1977 Kawasaki KH125 A1

Here we go again.....
This project has been started, stalled, restarted, push aside, put up as free to good home and recently put up for sale.
No one else wants to take the plunge so I have given myself a good kick in ass to get it finished. 8 years is a long enough gestation period and now I'm putting in a big push to hopefully get it done before christmas.
Story starts many years ago when I bought a rolling frame on Ebay for a mere $22 AUD. At that time I had never even heard of a KH125. It was worth its weight in scrap metal and that was about it. After much Gooogling around and asking questions of wreckers around Oz I was finding that here in Oz they were only sold in small numbers and parts, particularly engines were scarce. And so I gave up until I stumbled upon a shed that contained a complete bike that was in need of much attention. It had an engine and that was all I cared about. Not only did it have an engine but it had an original, untouched engine with only 7.5k Kms on it. The mint and after troubleshooting the fault with the coil it fired up straight away and gave hope to what I thought might have been a lost cause. Much cleaning and some fresh paint and polish that engine has now sat idle again for a few years while I have dicked around.

So to cut a long story short I have collected alot of good original parts as seen below and I will be cherry picking some of the best bits again to build a neat little 125 smoker cafe bike. It was going to be an original restoration but that is never going to happen. So stay tuned ---- I will finish it this time.
Started today with a bare frame. Degreased and cleaned. Removing rust and old paint ready for new paint. This thread will hopefully move quickly...Keep up! I need to blog this to keep the enthusiasm up and appreciate any input any of may have.

See ya tomorrow with an update.

Fork seals and head stem bearings ordered...Hopefully in hand by friday.
Chasing a seat pan now.

There is one part that has had me stumped since day one of this project. A front calliper. There are zero available at wreckers around Australia and I am yet to find one on ebay. It is a cable operated calliper that was shared with the KZ200. Cant seem to find one for love nor money. For simplicity I would like to get hold of one rather than spending time trying to find a hydraulic one that will fit or fabricating mounts etc to use a different model. If anyone around the globe could assist I would be grateful. N.B. The hydraulic calliper from later KH125 does not fit, already tried that.

Hi Aido, Cool project! We didn't get that model in states. So, you did not get any front calipers in all of the stuff? If you don't have one at all consider using a hydraulic set-up. If you do have one - can't it be restored to operate?

cyclhed said:

Hi Aido, Cool project! We didn't get that model in states. So, you did not get any front calipers in all of the stuff? If you don't have one at all consider using a hydraulic set-up. If you do have one - can't it be restored to operate?

Click to expand...

Nil callipers. The same calliper is used on the 77-81 KZ200 and I'm told by one old bloke thats been wrecking bikes along time that back in the 80's they were one part that was in demand by go karters because of the simple design and size.
I have a hydraulic calliper from a later model KH125 but it will require a bit of work to make it fit.
Just trying to keep it simple and hopefully rustle up an original so that I dont get hung up and stall the project again.

Just finished painting the frame. Removed the oil tank and air box lugs along with the seat hinges and lock brackets. Have only painted it in engine enamel from a can at this stage as I will no doubt be cutting and welding in places in the near future. Once I get it functional and to a point that I'm happy with it I will get it blasted and powder coated.
Rub back the tank tonight ready for a new colour tomorrow.
New rear shocks ordered and on the way. Hopefully have the fork seals and head stem bearings in the post tomorrow. Seller from within Australia marked them as posted this morning so fingers crossed Aus post comes through.
Msg left for a bloke that does custom seats here in Oz, hopefully get back to me soon and can help with a cafe style seat unit.
Going to be a busy weekend. I want this thing with engine in and rolling by Monday.
Enough procrastination and dreaming about it....full steam ahead and as you Seppo's say "Git er done!" LOL

This morning.


This afternoon

Rebuilt the forks. Replaced front wheel bearings. Started to look at wiring and routed the cables with new ones.
Still awaiting head stem bearings but needed the front end together for cables, wiring and speedo.
Removed the oil pump and will make a blanking plate tomorrow.
Measured up and sketched plans for the speedo mount.
Wiring will be the last thing I do because I will need to crucify the original wiring harness to get al the lights and charging system working. Alot of the wiring was hidden in either the headlight bucket or behind the side panels so some shortening up and of wiring will need to happen.
Made plans for a pod filter.
Waiting on a seat pan, rear shocks, Head stem bearings, front calliper that I have got coming from the UK, gear lever from local bloke.
After all this time its coming together at break neck speed. Will definitely slow down when it comes to the finer points.
Everything is being kept as original as possible to achieve registration on Australian roads....once that is obtained then it will be on for young and old in modifying.
How it looks at the end of today.

Chopped an old tank for a seat unit.

Looking good and you're making good progress. I like the colors. That will be a fun little ride. I guess you'll have to go juice on the front brake. It'll stop better.

BTW my first bike was a 72 Kaw 175 F7 with the rotary valve engine like yours. They are powerful.

Welded up the seat pan this afternoon. Still waiting on parts to arrive.
Progress is far more rapid than I anticipated.
More work to do on the seat pan tomorrow before I send it off for upholstery.
Better weather this weekend for painting so aim to have it all done then.
6 weeks till registration......Deadline is the first week of December.
Still have wiring to sort out and I can see that being a hassle.