Well a couple of weeks ago my mate Fred told me that he's bought a "One Owner" K2 for cheap, because he wanted the head and cylinder block for his K1, which a "renowned" engine builder had rebuilt for his bike with an F2 block and head. On his first ride the engine burned over a litre of oil in approx 20 miles..............
But I digress. I thought, "Why would you cannibalise a "one owner" K2 just for the head and barrels? I know Fred loves his K1's, but that's just silly! Anyway, Fred offered it to me (less the top end) for an absolute bargain, so I jumped at it, and today I picked it up!
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It's it purty?
No, not the bike on the left, the pile of junk in front of you! You see, "One owner" doesn't mean much when the original owner doesn't give a sh1t. So by the time Fred picked it up, it had been stripped, and many of the useful bits like original gauges, exhaust, seat, fenders etc had been thrown out. Great.
Anyway, Fred gave me another cylinder block in good nick, but the head he gave me was off a K6 or F1, so I ratted thru my spares and found a minty K2 head which I sat on the engine to make it look decent, and to keep the mice out of the bottom end. The good thing (yeah, I'm clutching at straws.........) is that the original owner kept it in a dry garage, so the (dented) tank was nice and clean inside, and from what I can see of the engine's internals, it looks pretty good, with no slop in the big end bearings.
I'm in no rush to begin a resto on it, for a start it's winter here, so cold, wet and miserable, and I need to finish Mike's bike that I started a long time ago, but one day, it will be back on the road, as God is my witness...........
Mike's bike is almost finished..........