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

[Terry in Australia]

Well things are slowly moving ahead. I purposely haven't done much until I finish the CB750 engine that I'm trading Dion for paint work and more H1 parts, so as not to get distracted. The weather was absolutely miserable on the weekend, so no rides, but I was able to concentrate on the matter at hand, so I bored some worn out 836cc cylinders to 849cc (65.5mm) to suit some new Cyclex pistons that I had in a box from a couple of years ago,

I had some issues with my old boring bar boring the centre cylinders slightly crooked due to having to pull the boring head further out from it's stand to reach the centre sleeves, so decided that I'd reheat the block in my industrial oven, and swap the good outer cylinder sleeves into the centre holes, then install two more sleeves into the outer holes, and bore them because the outer sleeves bored perfectly, but then I found two other sleeves that I'd bored a couple of years ago and not used, so was able to just drop them in, and the cylinders are right to go once I've given them a light hone.

Terry’s boring weekend 1 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

Terry’s boring weekend by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

Some more H1 parts are slowly arriving, Dion sent me another bottom triple tree for the '73 H1, and the 1969 bottom triple that I bought from Ebay UK 5 weeks ago arrived. Yay! I wasn't happy that the seller apparently didn't send it for 3 weeks after I'd paid him, but I might be wrong, so I'll not dwell on that, '69 parts are hard to find, so I'm just happy to have it.

Terry’s boring weekend 3 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

[MauiK3]

Brake switch in the lower triple? I didn’t know they did that.

[Terry in Australia]

Yep, the later one has that, whereas the ‘69, with drum front brakes, doesn’t.

[Trevor from Warragul]

Most aftermarket brake cables include an inline brake switch.  All this does is markedly reduce the efficiency of the cable!  I took out all the adjustment and snipped the wires. Only a rear brake switch is required for bikes manufactured before June 1975.

[Terry in Australia]

Hey Trevor, while I have your attention, what rims did Kawasaki use on the ‘69 model? DID? Takasago? I’ve bought a wheel building stand, so need to buy rims and spokes for the vapor blasted hubs.

[Stev-o]

Hey Terry...fairly certain the rims used are Takasago, I'm sure Trevor will confirm.  Not sure of their availability other than used, I went with a DID on the rear of my Z1 when I replaced the goofy 16" wheel it came with.

I only see rims branded "Excel Takasago" so maybe Excel bought them out?


https://www.powersportsuperstore.com/products/excel-acs431-takasago-rear-rim-19x1-85-silver?CAWELAID=120009580000809754

[Alan F.]

This photo is from a '72 on ebay:

[Terry in Australia]

Thanks guys, I’ll have to see what’s available. I just remembered that the Takasago rims on my Z1-B are date coded, which if the same on the ‘69 H1 will add another level of complexity, I might buy alloy rims and stainless spokes and bot get sucked into a 100% original build.

[Alan F.]

There was some talk of 2-strokes on one of the R.E. forums, I swiped these links to post here, maybe one is new to you?

https://www.vintco.com/


https://www.lasleeve.com/services/crankshaft-services
Rebuild 2 Stroke crankshaft, triple rod crank (labor only)   $325.00

http://crankworks.com/index.php/vintage-services

https://thecrankshopvt.com/crankshaft-repair

https://hvccycle.net/crank-shaft-overhaul/

[MauiK3]

100% original is great if you can really get the parts, otherwise a great, well sorted out resto gets you a very nice example of the model.

[Trevor from Warragul]

what rims did Kawasaki use on the ‘69 model? DID? Takasago?

Sorry Terry, I missed your post...

[Trevor from Warragul]

Did you buy a T-shirt Terry?   

[Terry in Australia]

I meant to go over to my local Big W store this afternoon Trevor, but got sidetracked. I’ll drop in tomorrow.

[MauiK3]

Nice T-shirt

[Stev-o]

I may get this one....

https://www.etsy.com/listing/1225698356/t-shirt-for-classic-motorcycle-kawasaki?gpla=1&gao=1&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=shopping_us_c-clothing-mens_clothing-other&utm_custom1=_k_CjwKCAjwsvujBhAXEiwA_UXnAHitAghjdI2XIQGkCLatLXFCP8HR_hCID1NYM1asDvWFF_3SMWIAFxoCFmMQAvD_BwE_k_&utm_content=go_270946235_21143519435_69016979075_pla-106551495395_c__1225698356_12768591&utm_custom2=270946235&gclid=CjwKCAjwsvujBhAXEiwA_UXnAHitAghjdI2XIQGkCLatLXFCP8HR_hCID1NYM1asDvWFF_3SMWIAFxoCFmMQAvD_BwE&variation0=2634487984&variation1=2658316223

[Trevor from Warragul]

I like this one...

https://www.diablocycle.com/1971-H1A-T-Shirt.html

[spotty]

do they do them in 4XL fat bastard size ?

[RAFster122s]

Tall fat bastard size?

[spotty]

Tall fat bastard size?

tis true, i am of a perfectly normal stature compared to the rest of the vertically disenfranchised folk i have to deal with

[RAFster122s]

Was reading a piece on mosquitoes and then being drawn to dark colors, medium blue or light blue they don't like and a lighter shade of green is good too...black and dark blue and red they are more attracted to... White is good too!
Here in the desert I would rather have a light colored Tshirt most of the time. I have some old heavyweight dark colored tshirts I won't wear in summer as they just make me sweat profusely and stink...a lighter colored Tshirt or button up shirt is much preferable.

I'm cursed with a long torso, so I have to be careful on clothing selection often... Legs are not long but arm length is proportional to my height...torso though is more like 2 sizes taller if you were shopping regular sizes. Often a bigger size is also a bit longer.

[Terry in Australia]

Well Spotty called me yesterday and offered to drive over to Big W and buy me a shirt, and arrived a little while later with one for me which I thought was lovely. I forgot to ask him if he got one for himself, he really is a great friend, thanks again mate!

[spotty]

i did indeed get myself one

[Terry in Australia]

They're a fine piece of apparel, I'll wear mine with pride once I actually have a running H1!

Boring bar trial 8 June 2023 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

[Terry in Australia]

Back to the boring bar stand, it's all set to go now, I did a test bore on a set of rusty old cylinders just before it was getting dark and was happy that it was easy to centre the quill to the centre of the bore with my special tool that I made a few days ago, and it all looks pretty good so far. I've got a set of 1st oversize pistons somewhere so I'll bore them to suit and keep it for another project. The first big job will be to bore another cylinder block to take some 970cc sleeves, that should be a good test of my measuring skills as I need to bore the block slightly undersize so that the sleeves will be a tight fit once I've heated the block to install them. Isn't backyard engineering fun?

Boring bar trial 8 June 2023 4 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

Boring bar trial 8 June 2023 3 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

 

[PeWe]

Terry, you can use the T-shirt while running or walking as we 60+ men do
If farting, blame the bike on the shirt!

Good use of a boring bar.
I have left cylinders to my local shop less than 2km away before he retire for good.
So I have extra.
He is 73 yo this year.

He need to fix a K1 head I have on the shelf too. Replace guides with new valves too.

It cost some to get parts fixed while still possible nearby by people that know how to do.