Two Wheel Tuesdays

The last three images I am including on this post were taken between 1976 and 1986. As you can tell, I have been riding Kawasaki motorcycles for almost 50 years. I purchased my first dirt bike motorcycle in 1974, at the tender age of 19.

The top picture is a replica of my first 1972 Kawasaki 750 Triple that I was lucky to encounter a couple of weeks ago at a motorcycle vintage gathering. It was my first street bike motorcycle, and the first love of my life. 

One of my favorite quotes is : "You don't stop riding when you get old. You get old when you stop riding." The best is yet to come!

Minutiae of My Restoration Project

To be honest, I feel more comfortable building a motorcycle engine than dealing with the intricacies of the motorcycle chassis. When it comes to working on a motorcycle frame, I rather leave it to the experts. A man's got to know his limitations, but I digress.

The Kerker exhaust system arrived from the United Kingdom in less than a week, it is in excellent condition. And I found an original brand new seat on Ebay this week.

Working on this project has been very therapeutic for me. If things go well, my bike should be ready for the next vintage event April of 2020.

It's Been Fun So Far

Went to the garage yesterday to check on the bike and while I was there spent a couple of hours removing the carburetors, the stock exhaust system, replacing the handlebar, and installing both handlebar control switches and the front brake master cylinder.

I am at a crossroads, undecided on retouching, painting the whole frame or have frame powder coated. I am more leaning towards retouching the whole frame, with the expectation to have the bike ready before next vintage motorcycle event April 2020.

In other news, it was a matter of sheer luck or planetary alignment was in the works for me. Last week, I found a Kerker 4-1 exhaust system in excellent shape and reasonably priced advertised in a Facebook vintage group. It's been shipped from the United Kingdom and should be here by the end of next week. Nowadays, these Kerker exhaust systems cost an arm and a leg. I found a real bargain.

So far, it's been a real fun project tinkering with this iconic bike.

Step-By-Step Journey To Rebuild :

1) Let The Restoration Begin

2) Parts Have Been Ordered

3) It's Been Fun So Far

Parts Have Been Ordered

This weekend I ordered several parts to start the restoration process. I am glad there are sites like Z1 Enterprises dedicated to offer OEM vintage japanese motorcycle parts and links for other services.

I know what direction I want to go in with this bike. It's just a matter on focusing and concentrating on cost effective changes. One thing at a time. It could get expensive pretty quick if I spend money on parts, and later on change my mind. I want my bike cosmetics to look somewhat similar to the image posted above.

I was planning to wait until winter to start working on it, but I've been bitten by the restoration bug. If all goes well, maybe I could get the bike ready before next riding season. Can't wait to see it finished.