Good guys down at classic bikes, not cheap but honest and helpful, I love the sound of the Kawasaki triples, spine chilling!, really must get one one day. http://www.classicbikes.co.uk/
Triple 2 strokes, a recipe for lots of fun. This is my H1r 500, road Reg with no lights just the bare minimum.
Enjoy and watch out for the brakes ......they are rubbish, although the disc brake may be a tad better, wear some thick soled boots in case you have to put your feet down Here's mine.
I had a Suzuki Hustler up until 2 years ago, took it for an MOT, the tester said “that’s the best braking result I’ve ever seen from a twin leading shoe”, I said but it’s pathetic, he said “yes, they are”
This is my only 2 stroke now, it’s by far the most terrifying of all my bikes, not the power, a heady 8bhp, it’s the brakes!, the front only works up to 7mph, the rear although quite good has it’s operating lever on the WRONG side, in urgent braking situations I invariably hit the gear lever instead of the brake! Forward planning is key to riding these!.
I have the very same bike in my garage, I have owned my S2 350 since 1978 and love it when it hits 6,500 RPM. Epic.
Mate of mine had an S2 350. Was stolen but the police found it. Went to collect and it was just frame and crank cases up a side alley at the Elephant & Castle Apparently you could just swap out the barrels, pistons, heads and exhausts on a KH250 for the parts for an immediate stealth power boost. Another guy living at the same hostel as us bought either a 400 or 500 that wasn't running quite right. Took off the head to find a tennis ball in place of the centre piston, slit and pushed over gudgeon pin and turned 90 degrees to stop the con rod rattling against the totally knackered bore... how we laughed
sintered pads will help the wet braking and REPLACE the shocks! they were crap when new. I would go for a bit longer too. when needed replace the steering balls with roller bearings. My Triple was a '69 white H1 when I was in high school. Wheely a lot of fun..hahaha
Nostalgia can do funny things to your memory. I had a KH400, not much faster than my GT250. Also had a GT550, it used to eat up GT750's. Then I bought a Z1B, freshly rebuilt engine, 4 brand new exhausts. Felt fast as fook to 19 year old me, trouble was it struggled to do the 130 mph claimed for them. Not saying I wouldn't have any of them again, but I must have lost my rose tinted specs.
As a 250 riding relative newb to road riding (FS1E and then an XS250) a local dealer let me take a Z1R for a test ride... I practically shat myself
Kawasaki UK used to have test days where they took bikes to different dealers. I was 18 when I turned up at Freddie Mays Kawasaki in Cambridge, and took out a tuned Dunstall Z1R. Don't know what the spec was, but it had a custom paint job and a full fairing. Red lined it in every gear down the dual carriageway, and missed 2 junctions to get back to the shop.
My new toy has now arrived and is gorgeous.....couldn't wait to throw some gear on and take her for a spin.. It's early days and will take some brain re-calibration but it rides pretty much as legend has it even with modern tyre's (Bridgestone BT45's) and brake pads..Have to say on delivery, Will from Classic Bikes said braking was good........for one of these but you really have to squeeze hard to get it stopped and even then it a'int in no hurry. On start up the smell of 2-stroke and smoke is fab and it sounds like spanners going around in a cement mixer but as soon you get it out on the road and hit the power band it changes to screaming banshee mode accompanied by me laughing my head off . It tips into corners really quickly maybe because of narrow tyres but feels a little remote and if it goes you won't get it back so will have to dial it back a bit but all in it's just so much fun..Have put up a few pic's including one for DB..A classic bike deserves a classic bin..
