I rode it to work this morning! It makes absolutely no sense in modern traffic- sitting at a light with 2 stroke smoke drifting through the headlight beam while the hybrids around you stop/start their combustion engines really drives it home. I'm not sure I'll do this too many times, the brakes just aren't good enough to feel safe in modern traffic, but it sure feels like an accomplishment:
Oh, and funny thing about this quote:
759NRNG said:
Just make it safe to enjoy at FULL TILT while fogging Hayabusa's 
On my way to work, I was in the left lane and recognized a certain distinctively squished looking tail section riding along with a line of cars on the right. I remembered these words, clicked down into third, and as requested full tilt was achieved and a Hayabusa was fogged 
Just wanted to thank you, as you starting this thread back in March gave me the motivation to start again working on the old Suzuki 250 2 strokes that was on hold since 5 years in my basement. In 6 months, I went to "motor open on the shelf and piles of parts" to "should be able to try to start it by end of next month, and could be finished by the end of the year".
Out of curiosity, which kind of oil are you using ? Lots of people around here are saying that current fully synthetic 2 stroke oil isn't enough viscous to use on those old engines and that I should try to source some mineral one.
In reply to madpenguin :
Super cool, and I'm very glad to have helped give you the kick in the pants you needed. I'm using modern Kawasaki synthetic 2-stroke oil, since I couldn't find any evidence of people having issues with synthetics in this particular engine- but it does have oil injection rather than premix, if that makes a difference.
759NRNG
UltraDork
9/28/19 8:58 a.m.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯ said:
I rode it to work this morning! It makes absolutely no sense in modern traffic- sitting at a light with 2 stroke smoke drifting through the headlight beam while the hybrids around you stop/start their combustion engines really drives it home. I'm not sure I'll do this too many times, the brakes just aren't good enough to feel safe in modern traffic, but it sure feels like an accomplishment:
Oh, and funny thing about this quote:
759NRNG said:
Just make it safe to enjoy at FULL TILT while fogging Hayabusa's
On my way to work, I was in the left lane and recognized a certain distinctively squished looking tail section riding along with a line of cars on the right. I remembered these words, clicked down into third, and as requested full tilt was achieved and a Hayabusa was fogged
Yu da man!!!!! hey you said the brakes negate doing this with any regularity......perhaps a fork assembly from a newer Kaw with discs wouldn't be a bad way to spend winterin the grosh........
¯\_(ツ)_/¯ said:
I rode it to work this morning! It makes absolutely no sense in modern traffic- sitting at a light with 2 stroke smoke drifting through the headlight beam while the hybrids around you stop/start their combustion engines really drives it home.
One of the bikes in my collection is a 1972 Suzuki RV90, one of those fat tire semi-mini bikes they used to build. One day I was sitting at a red light when a guy on a bicycle came up next to me and chastised me for polluting. 
Then, he ran the red light and rode off, so I guess rules didn't apply to him.
That’s why l can’t ride road bicycles anymore. To many holier than thou asshats. Hated getting lumped in with that group. Next time just yell you are making up for his lack of carbon footprint.
In reply to brad131a4 :
Try riding fixed gear bikes just because you like the silence and the feel. I can be wearing khaki cargo shorts and a "my kid is in this Jr. High sport" shirt and I'm STILL a hipster.
But on the flip side a whole heard of 7th graders yelled for me to do a burnout in the Accord just because it has stickers. Kids preconceptions are cooler than adults preconceptions.
ShawnG
PowerDork
9/28/19 3:12 p.m.
In reply to mazdeuce - Seth :
Wife was with me when I was driving the work Freightliner to a customer's house for a delivery.
We were in a residential area and some kids on the corner made the "honk the horn" motion at me.
Always happy to oblige, I gave them a blast from the "voice of God".
I guess they had no idea how loud it could be because a couple of them covered their ears in shock and one did the commando roll into some bushes.
She gave me hell for scaring the kids. I couldn't stop laughing.
759NRNG said:
perhaps a fork assembly from a newer Kaw with discs wouldn't be a bad way to spend winterin the grosh........
That would make it more useable... but useable isn't really the point. It's still going to get 20mpg, on non-ethanol gas, and burn lots of oil. It's still going to be a noodle with bouncy suspension and an incredibly violent powerband. I don't really want to improve it, because I like how it is now- that just means that commuting on it isn't much of an option, which is fine. It's a death machine from a different era, not daily transportation.
My friends raced a H1 and an H2 in the Harley Dirt Drag events at Slade's Park in the 80's! Wicked fast. Red put one of their H1 's together from their parts bins for me a street bike in the mid 90's. KZ750 swing arm stretched and lowered the back end, raised the tubes in the trees, clip ons above the trees. Scary low, but I'm a chopper guy anyway! Chambers and the larger carbs and ports made the powerband even narrower!!! Only rode it a few times before the p.o.s. 3 port petcock leaked fuel, hydro locked, blew the left cyl head gasket. Daytime, and I still saw a foot of flame as it started! Shut it right off, built a 3 way manifold and a valve for petcock, but never got around to putting the new head gasket on. Sat out back till i moved in 2011, and I think its still in the woods at a friends in VA! Can you say ROUGH?
¯\_(ツ)_/¯ said:
759NRNG said:
perhaps a fork assembly from a newer Kaw with discs wouldn't be a bad way to spend winterin the grosh........
That would make it more useable... but useable isn't really the point. It's still going to get 20mpg, on non-ethanol gas, and burn lots of oil. It's still going to be a noodle with bouncy suspension and an incredibly violent powerband. I don't really want to improve it, because I like how it is now- that just means that commuting on it isn't much of an option, which is fine. It's a death machine from a different era, not daily transportation.
It does not require major surgery to improve the handling on these bikes. Unsure if I posted this before, but it’s well worth the read-
https://www.returnofthecaferacers.com/yamaha-motorcycle-cafe-racer/taming-kawasaki-500-triple/
New fork tubes and upper bushings to replace the ancient clunking ones! Remove and drain:
Disassemble:
Looks like I found why the one side was leaking:
The lower bushings apparently never go bad so you're expected to reuse them. That means drilling out rivets and then, according to the guy I talked to, epoxying them to the new tubes. I drilled and tapped and put set screws in there too since the epoxy thing seems a little wimpy. I only took a picture once everything was back together with the epoxy curing because the entire process was really fiddly and annoying:
Once that's cured and my new fork seals get here I can put them back together.
Put the bushings on the tubes, the tubes in the legs, and the new seals over top:
Reinstalled and filled with 230ccs of the finest fork oil that I happened to have laying around:
And buttoned everything up:
They feel good just bouncing on them- I'm tempted to ride it but it's pretty salty out there and I really don't want it to rust.
In reply to ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ :
Are you planning to put tuned pipes on it?
Love that H2! I heard about one, maybe early 80's, named H Too Much, that was ridin' with a group of modded crotch-rockets. A good friend of mine talked to him at Suffolk Raceway (before they closed 
) Told him "he kept up with 'em, but he sure had'a work at it!!!" If I remember right he had port work by Paul Gast (Fast by Gast)
In reply to Recon1342 :
No- this one is so close to original that I don't want to modify it if I can avoid it. I think some day I might scratch the modification itch with another one, but I'd start with one that has already been messed with- or maybe just put one of these engines in a newer sportbike chassis...
I went for a ride on this thing today- I was a little nervous about trying to start it, but it fired up on the second kick and settled into a nice idle as if it had been sitting for four days instead of four months. Still awesome. Still scary.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯ said:
In reply to Recon1342 :
or maybe just put one of these engines in a newer sportbike chassis...
I will subscribe to that build thread!
I've only rode my old 500. My friend that raced 'em in the early 80's went from a 'Zuki 500 to the 500 triple, for a bit more speed. Then built a 750 triple. After first test ride he said " ya figure you expect about what the difference between a 500 and and a 750 would be; but DAMB! THAT's FAST!
Hi great looking bike I am in final stages of the same bike . Problem I have is no spark new coil new pick up new lake wood box set air gap . can you tell me how you used the led for light test thanks phil grat job
In reply to philip :
Sure- it's a small LED wired straight to the pickup coil, so it lights up when the pickup generates a signal. An oscilloscope would be a better way of doing it, but if you're using a light just make sure it lights up with very low and brief voltage, and put the positive lead to the signal wire and the ground to the ground wire of the pickup.
Nijat1
New Reader
4/26/20 4:52 p.m.
Hey bro, I liked your post so much that I decided to sign up to comment. I bought a 74 H1 that I restored 3 years ago. I ended up making it road worthy and decided to sell it because I thought the running costs are ridiculous, so i bought an mr2 from the money I made selling that bike, and i enjoy that car, but, recently after months of watching youtube vids, lo and behold.... I got into an auction from Wisconsin and purchased another H1, a 1972 H1. The engine is also siezed, and she's definetly a fixxer upper. I fortunately dont have to deal with cdi because Appearently in 72, in the beginning they decided to put points instead because of the spark issues the early cdi's had.
We'll see how it goes...
You look around my age, I'm 24, and to me these one of the most fun machines ever made, i wish more people in our age group appreciated them. I love how you documented the journey. Makes me anxious to start on mine sooner.
Fortunately, I have a 2018 Z900rs, if err..... I get impatient. 
Glad to have you on the forum, you should definitely make a thread for your bike! Funny that you also have an MR2, I'm on my... 4th MR2 I think? Great cars.
I think the reason you don't see more younger people with these bikes is the same reason you don't see them with muscle cars- cost! The price of the base bike, plus parts, is several multiples of what you'd pay for an 80s or 90s bike so it's hard to justify once as a project unless you can find a deal like the one you just picked up, or my bike at the beginning of this thread.
Since you mentioned selling your first one, this is probably a good time to mention that I'm moving towards selling this bike- I've had my fun with it, and the unfortunate reality is that I can't afford to live all of my vehicular dreams at once, so it's probably close to time to move on. Maybe I'll have another some day.
Nijat1
New Reader
4/27/20 3:31 p.m.
