looky what i found. hint, its purple.

buried on cl was an ad "kawasaki s3, h2, h1- $3000.00". with, surprise! a phone#. had a face book link with pictures. out of the three i was only interested in the h2. left a message and surprise #2 the owner called me back. i meet up with him this morning at his warehouse where only the he had it stored. looked it over (yes the top end is partially apart but had the other cylinder and all three heads and hardware).
i asked him if he would consider selling only the h2. the seller mulled it over and said yes, for $1200.00. we settled on $800.00. loaded it up and headed over to his house to get the title. unfortunately the title had been filled out, dated and assigned to a new owner who never put the title in his name. hassle, but not unmanageable with some creative signatures and a official state affidavit. plus he busted another deuce because of it so i'm into the bike for $600.00.
yea its a bit of a mess. but it has the original air box, grab rail, chain oiler, good pipes with baffles intact, a tank that looks like its never had gas in it and, a dual disc front end which i hope is genuine period correct optional h2 parts.
and its a factory 75 purple h2!

Very nice! Keep us posted on your project. Purple was the ticket for an H2.
For $600 you can restore quite a bit w/o breaking the bank.

Nice Profit!!!!!!!!!!! Are you going to give the poor guy you bought it from a "small cut" just to show your appreciation?


http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Kawa...1417665?pt=US_motorcycles&hash=item4cff572cc1

always feels good to take someone.

Well that's kind of disappointing and counter to the culture here in old school...if that is the same bike that was just purchased for so little.
To each his own, I guess.
Truly an Axis power move.

Sheesh, the things I coulda done to it

I'm with you Blane

yep i sold it. i knew what it was and what it was worth when i bought it. i made an offer, the seller accepted it. i make no apology for either end of the deal. i've also lost big $$$ on some classic bikes when it came time to sell them over the years too.all that transaction did was put me about even.
i'm sure no one else here has ever sold a bike and made a profit on it.

I get flipping it, but did ya' fiddle with it a little? Is your signature on point that you don't get into the mechanical side of this stuff?

signature is spot on. besides very basic maintenance stuff i don't touch them. i've tried, just ain't got the touch.
i have two mechanic friends that i've known for many, many years that worked on my stuff on the cheap. one became a power drinker, got sloppy, now all he does is tires, frame sliders, bolt on hd accessories, easy shit. the other went through massive chemo/radiation cancer treatments. has lost a step or two now mentally, not as patient as he used to be. damn shame.....

Pretty cool old bike, a friend had new one in high school, a 73 or 74 if I remember correctly. The thing was scary fast with a poor suspension and a seat as comfortable as a 2" x 4". The engine way out performed the rest of the bike.
I'm an impulse buyer too. If I kept every bike I ever bought I'd have close to a hundred of them. Many I buy with big plans but then in moments of clarity I come to my senses and turn them over before I'm 3x upside down in them. My pockets aren't very deep and most are sold to finance the next one.....and this particular winter, to pay the bills. I make a buck here and there occasionally and am 100% guilt free, as you should be too.

you're pretty dumb to admit to that.

was a suggestion from a classic car dealer i know. its going overseas, so the suggestion was moot.

I think I'm more so let down that this is not a rebuild thread, it's just a "look at this cool thing I got and sold just to make a profit."
Which is just so counter to the old school culture around here.
Bravo for the chunk of change you got out of it but I was hoping you'd at least get it running instead of dangling a broken bike with a massive price tag in front of us. If I wanted that, I'd go to an ebay listing.
I mean, not even a good story of how you rode them in your younger days or a cool tale from the PO??
I can only hope the poor sucker that bought it will post a build thread here and give us something worth while.
Maybe I'm spoiled by my situation of getting a free bike and wanting to continue the karma though.

*end rant.

as a matter of fact i did have one as a kid. first real big cc street bike i owned. 72 i bought in 1976. had a three into one pipe on it, painted red. i shot it black in my parents basement while they were on vacation. had the heads milled, pistons cut, ports worked and bought a brand spankin' new set of chrome dencos for $259.00. ( my mechanical shortcomings showed their first of many episodes when the shop i took the cylinders, heads and pistons to said "which pistons came out of which cylinders?" oops, new piston/rings time plus the associated cost).owned that bike during the formative years from when i was a 20-21 year old cannabis smoking (pretty dumb to admit to that), beer drinking, cut off levi's (and of course commando), no shirt, tennis shoes, full face helmet shod dumb ass chasing nubile/firm chicks in a likewise inebriated state. drag raced it legally and otherwise, blitzed down two lane backroads at 120+ regularly, outran the countys/states/municipalities finest with aplomb. even had a yellow full dunstall kit complete with half fairing, tank cover/seat and clip ons installed for a while. rode it with a plate off a norton that was traded into a dealership i worked at (pretty dumb to admit to that) after the state came to my house and confiscated the plate off it and my car when my license was suspended for tickets.
sold it to a friend of mine who owned into the 90's when he was killed in a private plane crash landing on some fucked up little airstrip somewhere in new york.

absolutely my favorite bike of all times. i've owned half a dozen h2's over the years but you know, it ain't the same.
pic of bike and new wifey in 1978. sorry no scanner.
blaine.hale, thanks for bringing back the memories in a slighty skewed way.

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Ask . . and you shall recieve!
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I am the "poor sucker" that bought the P.O.S. and fortunately it is our job to bring this old junk back to life on a regular basis, sure, the bike was rough and a little pricey but a bike in that condition doesn't faze us at all . . . after all, we are deemed to be the "Best Triple Restorers in the World" - Whilst I would love to stop by here daily I am afraid that I just don't have the time, however, I will try and stop by weekly to update you.
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Before you ask the costings, I would tell you that I have a passion for these machines and unfortunately the passion often exceeeds the profit - But I will try and keep you up to date.
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Collecting from St Louis, ship to Michigan,Landed in England with all taxes and duties paid I have $5,200 into the bike.
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We started on the bike 2 weeks ago and I anticipate that it will be done in 2 Months time.

First stage was to get the bike to England - Not a problem as that is my regular job now (need a bike shipping?) - Next stage is to take a few piccies and strip the bike.
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Stripping to this stage was around 12 hours
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Frame is now painted, wheels are being done, bodywork all painted, lots of the Chrome done, Wiring loom tidied up.
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Another 20 hours and almost $2,000 with the Chrome, Zinc and Paint(s). - $7,200 and 32 hours
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looks great, can't wait to see the finished bike.

There is hope , Ok to the n00b hey great bike, and we are glad you bought it so, tell us about your illness ( 2stroke) and share somethings about yourself , and get us some sammiches and injector oil

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http://www.classickawasaki.com/Magazine Features.htm

Thanks RB for letting us know how the bike is doing. Keep on posting!

So, this week we have wheels and tyres, rechromed rims (to keep the date codes) new spokes, new Tyres total for wheel build around $660, New turn signals $180, re-chromed for legs, new seals, polish Etc $240, New master cylinder $120, rebuilt & Re-chromed Shocks $220, Sprocket & new brake shoes $80.
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So, to date we have : Parts & Bike $8,600 Labour 54 Hours