Topic: Terry's Kawasaki Mach III 500 build. Let the smoke begin.....

[RAFster122s]

Yeah, that's a ton of parts... You want that many smoker parts? Have you ridden the model for all those parts? Do you like them that much? Or is it merely a future revenue sour e. You tell us paint work is $$ and we have seen the skills at paint you have with spray bombs much less the spray equipment. You could paint them in base colors or stock schemes and sell them...
If you wanna get in that aspect of the hobby to finance other things you want.

David

[PeWe]

It can be good for retirement fund when all bikes are assembled and ready for the road.
It look like Terry will get paid for his work to transform these piles of parts to running bikes.
Imagine the future owners hapiness.

Restoring bikes can otherwise become a cost when selling.
Especially parts bikes, buying all parts that are missing and replace the too bad looking and non functional parts.

Everything cost much more today than a few years ago.

[MauiK3]

Agreed, making a bike out of parts can be risky. Only the most desirable bikes will yield any monetary gain and labor is likely going to be free. But hey, it's a great pastime and it's fun to get one running.

[Kelly E]

That looks great Kelly, and I'm in awe of you working so fast with your own medical issues, well done mate. Do you have a TIG? I've just bought one (well, for Christmas, but it hasn't fired a shot yet, I need an exhaust project to give it a run) and am keen to try it out.

The wife took a pic of my back so I could see what the surgeon did, I was expecting two holes, so I'm not sure if he missed a couple of times, or if he had to shove a scope in there to direct the RF burner? Either way, big scars would have been cooler, but at least I don't have to worry about tearing stitches.

Thanks Buddy.
I don't have a TIG,  but I do have a Miller 211 that works great. I would like to try out a TIG some day. Hopefully my custom Hondawasaki exhaust system lasts long enough to get a new system from Musket Mufflers.

I've had spinal facet injections before and it was no fun. My daughter was born the next day and that was a great but long miserable day. Plus that night I ended up sleeping in a crappy hospital recliner chair next to the wife's bed which didn't help.
Take it easy until your back heals up, I'm looking forward to seeing how your smokers turn out.

[grcamna2]

It can be good for retirement fund when all bikes are assembled and ready for the road.
It look like Terry will get paid for his work to transform these piles of parts to running bikes.
Imagine the future owners hapiness.

Restoring bikes can otherwise become a cost when selling.
Especially parts bikes, buying all parts that are missing and replace the too bad looking and non functional parts.

Everything cost much more today than a few years ago.

Terry has the skill to do it;sometimes he does get motivated 

[PeWe]

It can be good for retirement fund when all bikes are assembled and ready for the road.
It look like Terry will get paid for his work to transform these piles of parts to running bikes.
Imagine the future owners hapiness.

Restoring bikes can otherwise become a cost when selling.
Especially parts bikes, buying all parts that are missing and replace the too bad looking and non functional parts.

Everything cost much more today than a few years ago.

Terry has the skill to do it;sometimes he does get motivated 

He motivates us too

[Terry in Australia]

Thanks guys, it’s one big pile of parts, but I don’t intend (at this stage) to build any more Mach III’s than just the ‘73 and the ‘69. I’m just grabbing whatever Dion’s offering up for the trade for the engine I’m building for him, and whatever parts I can help him out with for his other CB750 build. They may come in handy if I’m missing parts or some of the parts I have are sub-par for the two bikes I’m building, then I’ll sell off the rest to recoup the money I’ve spent and to buy the parts I still need like rims, spokes, tyres, a seat, gauges etc for the ‘69.

I’m definitely not intending on building a fleet of H1’s, I have ridden one once or twice and it was a fun bike for sure, but I don’t need a bunch of them, and I’m sure someone else will want what I don’t need, particularly since a couple of the frames and engine cases are “matching numbers” so worth restoring for a collector.

I need to go through the tubs of parts for the ‘73 today and find the carbs, brake backing plate, etc so I can take them around to Hussein to vapor blast so that I can bolt the roller together, and reassemble the engine. I’m getting excited….

[MauiK3]

Kind of like when someone who drinks too much alcohol says “I can stop any time”
Kidding of course
🤓

[Terry in Australia]

There’s such a thing as “Too much alcohol” Steve? Well I learn something every day! Ha ha, yes you (well me) can get a bit excited about the next project, and I really need to finish a couple of others and get them out and enjoy them, so I’m hoping I can do both this winter and have some fresh riders come summer. Space is my biggest prohibiter, so Spotty’s offer to store some stuff will definitely help. I’m going to buy some greenhouse hooks so I can hang some stuff from my garage roof, like the tanks and stuff that I don’t want damaged because shelf space is non existent, but I really need to sell some stuff to get it out of the garage.

Anyway the good news is that Dion is in the process of painting my ‘73 tins, so in a couple of weeks I should have a nice shiny tank, sidecovers and ducktail for it, and I’m taking the carbs and engine covers over to Hussein this morning to get vapor blasted, so it’s coming together quite nicely. It shouldn’t be too long before I have something that resembles a Mach III to look at. I haven’t found anyone who can rebuild the crank so I’m going to have to risk using one that looks really good and just assemble the engine, and hope that like Trevor, it doesn’t give me any problems.

[Trevor from Warragul]

I haven’t found anyone who can rebuild the crank

https://www.facebook.com/MDAengineering

[grcamna2]

I haven’t found anyone who can rebuild the crank

https://www.facebook.com/MDAengineering

Trevor,I remember you had this man, Martyn Adams work on the heads for your Morini 3 1/2.

[Trevor from Warragul]

Yes, old school engineer, and very talented. Facebook shows he has done RD cranks...

[grcamna2]

Yes, old school engineer, and very talented. Facebook shows he has done RD cranks...

I see he has done a 2-stroke triple also.

[Terry in Australia]

I haven’t found anyone who can rebuild the crank

https://www.facebook.com/MDAengineering

Thanks Trevor, I've sent him a message, and I got an auto reply to say to call him, so I'll give him a ring tomorrow.

[Trevor from Warragul]

You'll like him, he's a dour Yorkshireman with that typical northern dry humour!

[Terry in Australia]

Martyn sent me a message saying he’d only do it if I provided new conrod kits (rods, crank pins, bearings etc) so I did a pricing exercise and it looks like, with labour I’ll be up for around $2K. That’s a bit more than I can afford right now so I think I’ll install the crank as is and hope that it’ll be ok until I can afford to get my spare crank rebuilt. It’d be nice to start with a really good one, but it’s a little too much at the moment.

[RAFster122s]

You sell a bunch of those spares after trading with Dion and you will have that 2k…

Hopefully you can run the one that looks good without needing the attention and parts of a remanufacturing…

Properly done rests are costly and often people aren’t knowledgeable enough to know what they are buying. The research and education by others that know is part of the journey…
Nice when nuggets of wisdom are shared in these forums…

David

[Terry in Australia]

Thanks David, the crank that came out of the engine I’m building looks good, Dion pulled it apart to get the cases blasted and wrapped it in a towel, but then he bought another bike with a rebuilt engine so never got around to doing it. Hopefully it’ll be like my T500 crank and won’t need any immediate work. If $2K would be enough to finish this build I’d spend it on the crank for sure, but I still need to buy a lot of other parts before it will get done.

[simon#42]

i have built quite a few of these cranks over the years and they are pretty strong . i think of the 20 or so i have done maybe 2 or 3 were actually knackered . something to consider is the cheaper rod kits and bearings are rubbish . i bought some from cruzinimage and ended up throwing them in the bin . unless you are going to buy top quality components you are much better with the originals .  i would put a couple of new outer bearings and seals on and give it a try . i have never seen a failed inner seal despite what i am told by so called experts .

[Terry in Australia]

Thanks Simon, that’s good to know. I saw a few different aftermarket sets and thought about buying the cheaper ones, but unlike the CI pistons that are relatively easy to change if they wear out quickly, the crank assembly is another matter. I have new bearings and seals here, so I’ll take your advice and change them out.

[ekpent]

i have built quite a few of these cranks over the years and they are pretty strong . i think of the 20 or so i have done maybe 2 or 3 were actually knackered . something to consider is the cheaper rod kits and bearings are rubbish . i bought some from cruzinimage and ended up throwing them in the bin . unless you are going to buy top quality components you are much better with the originals .  i would put a couple of new outer bearings and seals on and give it a try . i have never seen a failed inner seal despite what i am told by so called experts .

That's good encouraging news from a fella who has been there and done that.

[MauiK3]

Post some photos of the process, it should be interesting.

[simon#42]

allen milliyard has a you tube video on how to rebuild a h1 crank . i was going to recomend you watched it , then i did just to check . he does it totally different to me !  i guess one of us is wrong .

[Stev-o]

Martyn sent me a message saying he’d only do it if I provided new conrod kits (rods, crank pins, bearings etc) so I did a pricing exercise and it looks like, with labour I’ll be up for around $2K.

$2K? screw that.  Charlie Smith rebuilt my H1 crank, it was only around $350. He doesnt insist on new con rods but does check them and mine were fine.  The crank seals were def shot, burned a hole in one piston

[MauiK3]

Wow, big spread in pricing.