Project Kawsaki: One Step Closer

Having gone a bit quiet on the KH125 front I thought I should update what I have been up to. I went to a bike show with my Dad armed with a wallet full of notes and a shopping list. The main thing for me was to buy replacement washers, screws, bolts, and nuts for the little Kwakka. The first stand I walked up to was the cheapest and had a great selection of stainless fasteners so I bought plenty of stuff.

I painted the underside of my replacement seat with black hammerite after I had gone over it with a wire brush as there was a little bit of surface corrosion that was a bit unsightly.

My replacement OEM parts finally arrived after waiting 4 weeks only to find that I had only been sent one side panel badge and one headlight bracket. After an email to the supplier I was told these are now out of stock and they can't get them again, it would have been nice to find that out 4 weeks earlier!

In the search for parts my Dad emailed me saying that he had seen a KH125 K series engine on Real Classic for £50 that was based in Scotland. I got in touch with the owner and agreed to buy it, the only snag was that the kick start shaft has broken on the tip. The engine came with a whole host of spares such as a replacement down pipe, oil tank, wiring loom, twist grip and other pieces. My old engine has a perfect kick start shaft so I will be fitting this to the replacement engine, the only problem is that I'll have the split the new motor.

Sheared kick start shaft.

My kick start still fits over the broken shaft so and I did turn it over when I got it, the engine seems to have quite good compression so I hope it's all ok when mounted in the bike.

Here is how the bike currently stands, I replaced the worn out pink shocks for two new chrome shocks and the horn has been replaced as well.

I need to fettle a few bits and pieces but it shouldn't be too long before the bike will be on the road. The paint work should be back with me around the end of February so by then I hope to have the engine fitted and the pieces that need re chroming sorted.