Posts Tagged ‘1974’

One thing that makes any resto look good is new plastics and polished aluminium forks. I had to put the plastics in place so it starts to look like a bike …

This one could be a bit of a challenge, to restore and to ride. For now it is placed against the wall of the garage waiting its turn.

THERE’S NO doubt about it. The Japanese have been the most instrumental power in bringing the world of small-bore off-road racing to its present level in the United States. Even way back when Yamaha Trailmaster 80s and Honda S90s were bouncing their semi-modified selves around the boonies, things were beginning to take shape. The adage that there is strength in numbers held true once again when, due to the enormous number of these trail bikes showing up at a given race, it wasn’t rare to see both an 80cc class and one for the 90s.

Then along came the Hodakas. First a four-speed 90 and then a five-speed 100. It wasn’t long before the bigger Japanese manufacturers bored their bikes out to 100 and added another gear in the transmission. As these little screamers buzzed their over-stressed guts out week-end after weekend, the European distributors took notice of the tremendous market that was being created. The European machinery was better. It was not much more reliable than the Oriental stuff, but was faster and handled better. Read the rest of this entry »

POKER, IF YOU don’t already know, is a game of both patience and action. Players are dealt cards, and play them out, bidding according to their value and the odds of someone else having something better. Poker is also a game that should  be familiar to just about every motorcyclist.

As a motorcyclist, and therefore always a potential purchaser, you are dealt a new hand each year, by the motorcycle manufacturers, in the form of new and (hopefully) better models. This is true whether you are a street biker buyer or an off-roader.

The Japanese are the most notorious for dealing out fancy hands. The Europeans change little, if anything, from year to year. but the Big Four? WOW!

Read the rest of this entry »

A very nice 1974 Suzuki TM250 became available which is an active racer that has been well maintained and even has had a few bonus bits. The good thing about active race bikes is you know they can hit the track ok and most riders really look after their race bikes and fix any defects as they occur, a few scratches are normal and at least then  I am happy to add a few more  as well.

It is described as:

• There is a dent in the tank on the left side with some paint flaking off,
• Tank is rust free inside,
• Frame has been repainted, has a few race scratches and rub marks,
• Motor is bore to 1st over,
• New side panels,
• Renthal bars,
• New Renthal grips,
• Motion pro throttle,
• Akront rims,
• Good tyres,
• Works gripper seat,
• Works Shocks,
• New front fork tubes with cartridge emulators,
• Circle F pipe (just repacked)
• Just add fuel and race.
• ……

Well, that meant I had to buy it and I am currently arranging transport to Perth and for the tank to be repaired and repainted over the next month or so.

1974 Suzuki TM250

1974 Suzuki TM250

The 1974 Kawasaki KX125 has been reassembled ready for testing. Ater adding some fuel it has fired up and has a crisp throttle response, very nice. Now just need some cooler weather and a track test.

Some months back I made a general enquiry about some vmx parts by phone to a professional motorcycle mechanic in the USA and he happened to mention that an old 1974 Kawasaki KX125 just came his way and would I be interested? These are very rare and the few KX in use seem to be never offered for sale as people know they will not be able to replace them easily.

We made a deal and that included him pulling the bike down into components and completely refurbishing everything and making sure it was race tuned to hit the track as well.

The frame was stripped and repainted, all the bike parts cleaned, replated, painted or replaced as required, seals replaced, motor overhauled, new tyres etc, etc, the full monty….

The overhauled components would then be shipped to me to rebuild the bike, they have now arrived…. some assembly required.

KX125 parts coming back together

Very Nice Kawasaki KX125 Engine

Those Rotary Valve Carb Configurations Look Interesting

Beautiful Paint Job on This KX125 Tank

LESSON : Professionals do very good work and it saves a hell of a lot of time and errors.

Motocross Action Magazine did a dirt bike test on the Yamaha MX360 in 74 which makes an interesting read if you own , intend to own/race or restore one of these yellow racers as we do:

—–

“Used to know this dude that lived out in the middle of a big swamp in south Georgia down amongst the cotton mouths, red ants and chig­gers. He was what we used to call a good ol’ boy—made downright ex­cellent home brew he called “Mother’s Milk” and had this big, mangy dog he just called “Yaller.” Which made sense, because he was. Read the rest of this entry »

Dirk Bike magazine did a review of the 1974 Kawasaki KX125 when it came out and the text of their article is here for interest as it is one of the bikes we are looking to restore.

GREEN MUSCLE Machine

Fastest unfinished package in the Klass

1974 KAWASAKI KX125 SPEED FREAK

Kawasaki really blew it. Seriously blew it. Last year, Kawasaki was impressive. They had Brad Lackey, Jimmy Weinert, Peter Lamppu and Jim Cooke riding for them. It was all paying off. Weinert drowned the Europeans in the mud at the Houston Trans-AMA. Lamppu had third place in the National motocross open class. Wyman Priddy had tenth place. Jimmy took fourth nationally with his 250.

With a little road show and some publicity, Kawasaki could have sold eight jillion motocrossers. But they didn’t, because they didn’t have any. And if they had brought out this bike, this little KX 125 we’ve been testing, back then .. well, they’d be more common than crushed beer cans at the track on Sundays. Because this is a really neat little bike. Read the rest of this entry »

TM400

The Suzuki TM400 big bore bikes managed to scare everyone who rode them in the early 70′s with their brutal power and when I came across this 1974 TM400 it had already been 90% restored so I bought it to add to the collection.

It only needs some minor work required to finish such as respray the tank, add new decals and replate some of the fittings.

I dont intend racing it as I have the YZ250B/360B bikes for that although if you were to use it to ride the track rather than race hard it would probably be some fun.

This can be finished over the next few months at leisure.

TM400 Engine