1971 Kawasaki H1A 500 Rebuild

[vwpieces]

Had this bike for a LONG time, never rode it or had it running. Sorrry there are no before pics but I am still not sure how or why i started fixing it up. I just ended up all apart on the garage floor a few months ago.

After it was apart I glassbeaded most of the parts & first batch was base clear silver. Diamond silver metallic like 83 GTI. Most of the chrome is shot & got silver paint.










Got some outer aluminum rims to replace the rusty chrome steel. Buchanan Spoke punche the holes to suit my hubs & nipples. Laced & trued them myself.

[vwpieces]

Engine was taken apart & all new bearings in the trans. Heads & cylinders glass beaded, honed w/ a ball hone. NOS 0.020 pistons & rings, new seals.











Buffed the stainless fenders.

[vwpieces]

Frame sandblasted






Frame painted with Rust Bullet black top coat & some other parts base clear black.

[vwpieces]

Just last week I am finally putting parts back onto it.
Meters were dismantled & cleaned. Excellent condition for the age.
Tapered roller bearings in the headtube & bronze bushings in the trailing arm.
Yeah, Drum brakes Front & rear. NOS shoes sourced & installed, all new bearings in the hubs.
I have new upper slider tubes & now have rechromed lower fork tubes. Waiting for lower bushings to get forks done & on 2 wheels.
Rear section went together pretty easy. New reproduction rear shocks.
Trying to use as much chrome hardware as possible & stainless steel as secondary choice.

Assembly Day one



Day 2

[turbinepowered]

That looks incredible

I like it!

[vwpieces]

Thanks.

Since the engine pics I took off the top end again. Hand match ported the intakes to cylinders. Opened the intakes as much as possible & straightened the flow angle. Nothing done to prechambers but the exhaust ports were opened & straighteded alot. One exhaust port has horrible casting & prolly took more time than all the rest. Also have replated head bolts (tube nuts) for reassembly. I still have a New in the Box set of Factory Pipe Products chambers I bought 20yrs ago when I first got the bike. Originally 15T/45T but I sourced a PBI aluminum rear sprocket in 47T. That will be fun.

[GoRacers]

Awesome. I'd love to do this to my old bike someday. All the chrome looks like ass, and the paint is even worse.

Can't wait to see more progress.

[turbinepowered]

Awesome. I'd love to do this to my old bike someday. All the chrome looks like ass, and the paint is even worse.

Can't wait to see more progress.

I like the stainless far more than I like the chrome.

[vwpieces]

I like the stainless far more than I like the chrome.

Know where to get the ISO or JIS Fine thread in M10 or M12?

[turbinepowered]

Know where to get the ISO or JIS Fine thread in M10 or M12?

Unfortunately, I do not.

[Paul@VWvortex]

Wow what a great looking bike!

[Markg813]

wished i could of seen the before photos! But this thing is coming together nicely!

[freedomgli]

I love Kawi 2-stroke triples and am pleased to see another one resurrected from the dead. Looking great so far.

[Mk1Racer]

First off, nice job!

I love Kawi 2-stroke triples and am pleased to see another one resurrected from the dead. Looking great so far.

What's to love about these things? Horrible brakes, horrible handling, and VERY peeky power. There's a reason that the 750 version is known as the Widow Maker. I rode a 500 version back in the day (borrowed, not mine). A friend's older brother almost killed himself on a 750 version.

I mean, they're cool from a nostalgia standpoint, but as an actual bike that you would ride, they suck. And the trans pattern was goofy. Most bikes are 1N234... these things were N12345.

[freedomgli]

What's to love about these things?

Dude. 2-stroke. End of story.

Horrible brakes, horrible handling

Both are easily improved. Personally, I like the motor more than the bike that surrounds it. One day I'd love a 500 or 750 triple stuffed into a more modern ZXR400 or ZX-7R chassis to make a 1990s era GP replica.

VERY peeky power.

That's part of the fun. They shine when you're fully committed. And they're no more peaky than so many 2-stroke single cylinder motox bikes with aftermarket race pipes. Granted, asphalt's higher coefficient of friction means the front end wants to come up even more so than a motox bike on dirt (where wheel spin mutes some of the aggression) but it's not as scary or challenging as some people make it out to be.

There's a reason that the 750 version is known as the Widow Maker.

The legend adds to the allure. And they're no more a widow maker than today's Yamaha R1 or Suzuki GSX-R1k. The fact is fast bikes have always attracted both skilled aggressive riders and those with more bravado than talent.

I mean, they're cool from a nostalgia standpoint, but as an actual bike that you would ride, they suck.

Few old bikes are used for putting on serious miles or for doing the workday commute. Rather, they are most often enjoyed in short bursts to get the blood pumping a but faster and to put a smile on your face.

[vwpieces]

No balls.

I intend on riding it.

It was the fastest 1/4mi production bike in '71. My '85 ZL900 Eliminator was the fastest 1/4mi production bike in 85. Put many miles on the ZL & it didn't like to do anything but go straight.


I drive a 68 bus, ONE Ton, 4 wheel drum, 53hp. It doesn't like to GO or Stop. But I've owned & driven a bus for 25 years.

[vwpieces]

Good weekend & had 2 solid days on the bike. Assembly going well.

It's on 2 wheels & I put the engine in tonight. Easier to do by myself before the P&C's go back on.
Damn Spitfire front 100/90-19 is too big. Learned they run 3/10in wider than normal. Had some fun making fender fit. Also learned the horn has M7 bolt to it's mounting bracket, drill, tap, M6 helicoil... fixed. Now it has a stainless bolt. Have a large order coming from repop decals, cables, seat cover, misc hardware & cables. I am on Vacation in 2 weeks & want to have everything at my door by then. Also got NOS chrome lower handlebar mounts & an NOS headlight bucket. Already had the NOS trimring so it would not be right to leave that out.












Haha, 2 more weeks, then I can put unlimited time & attention finishing it up.

[Mk1Racer]

Dude. 2-stroke. End of story.


Both are easily improved. Personally, I like the motor more than the bike that surrounds it. One day I'd love a 500 or 750 triple stuffed into a more modern ZXR400 or ZX-7R chassis to make a 1990s era GP replica.


That's part of the fun. They shine when you're fully committed. And they're no more peaky than so many 2-stroke single cylinder motox bikes with aftermarket race pipes. Granted, asphalt's higher coefficient of friction means the front end wants to come up even more so than a motox bike on dirt (where wheel spin mutes some of the aggression) but it's not as scary or challenging as some people make it out to be.


The legend adds to the allure. And they're no more a widow maker than today's Yamaha R1 or Suzuki GSX-R1k. The fact is fast bikes have always attracted both skilled aggressive riders and those with more bravado than talent.


Few old bikes are used for putting on serious miles or for doing the workday commute. Rather, they are most often enjoyed in short bursts to get the blood pumping a but faster and to put a smile on your face.

Have you ever actually ridden one of these things? They did upgrade a disc/drum brake setup, but I don't see how you're going to improve the handling of the chassis w/o significant work. Not exactly what I'd call an 'easy' improvement. Granted, tire technology has come a long way in 40 years.

The issue w/ comparing an H2 750 triple to today's R1's/Ninjas/GSXR's, is that you have to look at them in context. Race-reps have been around for quite some time now. People have had the chance to 'grow into' the top dogs. I doubt many people buy a R1/ZX11/GSXR1K w/o having previously ridden a smaller displacement race-rep. In the early 70's, there was nothing like these bikes, in terms of power, so they caught a lot of people off guard. That, coupled w/ crappy brakes/tires/handling made for a bad situation.

Yes, it's a cool project, and a piece of history, but having seen these things in their prime, they hold no allure for me. They're not fast by today's standards. For a fun, 70's 2-stroke? I'll take a nicely massaged RD-350. 45-50hp, <350 lbs, f/r disc, 6-speed trans, and a chassis that actually handled.

No balls.

I intend on riding it.

It was the fastest 1/4mi production bike in '71. My '85 ZL900 Eliminator was the fastest 1/4mi production bike in 85. Put many miles on the ZL & it didn't like to do anything but go straight.


I drive a 68 bus, ONE Ton, 4 wheel drum, 53hp. It doesn't like to GO or Stop. But I've owned & driven a bus for 25 years.

I thought the VMax had the fastest 1/4 mile time in '85 w/ a 10.33?

[Markg813]

Can't wait to see this thing finished Nice work thus far!

[vwpieces]

Another good weekend. Worked on the controls; Made a reproduction clutch perch use an original NOS lever. Wet sanded & polished the original brake lever. Worked on the left control housing, took apart the never used signal switch, cleaned the contacts & lubed w/ Bosch electrical grease. Fitted the throttle & choke housing, greased that up well. Repop grips, grey cables...

Oh, NOS headlight housing from Vintage Kawasaki. Good price on that, excellent packing from Canada & FAST shipping, Thanks Andy. Fitted the NOS lens with replaceable bulb. F' those $125+ ebay sealed beams & the stupid people that buy them. My bulbs cost $3.00 now. Repop signals (Norway) are mounted & have NOS original lenses installed, still available from Kawi & under $5ea.

Cleaned up the CDI boxes & look pretty good, saving most of the CAD plating (0000 steelwool & Kroil). Fixed some wires on the larger one. Did it right, after the pics were taken. Added some heatshrink to the bundle so they didn't get cut again. My heat shield was missing so I got one from repop decals on the last order. Actually pretty nice but the Oval cutout seems to be off. Got a deal on NOS retaining clips for the cover a while back.

Turd polishing 101: Freeze it first! Gotta admit the original paint on the tank cleaned up better than expected. Only used elbow grease & Mothers wax w/ cleaners. There are rust pimples in the paint, many small blisters in the decals but gotta admit from 5ft it look pretty good. I have Evaporust in it now. But it was pretty darn clean inside considering it's life.

OK, pics... not many & not the best but here they are.

[vwpieces]

2 more day & I am on vacation for 2 weeks. If all goes well it will be running in that time.

[Mk1Racer]

Looks good, that's for sure. Nice work.

[spockcat]

Keep building. I had a '73 H1 I bought in my senior year of high school very much like this one except with cafe bars and expansion chambers. It was a lot of bike for a relatively new rider. Only dumped it once one night on an unfamiliar dark road when I ran out of pavement.

[vwpieces]

I have 4 H1F 1975 purchased together as basket cases. Have 2 titles & can easily make 2 nice bikes from it. Next project after the '71 is finished.



@ the shop now. Gave the tank final cleaning, installed P&C's, heads. Rebuilt carbs.



I also have 2 sets of NOS chambers. Factory Pipe Products, bought these new 20 years ago when I first bought the '71. & got a set of Fast by Gast with the H1F pile.

[Mtl-Marc]

Where did you get these air horns/filters?

[vwpieces]

Bought them on eBay over 15 years ago.

[vwpieces]

Been a very rough first week of vacation. Haven't fell asleep under a car in 10yrs but did on Saturday.
Kept plugging away in LONG shifts.

IT"S DONE!!!!

[irishmpls_2]

Where's the wheelie video?!

Awesome work.

[vwpieces]

OK hardly done... Many things need to be adjusted, tuned, taken back apart. New seat cover still hasn't arrived. LED flasher not installed, carbs are way out. Left fork needs to be taken apart to replace a couple things that arrived late. Countless things todo yet.

I am insured as of yesterday, $75/yr for good liability but basic coverage. Need a plate & sticker.

[vwpieces]

Where's the wheelie video?!

Awesome work.

Thanks,

Pilot circuit needs some tuning, falls on it's face as soon as it starts to move. I have a variety of jets just need to get off the computer & get to the shop.

[irishmpls_2]

Thanks,

Pilot circuit needs some tuning, falls on it's face as soon as it starts to move. I have a variety of jets just need to get off the computer & get to the shop.

Easier said than done sometimes, I know.

[spockcat]

Beautiful. Excellent work. I'd love to ride one of those things again.

[disenfranchised]

Love it! Beautiful work!

[sunofernest]

Great job

[Mk1Racer]

Most excellent!