later (inc bike cost) I have it back on the road. Been pottering around on it running the complete engine rebuild in - just 160 miles so far.

Its a nice feeling to think I have rescued a 28 year old box of bits from oblivion, and have it back on the road.

One weird thing was getting the one and only bit I needed from a kwak dealer (the headlamp bulb!). In 1976, this bike sold by the truckload. Go into a dealer now and ask a 30 something for a bulb, and they have no clue what you are talking about. I suppose the bike is getting rarer and im getting older!

atb

steve
Rescued attachment Img_3031_small.jpg

another
Rescued attachment Img_3033small.jpg

ahhhhh, the memories.................



very nice job


[Edited on 26/9/05 by rayward]

Hi Steve
nice job mate but remember to ride it hard because they did have a reputation for fouling plugs if puttered to much . a mate of mine had one and the clouds of blue smoke were amazing !!!!!

Looks like a really nice job mate- well done!


Cheers,
James

WOW!
i had one too
never missed a beat
of all the bikes i had, the kh brings back the most memories
enjoy it steve !

I had a Kawasaki KR-1S as my first bike, carnt beat the smell of a stroker!

Steve - you've made a lovely job of restoring that bike. Hat's off to you!

Have the wheel spokes rechromed and it would look brand new!

always loved the looks and sound of those bikes...........

Seized my KH twice when maxed out.

I laugh now, but's that's the drugs.

Neil.

Get them replaced in stainless and they'll be brand new. My mate had one of those with metallic green paint. Nice job Steve.

Congrats Stevo!!

Very nice job!

Love the sound of those two strokers at idle.

Nice bike. I had a KH400 which also used to foul the centre plug. Was told to get a cooler running plug? Whatever it was, it seemed to do the trick.

How much did you have to pay for the frame to be blasted and powder coated?

http://www.triple-s.co.uk/

Bit of a journey for me (3 hrs each way) but it was on the company i worked for at the time's time and fuel

prices are on there..... sorry to be a bit short - will reply later, just gonna watch footie on tv!

Thanks for the positive comments

Yep, these bikes have a reputation for oiling plugs, generally if you keep the revs below 4k for an extended period (8k5 red line). As the bike is meant to stay below 4k for runnign in period (ive compromised at 5k) they would oil a bit. So, i have used a 'hotter' plug. Plugs have a heat range set by the design of the core and nose insulator. These plugs come in grades B7HS to B10HS, with the bike using 9 as std. I have used 8's (a hotter plug) which the KH400 uses. Once run and and 'thrashable' I will go with the 9's. One feature of the bike is it has a neat lilttle spare plug holder under the seat for a set of 3.

Trying to make a bike pefect would cost serious money. It could really do with a better lower right exhaust, but these are hard to find and are nearly all scraped at the lowest point. Getting wheels rebuilt costs about 110 each, so im not rushing on that one. The front forks had a bit of pitting, which would have failed MOT so I had them ground, plated with chrome oversize, then machined back to original - this is better than std spec. That cost 120 quid alone.

The powder coating was done by triple s. nice job, their site gives pricing. Dunno if they can do a locost chassis, but i would recommend them for smaller bits

cheers all

atb

steve

I had a brief affair with a KH but found deeper joy with an LC....and loud spannies Nice to see people doing them up at long last

i read somewhere that there are few LC's around now as they all blew up in no time, or were thrashed.

atb

steve