Kawi2strokes.com Forum

I just picked up a "barn-find" S2 that is 90% complete after being in storage for the last 20 years. It kicks over easily and the transmission oil was spotless so I'm hoping for a quick and easy refresh.

I've long admired Sanctuary-type restomods and think this would be a good candidate. Keep it visually in the 70s with modern brakes, suspension, and rubber.

I've settled on a rear wheel (4.5" wide) and modified swinger from a EX650 and forks/wheel (3.5" wide) from a Z750. Both models have matching wheels. It just so happens I have a Z750 that's getting a USD fork conversion so I have all that.

I am hoping to do everything in a way that is 100% reversible. One thing I'm kicking over which could not be undone is extra frame bracing/gussets. It's my understanding these frames can fatigue and crack after adding modern suspension.


Here she is.

One vote for keeping it stock-ish here, because the 350's are a sweet handling thing as they are. new shocks, sure; modern tires, definitely and looks like someone has already had a look at the brakes...... maybe an EX caliper mod, which is the way to go for the bigger Triples. As soon as you modify the frame, the value of the bike heads South, as you probably know. I have a 3.5" rim on my H2 and that is almost too big, a 4.5" rim is over-kill for a small bike, and it will upset the handling. Just my thoughts!

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

That's why I'm hesitant to do the bracing. The S2 will never be as sought after as its bigger brothers but it's still fairly collectable if original, which is why I really wanted it 100% reversible. I'll put all the original parts on a shelf and convert it back if I ever want to sell. My first impulse was USD forks but I think the RSUs off the Z750 won't stress the frame as much.

The 4.5" wheel was about the narrowest I could find that looks nice. If I'm going to ride it, it must have alloy wheels and tubeless tires. I think a 140/70 is speced for this wheel.

All that said, it won't see a ton of miles since my daily ride is the Z and I'm also building a ground up custom based off a ZG1000 frame, 636 suspension, and an Aprilia V twin. That should be a real riot to ride and will steal it's fair share of miles.

The chambers look like late Wirges, so be aware they have some funky internal baffles inside the rear cones, and they can clog and cause problems.

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If it surges, that's normal, upshift.

Yes they are. They are in excellent condition, not a spec of rust, so I was dismayed to find the Wirges label, until I did more research and found Wirges are actually decent for the small bikes.

I haven't seen any way to test if the baffles are clogged?

BTW, I traded him a KZ750 twin that I had about $800 into. I think I did OK on that.

They're not the baffles you're used to, it's some extra sheet metal and perf tubes in the rear cone. They effectively turn the rear cone into a flat plate at the rear of the belly section, messing up the tuning as well as eventually clogging with no way to clean them. It's the early Wirges chambers with the much shorter belly section and no goofy extra baffling that are said to be decent on the small triples.

The Wirges catalog on the resource site shows a cutaway drawing of what I'm talking about.

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If it surges, that's normal, upshift.

That's unfortunate. So I can live with them and hope for the best, sell them and find something better, or cut them up and make them like the early pipes.

I think I'm scrapping the EX650 wheel idea. Older Katana's run 3.0/3.5 and will be much easier to fit and look pretty good, plus are inexpensive.