Kawi2strokes.com Forum

If you don't remember I put a 74 H1 engine on a GT550 chassis and did a monoshock conversion. This is what it looks like today



I've put some miles on her. Lots of riding. Mostly to work and back but I have been on a couple long rides with some V twin heads.

I haven't been to this forum in quite some time. But this forum really helped the project through many difficulties.

I have picture albums compiled of what you would find if you dug through the old posts. This is the engine and monoshock swap https://imgur.com/a/hXroV and this is the crank rebuild album https://imgur.com/a/dzYrn

Last year I saved up money and bought a GSXR1000... After loosing my custom kickstand on a long ride I pretty much left the H1 in the garage most of the summer. This winter I want to put some work into the old H1 and have it ready for summer.

I really love everything about it including the "look" it has. I just don't feel it is tuned very well. And when I say that I am not talking about the carbs. They were painstakingly made perfect LOL. These old pipes have patches, have been modified, and the transition point from chamber to silencer is rotted out. So I would need to have someone in the US receive my old pipes and make new ones from them. I hope that's not a dying art.

Also I really think my stator sucks. I have a modern lakewood CDI, but my stator was pretty rough when I got it. Especially the pick ups. I wondered if anyone made a modernized replacement.

I think that is what I am wanting to do over the winter is new pipes and fixing up the ignition system. Oh and make another kickstand

Now that is different, better than one of those "bobber" things, for mine!!

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

Not really dying, but very expensive. If new production chambers go for $500-$800, you can figure at least double that for custom made chambers, maybe more. I've made them in the past, and it's very labor intensive to make one custom set. (not looking for that job now)

Also, if you're not happy with your performance now, copying those chambers may not be the best thing to do. It seems like you're talking about taking the motorcycle to a custom exhaust builder for him to fit new pipes of some specification you choose, to that motorcycle.

That motorcycle being what it is, I'd think your best bet would be to get a halfway decent set of Dencos and modify them to fit like you did with your original set. As long as your modifications don't alter the tuning, they won't hold you back performance-wise.


I trust you mean Lakeland. If your stator parts are working and you're not getting problems like hard starting or intermittent spark, you should probably work with what you have. If I needed a replacement pickup and no one here had one to sell, I'd try eBay.

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If it surges, that's normal, upshift.

On the pipes I really just made one cut each, rotated the center one, while angling them all up just a hair. But it is the transition from chamber to silencer being rotted out that makes me believe they are part of the problem. I do have a couple really good welding shops in my area.

On the stator at one point the center part crashed into the pickups. Now for years later there is always magnetic metal shavings that I can't get rid of. I may just focus on new pickups and cleaning.

Either way I'm just thinking of what I want to do to it over the winter. I always have several projects for the winter. I also picked up a 1979 YZ 80 and rebuilt that thing last summer.

I took the H1 on a 150+ mile ride with some guys and the welds on my custom kickstand vibrated loose. We stopped at one of the final stops and I looked down and it was just gone LOL.

I took it to many local bike nights and met some cool people. I met these 2 brothers, both serious collectors. One collects Triumphs and the other collects Bultacos and other vintage Spanish 2 strokes. Here is one I got a picture of.



Never a boring bike night when you pull up on an H1.

Or a GT550, apparently.

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If it surges, that's normal, upshift.