Ye Gods! I bought one!

[africajim]

Well, regardless of my thoughts on Kawasaki I went out and bought one tonight!
No, I'm not replacing the mighty Varadero, merely looking for a winter hack!
One of my work colleagues had an old KLE500 sitting in storage for five yrs, it was just along the road from my flat so I popped over tonight and had a look, well it's a bike, lots to do to make it roadworthy, not counting unseizing the engine first!
It's a dark red one and looks ok, it's quite clean for it's age and only 20,000 miles so should make an excellent hack.
So, it needs the brakes freed off as they're seized, the tyres are flat, the battery's dead and of course, the engine appears to be seized. A bit of work,,,, hmmm,,,,, oh well, we'll see!
As a side note he also has a good example of a Cagiva Elefant! Lucky strike colours and a rare 750! Just like an @T but,,, faster! Nice looking bike, rare and collectable, not a winter hack! Not sure what he wants for it though, didn't ask.

[AIRWOLF]

Looking at the work list, . . . is this a 'winter hack' for NEXT winter.

[Steve T]

And there's you without a garage Jim!

I know your the hardy type and all that, but sorting the thing you described above, under a tarp, outside yer flat in the depths of winter . . . . . . . . you is MAD.

Looking forward to seeing it when you've cleaned all the spider webs off of it .

And when it's finally sorted & running, make sure there are knobblies fitted - Lowflyer & me hope to nip out some time and try out the odd forest track or quarry and you'll be expected to attend

Steve T

[lexicon39]

Hi Was Bike seized before being stored? if not you might get away with putting WD40 and some light oil down the spark plug hole. Wait a day or two and try gently turning the the crank with a socket. It worked for me on an old CX500 that had been sitting for years. Good luck. Don't know what your thoughts on Kawasaki are? I've had a few over the years and found them great fun, currently have a KLX250 in the stable.

[Kjell Lindberg]

Diesel also works fine, if you're out of WD40.

That Cagiva Elefant 750 in Lucky strike colours if priced right could be a very nice bike to own!

[africajim]

Aye, well, what can I say? I like a challenge! The bike's coming home on Sunday so plan is to pull the plugs and add a bit of redex down the plug holes, that should free off the rings. It was a runner when put in storage but five yrs of sitting it's not turning now. Rings methinks!
Yes Steve T, not having a workshop is a problem, not having somewhere to store my trailer's even worse! I'll just have to improvise, but it is my flat and MY kitchen so I'll utilize! Good grief, the guy next door just blew up his flat with an incenduary device so using mine as a workshops not all bad! The calipers I'll pump out the pistons on the bike then remove them to my kitchen to strip and rebuild. Tyres are ok,,, ish although not really aggressive enough for real offroad but we'll see! I'll certainly join yourself and Lowflyer in a couple of weeks or so, just need a few bits and bobs!
Kawasaki has always been my least favourite bikes, the sportsbikes are very focussed, exceptionally good at what they do but very focussed, great fun to ride but no mistakes allowed, many have learned to their demise, even fatally. I've always preferred Honda, far more forgiving to ride.
Offroad, I found Kawasaki the same, very focussed and good at what they do but not the quality of the Honda. Saying that, I've had a KMX, KDX and two KLR's. I enjoyed the 125 strokers, on a par with the Yamaha DT and YZ. I was always paranoid with the big single KLR's, felt shafty, I had to rebuild the top end of the 650 KLR, saying that the mighty Tengai was a beast, painted in Chesterfield colours, a 650 with the go of a 750 @T!
Ok, ok, Kawasaki's are not that bad! I'll fire up a report on the KLE as soon as I've a few miles on to it.
Iain's Cagiva has also sat in storage for a good few years, not turned a wheel but been inside and dry. Extras are a touring Scottoiler, Autocom and Monokey luggage. Here's a pic of it and my new KLE in the background;

[africajim]

Right, the update!

I got the bike home today, pulled the plastics off and removed the plugs while waiting for the WD40 to soak into,,,, well,,, just about everything! Pulled the plugs and sprayed WD40 into the bores and set about the calipers, they're both freed off and moving now so brakes are fixed. Cleaned and set the plugs ready to refit then tried shoving the bike up and down the car park, firstly the clutch freed off as it was also seized! After a few pushes the motor started to turn! On a power pack and the bike winds over fine. All the lights and horn are working fine so I just need to drain the 3 gallons of stale petrol out of the tank and try fresh fuel. Road tax ran out 06/02 so it's been sitting a while! Worst case scenario I'll have to strip the carbs.
It's a pity the previous owner didn't drain the bike down for storage but never mind, so far I think I've been pretty lucky! I'm hoping to have it in for an MOT next weekend if possible!
I'm sure Steve T's wondering where I've put it? Well, here's a pic! Now part of the family, between the Mighty Varadero and my pet Landrover!

[BIG D]

Aha, I recognise that Landrover I have passed you a few times in my 90
you don't forget the sight of that series in a hurry its looking good mate, hope you manage to get the Kawasaki sorted.

BIG D.

[africajim]

Aye aye Big D, The Landie sits in Lossie most of the time but I venture into Elgin at the weekends with it! It's not done much miles over the summer as I run the bike but usually fall back on the Landie this time of the year. I'd like a 90 but,,, well,,, I couldn't justify the road tax!
It sat a while in Lidl's car park last Saturday as I couldn't get it to start when I came out!!!! A walk to Asdas, and when I came back it was business as usual! Great old series, long may it continue!
The Kawa should fire up with some fresh fuel, it's only done 21,000 miles so quite fresh really. Hope to see you on the road mate.

[africajim]

Well, so far I've unseized the brakes, engine and clutch. Through the week I've recovered the side panels and fitted them, in between I've removed the tank, drained it and refuelled, I then had to remove the petrol tank as I couldn't get fuel! The tap filters were both blocked. I then turned on the fuel to have it hosing out the overflows so the carbs will need to be removed and cleaned out. All that and snow forecast for this weekend! Oh deep joy! Oh well, I might need my trapper fur hat on this weekend!
I insured it tonight, this cost £16 to add to my Ebike policy for the next eight months, not bad I thought. A new headache is the V5 doc, the previous owner has lost it so I have to apply for a new one, it's going to cost me £25! Good grief! That and it'll take up to a month to come in! Oh well, might not make it on the road before Chrimbo,,, very disappointing!
I'll keep you updated though.