I made the mistake of doing that when I pulled away from a buddy's house on my '72 Mach III. I wheelied from 1st to 2nd and from 2nd to 3rd each time the front wheel bounced from the ground and into the air. He later told me he thought I was pretty cool, I told him the wheelies weren't intentional and I was merely holding on for my life.:eek1 Sometime later that summer I had a guy in a GTO Judge pull up next to me and start revving his engine. I looked over and gave him the nod to go when the light turned green. This time I decided to sit up closer to the fuel tank and keep more of my weight over the engine. Well, no wheelies this time but on a cool, humid morning under heavy acceleration the Mach III simply decided to start riding itself out from under me. I smoked (no pun intended) the GTO but found my ass so close to sliding off the rear part of the seat I had to shut it down. I've since had quicker and faster bikes but there's something about a Kawasaki triple that inspires awe because of its violent acceleration and the sound it makes as it winds up. The throttle was more an "on/off" switch than anything else and heavy use of it rendered MPG readings in the high teens but DAYUM that bike could slam your eyeballs into the back of your skull! I bought mine used in '75 from the local Cadillac dealer and sold it in '77, paid $600 for it.
Question: Was this model ever sold as completed motorcycle? If so, were they referred to as "Dunstall"? Or did you purchase the bits from Dunstall...or, send your own Norton to them, etc..? Kent www.backtrackvideo.com
You could buy a complete bike from Paul Dunstall, or donor one as I recall, much the same as you could buy a Gus Kuhn Special straight out of his shop, even 920 kitted. he also sold parts separately of course--I think his first complete bikes were pre-Commando; the Dunstall Dominator, based on a Norton Dominator 99, was a ripper.
Well, back to the thread subject... Got the coils and hence spark, one coil was bad. The Kawi starts great but rev's to 5-6 grand and stays there. I've checked all the carbs to make sure the slides are seated. The starter circuit (choke) plungers are all closed and operational. Maybe an air leak?
Come to think of it the carbs where off the Motor and "bagged" on the frame from way back when. Think I'll just yank them and clean them out again real good, especialy the choke circuit. Ohhh I loved the smell of that Bel-Ray 2 smoke oil.
With new seals, hopefully it's not them. If it's not air leaks, check out the spark advance - could be sticky old grease.
Hey, have you seen Twist the throttle on Discovery Channel ? just did Kawasaki. A short good peice on the H1, as well as Z1, Ninja 900 & ZX11 pretty well done show. Good ole footage & pics , interviews.
Naw I missed it, heck I don't even have "the dish". Didn't have time to dig into the carbs yet...soon..soon.
Well shit, went though the carbs, looked good as before. Starts right up first kick, still revs to 5 grand. Admittedly I used the case sealer rather sparingly as the previous owner had silicone freaking everywhere inside the cases. I got some 1194 (recommended) and will pull the motor again. Did get the new dual sport tires on the CL-350, rocks even on the trails. Putting tires on the better half's Vulcan right now. Need to ride rather than wrench!
I am sure the cases could leak into the bottom of the combustion chamber and reek RPM havoc. Have you gone to Kawasaki triples worldwide . com ? http://www.kawasakitriplesworldwide.com/phpBB2/index.php
I did but used the red high temp. silacone rather the recommended 3 bond 1194 which I now have a tube of (of course). Yeah, the triples site is a weath of info. The kick started was never wound right on the spring. The K3 site had links to photos etc. on the proper install. I've got sooo much on my plate right now pulling the motor again will have to wait. Hey...it starts with a couple kicks at least!
Roughly but the knee portion is more contoured than the norton. iirc it was a custom aluminum jobber. <OBJECT width=425 height=344> <embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/LFMtPmZgbQo&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></OBJECT></P> http://www.hotrodhomepage.com/hrhp/2007/09/07/kawasaki-h2-kh750-hybrid-76-kh500-wh2-engine/
Believe it or not I got the H-1 running...again. Turns out it had the wrong coils in it hence the magic smoke coming out of them. Also replaced all the points with new. I was always kind of underwhelmed by the power considering all the hype with the triples. Well now it have a MUCH better spark and hence at 7500 rpm it sounds like three chain saws running WFO and is now far too fast for the chassis and cheesy brakes...as it should be. Not to mention the dry rotted tires....hmm better order up some new tubes and skins....
Replace all 3 condensers, as having the wrong coils fitted will almost certainly have damaged them. Pressure test the motor before stripping it, as this will determine exactly where the leak is, and will save an awful lot of work. You will also find that bikes pretty dangerous in the turns, as moving the shock mounts and fork tubes, will have reduced ground clearance quite a bit, and will mean center stand, pipes, and footrests will all ground out very easily.
I thought the H1's were always CDI . Seem to remember the little lightening bolt under the CDI badge on the old refrigerator white tanked ones.
