For some time I had been searching for a new project bike to work on. My friend Nick came to the rescue and immediately started searching for appropriate bikes. One day he called and said he’d found the perfect one!
It was a 1981 Kawasaki KLX250 located in Tatura – a couple of hours out of Melbourne, it had been sitting in a shed for many years after the owner moved up to Queensland. Most parts were there, and there was a video of it running.
We headed out to look at this bike to see what we were in for. Shortly after starting the bike and taking it for a test ride in the seller’s backyard (dodging washing lines and dog turds) it was tied up in the back of the trailer. It has a Peter Allen Powerpipe on it, and the swing-arm bearings had been done recently so that’s one lees thing to worry about. The first things that’s getting taken off is the blue Barkbusters which stand out like a sore thumb.
Next it needed some work in order for me to register it. I planned to recreational register it – meaning that it can be ridden off road only. These requirements are less strict than for vehicles ridden on the road, needing a headlight, brake light, number plate light, horn and right-hand mirror.
The headlight on this bike is not original, it is from a KDX model Kawasaki. The wiring towards the front of the bike is a birds nest of cables that don’t match the wiring diagram so that will be the biggest challenge getting this thing a number plate. All in all I’m excited to get stuck into it!
Tinkerwithjazz 