April 29th 2011

Apparently some german bloke is marrying some english bird today?? How anyone can possibly give two shits about this is beyond me but I got a day off so I managed to clean some of the bike up. Parts below plus a couple of reprints to show you what it looked like at the start...

Am straying from the bobber idea to a cafe racer style bike - closer to my heart but we'll see how that develops.

Successfully cleaned and stripped the brakes. The brake pad pin had rusted tight so a fair amount of swearing and WD40 applied to get the thing off. Am going to repaint the brake body once we get closer to running.

carbs still with Steve so we'll need to wait for that to progress before jumping in any further.

April 10th 2011 - IT'S ALLLIIVVVEEEE !!!

bloody hell - the thing is actually alive. Steve (o' knowledgeable one) came over, we replaced a few fuses. connected up a battery,put the plugs back in, got some spark and ignition lights, reattached the tank with some old fuel and....the bloody thing started. Needed a lot of choke but we've got the old girl going. Ticked over very nicely indeed. Didn't even need the kiskstart so my hope is that this means the major electrical parts are all ok.

sounded good - engine is tight, but with no airbox it wasn't exactly smooth. We then took the carbies off in the hope of giving them a quick clean but a number of bolts are stuck solid so further work will be required. Also, one of the slides appears to be stuck shut so it may need a professional strip down and reassemble but...there is light at the end of the tunnel.

sensational.

Reds top of the table so I feel like I'm back in the eighties....

May 2nd 2010

Progress...kind of.
have new used battery and full of hope, plugged it in and... fark all.
no light, no ignition, nada spark. Accept completely that it was unlikely to turn over straight away but the fact the there is obviously a failure to see electrics running through the system is a problem seeing as I'm hopeless at wiring. am pursuing a multimeter and have to get a proper works manual before attempting anything else as I'll be just firing off on uneducated and poorly thought through tangents as best. on a positive note the front brakes have been cleaned and stripped and i'll bleed and replace the fluid at some point.

MotoGP - dud race today except for the last 3 laps. Lorenzo/pedrosa and rossi in that order. jerez looked sunny but unfortunately pommie land has returned to it's normal weather pattern of continuing shitty and wet with more possibility of the same.

best to Mr West now residing in the land of tea parties, gun ownership rights and cheese whip. Enjoy!! Are you allowed to go to 'Spring Break'?

Easter Sunday April 4th 2010

Noooooooooooo....
the madness begins, although I promised myself I wouldn't - I've started polishing/cleaning the engine cases. Looks much cleaner but now I'll have to do the whole stinkin' thing meaning that I am screwed (but in a nice way). There's something quite relaxing about polishing metal and seeing grime come away. I'll regret it in the long run as it gets more and more fiddly but what the hey. It's not like the pommie weather won't give me plenty of chances to spend quality time indoors....

Still trying to find a cheapo battery but no joy - may have to bite the bullet and pay full price.

Ride on the TL today - tres bon although bloody cold.

Bloody Tahs on top and Qld lost - bugger.

Feb 28th 2010 Progress

nada
zilch
didn't even look at it...
Friends visit so no bike work this weekend plus it was a little on the cold side so I wimped out.

Feb 14th 2010 Update (plus the Mighty Reds)

it seems I owe Mr Kawasaki Deisgner an apology from last weeks rant and should have vented my frustration at Mr Manual designer....

there is a method to remove the battery without all of the pain and suffering of fender/airbox/seat removal but the stupid manual didn't have that listed. Anyway, some progress and a fairly sharpish step back to report. Battery has finally been liberated from it's cave and shall be taken to shop for re-charging if possile. Front fender is also off but I have managed to snap a bolt head of from a bolt (honestly - it just snapped dispite my gentle caress and about 30 sprays of lubricant) from the brake line bracket on the right side of the front wheel. Have started to drill it out but suspect that this will take me a while as I can't be arsed doing it at present. Also drilled out the last remaining stupid bolt on the chain guard that had siezed so that piece of rubbish has been liberated from the frame. Not much else to report - still bloody cold and now have a 500W site light in the garage which is both warming (good) and retina destroying (bad - AHHHHHHHHHH my eyes, my eyes). Do Not Look At The Sun Indeed...

A little concerned as the throttle action seems 'challenged' at best when I test it as it doesn't return or flick back to a neutral position when turning it on & off. May be just a dud spring but I really don't want to mess with carbies and cables at this stage.

Photos of said bolt to follow but otherwise pretty boring progress.

The Mighty Reds nearly whooped the dodgy cheatin' Tahs this weekend but I understand the Couchman has lost his pocket money despite the result so all in all a proud result for the redneck state and frankly he has too much money anyway so dry those tears ya wee little girly man :)

Feb 7th 2010 Update photos

Feb 7th 2010 Update

My hopes soar on the fact that it only took me 1 and 1/2 hours to remove one bloody stripped nut to remove the f.....g rear fender. Thankfully the children were out of earshot as my language skills were excerised to the fullest. The good news is that I have the fender off, the tank and airbox out but again am thwarted in my desire to get the battery out by mechanical incompentence combined with stupid black and white pdf print-out of the workshop manual. If I may pose a question - I understand that a battery on a motorcycle should be enclosed and protected from the elements but putting it below the seat, requiring airbox, rear fender and electrical system disconnection/removal does seem a little extreme and I suspect that Mr kawasaki designer was either suffering a severe sake hangover or his wife had just slept with a more successful Suzuki or Yamaha exectutive...f..k me it's been a frustrating two sessions in the shed and to further enrich my life the weather has been as cold as a brass monkeys.
Sensational....
Photos to follow and if you squint real hard you can kind of imagine what the bike will look like at some point in the future with a single seat and the rear frame hacked off.

The Start

It has begun.
Taken delivery of a Kawasaki W650 in terrible condition with the intention of turning it into a bobber. Engine hasn't run for about 2 years, rust has set in, battery is dead... on the plus side I have a limited budget, the engine has compression and there are plenty of good ideas on the web for inspiration. happy to accept hints on restoring, parts or details of suppliers you know of who are doing good things with W650's.