The Fleet

[hadfield4wd]

So I’m pretty stoked how the graphics and swingarm came out. Definitely ’90’s retro. Swingarm looks great. One thing with the graphics that I didn’t realize is that they came with a grey border. I really wanted the shiny swingarm so out came the straight edge and a razor blade. 15 minutes later.
Here is the shiny swingarm showing the graphic.



Made a little pile.



On the swing arm. I put a couple of coats of clear on the swingarm before I put the graphics on.



Here it is on the bike.



Also the radiator shrouds.



And an overall shot of the bike.





Overall I am very happy. My tank is not the same color as the green on the graphic of the radiator shroud. As a result I’m having something made for that. Also the rear fender is getting something as well.

And finally the front fender. I really like the purple of the early 90’s Kawasaki’s. I looked hard for a while and finally found a front fender. This is from a ’92 KX250. It was heavily oxidized when I got it. So I went through a process to get it off. First I scraped it all with a razor blade. Then I used a headlight restoration kit. It was a 4 stage kit. Finally I used a buffing wheel to get the final shine. In these pictures it was before the buffing wheel so it’s not real shiny. I have about 2 hours into this. There is also a spot that looks like where the fender was folded pretty good. So I’m having some graphics made to cover this up. The final result should be pretty good.

Before



After scraping and sanding, but no buffing.



More to come.

[hadfield4wd]

I hate my DOT knobby so I hit this one to try.



Well got the fender on and stickered up.





Need to change the hand guards they don't match the rest.

[hadfield4wd]

One thing that really bothers me about this bike is the fact that the subframe is not removable. Makes taking the carb and airbox out a royal pain. So I had some time and I had a spare frame in order to do this to. I now have a removable subframe.

I just have some exhaust tabs to make and weld on and then it’s ready for powdercoat.

I also clearanced the cross bar for the FCR carb. This frame will be stronger.

Starting out.



Top 2 bolts tacked on. I did them one at a time so I didn’t have to worry too much about alignment.



Separated for finish welding.





Done

[hadfield4wd]

New renthal bars. RC bend and cycra probend guards.






Old bars were cut short 1 1/2" off each side so. And too much sweep.

[hadfield4wd]

I'm going to learn how to build wheels.



I've built hundreds of mountain bike and bike race wheels.

This one had a bunch of loose spokes and the nipples were seized. Had to cut them off. Hub is getting powder coated black and I'm using he same rim.

Done. Not bad. Had the hub powder coated. Looks great. The excel nipples were bigger so I had to drill out the holes in the rim 1/16th of an inch. This would really be a pain if the rim were bent at all.

[hadfield4wd]

Doing a little preride maintenance. Heading to PA for our second annual "wifes knocked up" ride. Last year it was a bachelor party. Wonder what it'll be next year.

Anyway my linkage and swingarm bearings were in bad shape. I got all the linkage ones done, just waiting on the swingarm bearings. I'm not taking the existing ones out until the new ones are here though. With my luck they'd not show up.



If I had to pay somebody to maintain all these machines I couldn't afford to do it. Seems like there is always something that needs done on something.

[hadfield4wd]

So an update. I hate the plastic radiator guards. I've had braces from 4stroke works and they have worked well but I wanted a little more protection.

I heard read somewhere that radiator guards from a 2006-2007 klx250s will fit our bikes 1997-2004 klx300. But I have had no confirmation so I was a but hesitant. Anyway I watch some things to look fir sales and Emperor Racing had their #1504 guards on sale for $39.99. Regular $89.99. So naturally I jumped on this. As we have 2 of these I bought 2 sets (in for a penny, in for a pound). $90 shipped. Couldn't ask for anything else.

Well I am impressed. They are nice and thick for good protection and includes a brace so I could remove my 4SW braces. Very happy with this.

[hadfield4wd]

[hadfield4wd]

Ok that is where my bike sits now.

[shang]

I really like vintage Kawi's. Absolutely LOVE the purple! Great job!!