The old bike - Kawasaki KH500

As I mentioned previously, I have an old two-stroke Mach III motorcycle that I've had since high school.  While I was out puttering around in the shop this past weekend, I had a sudden impulse, and decided to clean it up.



It took a fair amount of Simple Green cleaner to remove the gobs of dried up two-stroke oil from the engine and exhaust pipes, followed by a normal soapy wash.  The old girl still looks pretty good when you get the dust and oils off.

Yep, she's a two-stroke!  Check out those three clean-looking cylinder heads :)  I replaced the original (heavy) chrome exhausts with expansion chambers with polished aluminum stingers at the back.  Heavy as this old bike is, it will loft the front wheel if you stay on full throttle through 6000 RPM.

She's not running at the moment.  The last time I rode her was about 20 years ago, after doing a restoration.  She's still looking pretty good from that make-over.

I think that this winter I will see about getting her ride-able.  The only things that should need major attention are the fuel system, the front brake, and tire replacement.  There is plenty of tread on the tires, but they have dry-rot.  I could probably accomplish the work in just a couple of days, but it will make a fun winter project, I think!