Vintage Dirt Bike Q & A

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lucky find?
Heck yes!!! 100%  100%  [ 3 ]
naaa. 0%  0%  [ 0 ]
Total votes : 3
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PostPosted: Tue Jan 09, 2007 5:26 pm 
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Joined: Tue Jan 09, 2007 4:53 pm
Posts: 4
well,In the spring, I left a message in this guy down the road's mailbox because he had a three wheeler,and a bunch of golfcart,gokart,minibike, and dirt bike parts in his yard I wanted to buy off him. no reply. until a couple months later. He called, and asked If I was still interested , and that I could have all the stuff I wanted from his yard, because he was cleaning up and trying to get rid of the stuff. while I was there he asked if I was interested in a Kawasaki 175 cc dirt bike. Of course, I said yes.
It is my first dirtbike (I'm 14, turning 15 in march), it is a four speed. It is street legal, and I have been told It is pretty rare. although It had not been started in several (10 would not surprise me) years,I cleaned out the petcock on the gas tank ,put some gum out in the carb , cleaned out the gas tank, put new gas and oil in, and Viola, It starts right up. I have street tires,and off road tires.oh, it has oil injection, which is nice, no premixing needed. It is nowhere near as nice as a modern bike, but in it's day it was a heck of a bike, and it is pretty peppy (It pops a wheelie on command), runs great, and is a blast to ride! the compression is like new, because the guy I got it from rebuilt the engine before he put it away. not the outside, but the internals are in excellent shape. the throttle response is instant, and torque is good. It has no problem getting going. the upholstery is in great shape too, with no holes, tears, fading, or dryrot. and armor-all wipe and it looks like new!

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Free! can you believe it!!

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since then, I have:replaced the clutch cable, polished the heat guard on the exaust,gotten an air filter custom made, replaced the wiring, and the headlight. oh, I removed the speedo, until I can find a cable.
It is dirty in these pics, this is after a successful ride on the trails. SOOO fun.

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[IMG]http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o82/ ... IM0470.jpg
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PostPosted: Sun Jan 28, 2007 7:36 pm 
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Joined: Tue Jan 09, 2007 4:53 pm
Posts: 4
oh, come on people. several thousand members, several weeks, and not one reply! this place is not very busy.


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PostPosted: Tue Jan 30, 2007 1:18 pm 
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Joined: Tue Mar 15, 2005 10:35 am
Posts: 254
schmanman wrote:
oh, come on people. several thousand members, several weeks, and not one reply! this place is not very busy.


Several thousand members!!! That is pretty optimistic, probably less then 100 active members. Started off as Honda only and never really took off for other manufacturers like Kawasaki.

But anyway, your Kawasaki is not really considered a dirt bike. It falls into a different catagory usually referred to as "dual sport" like the Honda MTs.

That you love it is no suprise. You are/were the target market. The bike was made for you and people like you. Understand that a dual sport doesn't mean it does two things great, it is more like it does two things bad. Lighter person just getting into motorcycles but doesn't know if they want a road bike or a dirt bike or a trials or trails. Doesn't want to spend a lot to find out or doesn't have a lot to spend.

It was a sucessful bike in that Kawasaki built them for years, mostly as a 125cc model, but it was never considered collectable or even very desirable. I happen to own a 1975 KS125 which near as I can figure was a KE125 with 21" front tire and different trim, it is a pretty lousy bike. By lousy I mean the stock suspension sucks big time: No travel, no dampening, bottoms if anything larger then a 14-15 year old rides it. Almost dangereously bad.

The engines are rather nice as you have noted. Lots of power and actually pulls from idle as opposed to your typical 2 stroke.

The guy who made your pipe was better known for H1-3 tripples.

IMO: You should buy some new tires, preferably dual sports like Cheng Shens as you can pick up a new set cheap vs. nobbies, and get it registered. Ride the sucker to high school with occasional trips on trails and you'll be happy. Don't tinker with the engine as it is probably already tuned near the maximum hp it can make.

Rick


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PostPosted: Wed Jan 31, 2007 8:45 pm 
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Joined: Sun Jan 25, 2004 6:53 pm
Posts: 27
Location: Southbend, IN
Nice find! Some of us started the same way. Have fun and ride safe!

_________________
W.F.O. All the way!


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PostPosted: Tue Feb 06, 2007 12:53 pm 
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Joined: Tue Jan 09, 2007 4:53 pm
Posts: 4
ok ,thanks guys!

it works fine for me, and I am wonderfully happy with it.


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