Project KH500 triple resto....

With some advise from Gos....purchased this little trinket today...

This will be another restoration project to go with the Z1R mk11 and GPZ750turbo.

The story so far.

These pics are after a quick bath..... if any one knows Bundy? its famous for its red soil,and the bike was covered in it.

The guy I bought it from is the second owner...he purchased it in 1983,rode it for a few years then parked it.
Before he stored it...he soaked the bike with wd40 all over and placed a cover on it.
He then said the cover had come off a few years back and didn't realize.

But then went on to say .... he regularly took out the plugs and feed some oil to the cylinders...hence why its not ceased.

Anyhow...here it is in all its glory.















If all goes to plan...I should end up with something like this...lots of work to do though....

well its all there mate good score methinks. A bit more work than the MkII but all the important things are there....and those chambers do look like old Hanco chambers for sure

Will be watching this resto thread with much interest

These things must be making a comeback..........(Whadya reckon Kev )

Goodluck with the resto mate.
If your previous handy work on the others is any indication, I'm sure this one will look like it just rolled of the showroom floor.

Thanks for the complement maddog..

What can you tell me about Hanco chambers Gos?
Don't think the "drag bars" are standard issue?

Handlebars deffo not standard,bout 6" too low.
All there Gos barring standard pipes.If you want a set of original 500 pipes,(thats proper ridgydidge 500 pipes,not 400/350) you better put your family on fleabay.

Better throw your house in as a sweetener!!

I'd clean up the chambers and forget about the originals.Nice buy.......how much tho??????

Hey maddog.....for those in the know they never went away.

Lots of potential, should come up sweet

These things must be making a comeback..........(Whadya reckon Kev )

They certainly are, twins.

That's a nice little pick up you got yourself there Dave I'll be watching your resto with a great deal of interest as you work your magic on this little beauty and bring it back to its former glory.

FWIW, I just checked my KH500 and it has exactly the same handlebars as yours, but my owners manual shows the raised type (as shown in your last photo).

Good pickup Dave good to see you getting your retirment funds sorted been wondering when you were going to pop up with another project ,good luck with the rebuild and we will look forward to the pics

It may not be ridgey didge, but I like the look of the flat bars
Brother had an old Z650 back in the day, pretty sure it had a set of clip ons on it when he bought it off one of his mates.
Don't know if its a no no, or frowned upon but it looked the biz if you ask me

The only no no IMHO is the owner building the bike the way other people think it should be done!!

....The only no no IMHO is the owner building the bike the way other people think it should be done!! .....

agree 100%.

Flat bars not standard but a pretty common mod back in the day - they did it to get some more weight over the front-end ! nobody ever had problems with unwanted wheelies.....ever...

Dave - Hanco were a mob from Brisbane that made all sorts of chambers for just about any decent 2-banger you can think of. I have 1 set of Hanco pipes for the H2 here, as well as a few other types. They are a good streetable chamber - you do need to make sure the jetting is sorted for them but normally it just requires 1 or 2 sizes up on the main and maybe lift the needle 1 clip position. This is where you would start with the jetting anyway.

Those pipes look like they will clean up OK - the baffles will probably need all the mouse shit removed before you kick it in the guts

You can buy new chrome expansion chambers from the UK - these really look the goods and probably cost less than any set of 2nd-hand OEM pipes you would find. For a resto - chrome pipes would look excellent.

The only no no IMHO is the owner building the bike the way other people think it should be done!!

I don't know if your having a bit of a dig there or not ?...Stuzrx

Thanks Gos...I may sand blast and repaint the chambers...depends on the budget.

Here's day 1's effort....



Removing the clutch cover revealed immaculate inners.
When the carbs were removed...I also, from what I could see,found the pistons to be just as tidy.



Had a good find under the seat...the original Kawasaki service book and owners name.





Some strange going on's here....the numbers match the service book.
The ID plate on the bike says 1975....the service book says 1976...she must have sat for 2 years before being sold in 1978.

it didnt go far from home, brisk sales was a larger dealer at the time, they were at stones corner, they closed around the mid 80s from memory.