Kawi2strokes.com Forum

Continuing with the front end, we put this together in the '80's first, and it worked well then, so I'll start with this. It's mostly H2, but a few mods. Some of the regular guys have seen this B4, but I am just going for continuity.

'Hyperlite' discs,(basically, cast iron) about 70/80 thou. narrower than Kawasaki's stainless, noisy and 'slippery when wet' originals. So we machined the inner face of the back Caliper half .080 narrower, so the pads are in a standard relationship to the disc. Stainless spokes, and a 2.15 'Akront' front rim. The tyre/tire is a Dunlop TT-100 in a softer compound. Venhill braided hoses, black vinyl coated for that original look, the good thing with these is you can mount them where you like for clearance and movement, and then tighten the ends when they are in the right place. Neat fittings, too. Turning a L/H Caliper into a right has been covered a few times on the Forum, and running the lines straight to the Caliper is also easy. We did this in the '80's so I hope I am not being too casual in description....we will see when we try the first few stops!! ( I had the discs gold zinced, and we thought at the time, "that'll Stop first time you use it!!) I could have gone the single GPX caliper route, but I had these parts, and they seemed to work back then! Plus, we all have our own definition of what a modern day Kawasaki Triple build is, and I am not anticipating too much trouble in the brake department.....and I am a big fan of that big effective rear brake, too!! The black tape let's me know I have the correct amount and type of fork oil in place, racing requirement from scrutineering in the old days. New bolts and bits from RestorationDecals/Diablo in Canada, who have always been Good for the old Kawasaki cause. We will go upstairs next, and it has taken me a lot of time and effort to get the original look with the Tach./Speedo combination, but it is worth it in the sense I had a new one of these in '72.

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"One day, your life will flash before your eyes. Make sure it's worth watching." : anon.

Coming along nicely Rod, which Venhill kit did you use mate, I'm thinking of going this way as well.

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Cheers Baz.
“I refuse to answer that question on the grounds that I don't know the answer”

1973 H2-A
2000 F650GS BMW

http://www.kenma.com.au/brake_hoses.html
Give these guys a call, Baz. I carefully measured the lines allowing for total extension of the forks, etc. and they fit like a glove. You can give them the measurements for three hoses, my top hose is only about 20cm long, given the short flat bars. Only took a week or two to have them made and delivered. I'll put up a pic. of the top hose a bit later.

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"One day, your life will flash before your eyes. Make sure it's worth watching." : anon.

I love watching these. Good job - more pics and thanks.

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This is true. Where I grew up the hills were so steep and long, when your ball rolled down the hill you just said "screw it"...

Yeah I have that place in favourites, I'll give them a call and see how much it will cost, I am thinking of not using the splitter and just having the the two hoses, I just want to get rid of the tube at the end and have the hose go straight to the caliper.

Thanks Rod.

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Cheers Baz.
“I refuse to answer that question on the grounds that I don't know the answer”

1973 H2-A
2000 F650GS BMW

You only need to remove the "olive" that the metal line fitting butts up against, in the caliper opening, and then you can use a standard banjo bolt. (for Baz.)
Here is a Pic. of the top hose and fittings, tidy fit, but not a lot of room in there!

Cheap Chinese indicators, they are unobtrusive, (unless they are working!), I never did like the HUGE turn indicators they put on bikes back then, these will do. The headlight is a standard auto sealed beam, we ran these back in the day with no ill effect, probably for only short periods, and I can't actually remember the last time I rode at night.....! The head light brackets I picked up in the '80's, I have never seen them anywhere else, but they look tidy and they do the job. I gave away the originals years ago to someone who was doing a H2 resto. before the internet was a thing....! The master cylinder is a 5/8ths Generic, and I found some dog-leg levers I can use, thinking more about the clutch side :-


Because of the narrow original Kawa. flat bars, I routed the clutch cable so it is free and easy, before we hook it up at the other end, not much room in there for it, and I like to check the little things. The clutch cable is from an S2 350, and is shorter than a H2 cable...very hard to find an original short H2 cable.
I'll be back in a week or so, Holiday on Kangaroo Island, no phones, internet - and TV and Clocks are completely optional....serious R&R! Thanks for listening!

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"One day, your life will flash before your eyes. Make sure it's worth watching." : anon.

Kangaroo Island, nice, would love to get there one day, have fun.

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Cheers Baz.
“I refuse to answer that question on the grounds that I don't know the answer”

1973 H2-A
2000 F650GS BMW

...On to the engine now, and a question for the Electrical gurus....... Due to age, storage, etc. etc. the projections on the front and rear of the Signal Generator I have are not in perfect alignment, the difference is quite visible, perhaps 1/16th". Can I clean them up, and realign them.......is the signal picked up from the front projection, or the rear, or somewhere in the middle, like an average?? I have advanced, marginally, the location of the pin which secures the S.G. rotor to the Rotor, as I am using a Nev. Lush retard ignition system and that will give more timing flexibility. Any thoughts out there on this one...?? (haven't seen this on the forums before!)

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"One day, your life will flash before your eyes. Make sure it's worth watching." : anon.

The magnetic strength and the clearance effects when the signal is sent. No real worries, as you can set each pick up separately. A timing light is a must as you probably know.

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Twist the throttle, tilt the horizon, and have a great time. What triples are all about...........

Thanks John, understand that.... the mis-alignment of the projections front and back is what is concerning me for static set-up...can I file them to have them the same, there is about 1/16th" difference. (O.K. about .030" or so.)

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"One day, your life will flash before your eyes. Make sure it's worth watching." : anon.