Spent the day cleaning up my latest score. A 1972 Kawasaki MT1 in immaculate original condition. When I bought it the seller told me it hadn't run since the 1970s. The original owner supposedly bought it for his wife and she rode it around the yard a few times and dumped it and then never rode it again. It then sat in a garage for 43 years with a tarp over it.
The guy I got it from tried half-heartedly to get it running but quickly gave up. He wasn't very mechanically-inclined though because these aren't that difficult to work on, especially if you have a treasure trove of parts like I have accumulated over the years. The seller claimed it still had the same gas in the tank from 1972 and I believe it! It was a dark rust brown and smelled like crap. There was a mixture of varnish and rust left in the tank and carburetor. Other than that the bike was in excellent shape right down to the original tires which look brand-new.
I filled the tank with Evapo-Rust and several hundred Daisy BBs and let it sit for a few hours making sure to shake it up every half hour or so with the BBs in it to help remove the minor rust it had in the tank. After draining it, the tank looks brand-new inside. I soaked the carb in carb cleaner for a few days and cleaned it up. Replaced the needle & seat, the air & idle needle adjusters and springs and all the gaskets and re-adjusted everything.
The only other things I changed was the gear box oil, the fuel hose which was brittle from the years of sitting and I replaced the rear shocks with heavier duty units. I still have the original shocks I can put back on if I decide to make this a show bike (which I probably will). I like to get them running 100% first though.
I installed a new NGK spark plug and filled the freshly-cleaned fuel tank with 93 octane gas and the injector tank with Bel-Ray 2-stroke oil. The engine fired right up on the third kick. I took it out around the block a few times while tuning the carb to perfection. The thing runs great. Very low mileage bike with a nice tight engine. Like riding a brand-new one in 1972. Another pristine pony for the stable!
The guy I got it from tried half-heartedly to get it running but quickly gave up. He wasn't very mechanically-inclined though because these aren't that difficult to work on, especially if you have a treasure trove of parts like I have accumulated over the years. The seller claimed it still had the same gas in the tank from 1972 and I believe it! It was a dark rust brown and smelled like crap. There was a mixture of varnish and rust left in the tank and carburetor. Other than that the bike was in excellent shape right down to the original tires which look brand-new.
I filled the tank with Evapo-Rust and several hundred Daisy BBs and let it sit for a few hours making sure to shake it up every half hour or so with the BBs in it to help remove the minor rust it had in the tank. After draining it, the tank looks brand-new inside. I soaked the carb in carb cleaner for a few days and cleaned it up. Replaced the needle & seat, the air & idle needle adjusters and springs and all the gaskets and re-adjusted everything.
The only other things I changed was the gear box oil, the fuel hose which was brittle from the years of sitting and I replaced the rear shocks with heavier duty units. I still have the original shocks I can put back on if I decide to make this a show bike (which I probably will). I like to get them running 100% first though.
I installed a new NGK spark plug and filled the freshly-cleaned fuel tank with 93 octane gas and the injector tank with Bel-Ray 2-stroke oil. The engine fired right up on the third kick. I took it out around the block a few times while tuning the carb to perfection. The thing runs great. Very low mileage bike with a nice tight engine. Like riding a brand-new one in 1972. Another pristine pony for the stable!
