Kawasaki - 1966 W1s

I'm new to the site, but not new to bikes… I used to race and restore bikes back in the day. After lurking for a while, I was inspired by some of the other projects, so I figured it was about time to get back into things by kicking off a project… something rusty that would take time and effort to bring back to life. I picked up 3 W1s in various states of disprepair, figuring I'll do a restoration on one, and a cafe on at least one other. They fit the "rusty and will take time" criteria well:



They should look something like this:



I started this thread as a way to keep track of the progress, but to also force me to keep moving forward on the project. It certainly won't be a quick one regardless… as a first step I figured I'd tear these two down, and take stock of what I have and what's missing. I have another one that is in slightly better shape that will be the restoration target, but which was missing bits or had wrong parts on it. In particular, it was missing the tank(s), original front wheel, and the fenders had been hacked (lord only knows why people wanted to put those sissie bars on these bikes). The good news is that these bikes have most of the bits that were missing, even if they are in really bad shape. You can rebuild pretty much anything except something that's totally missing…

After tearing them down a bit, this is what we see:



I'm starting to think the BSA Lightning for $750 was a bargain Seriously though, I haven't seen anything that totally precludes a restoration yet, but they guy that told me they had been sitting under a tree for about 15 years might have misguided me… the primaries and engines have stuff that looks suspiciously like silt in there, so I suspect they were actually in a flood at some point. I'm really hoping that the crankshafts aren't toast, because they seem to be a nightmare to rebuild.

my god. your brave! but i have seen some amazing things happen. good luck on the resto man. i'll be watching.

Brave or silly, we shall see. Like I said, so far I haven't seen anything that really precludes a restoration, but it will be a long road. The bikes seem very well built, which helps a lot. I just got one of the engines home (I'm tearing them down at a storage unit) onto the bench and am trying to extract the pistons from the barrels so I can split the cases. That will be a telling moment...

It's amazing how much those motor cases look like Triumph motor cases. I guess the Japanese were looking for inspiration.

Should be an interesting build!

Mammoth task mate, i am in your corner for this one would love to follow her

Awesome, I love a challenge and it looks like you do too! having 3 is a great help, will definitely keep an eye on this. just keep posting and we'll keep supporting andhelping your motivation !

Wow and I thought my little Ducati and the Malvern Star frame were gonna be hard work!


Good luck, very keen to see how you go with these, looks like a lot of hard work but a lot of fun as well!

Making a little more progress. While the first engine sits soaking in oil, I went over and pulled the second engine (and it was 103f at the time… blech). Quite similar to the other engine, though in the primary, the corrosion on the primary drive screws was so bad that half of them just snapped… they were literally corroded in half. The timing chest also show signs of water (doesn't that look like silt to you?).



This one was under a tree as witnessed by the pine needles everywhere (including the cylinders… I guess a mouse was right at home there).



Here's a closeup of the seat too… that green stuff is moss…



The two parts bikes will be far enough apart for me to clear out the storage and start on the bike I'm targetting for restoration. This one isn't too bad from appearances, though it has obviously been heavily 'played with' in the past. I guess is someone cares enough to chrome the covers, they might have respected the engine. I can only hope.



I should have the first motor fully apart this weekend, at which point I'll clean it all up and take stock.

Awesome! I'll be watching this one for sure!

badass looks like a BSA motor

Yes, they're very much like a BSA A10, though they made quite a number of changes, many of which were engineering improvements. The engines apparently rev a lot more freely than a typical BSA because of the different bore and stroke, and the light crankshaft.

The fact that it looks so much like an A10 makes me think they should look great as a cafe racer: Kawasaki did make a racing version (still trying to find information on it) and I'll probably do a cafe to look something like it.

I managed to split the cases on the engine on the bench, hoping to be able to get to the pistons because so far, soaking in oil, and force from the homemade piston press or a 3lb hammer haven't budged them. The inside is better than expected overall.



Though now I can see pretty clearly why the pistons aren't moving.




The good news is that the cams seem relatively corrosion free, as do the followers.



Certainly, with just a little work (maybe a regrind) the cams and followers can be reused. I guess I should take all the good news I can get I'm going to remove the crank entirely, and then try a little more to free the (standard size) pistons, but if all else fails, I think I'll end up breaking the pistons apart to get the crank free…. they'll be replaced anyway. The crank is my major worry, but if the cams are any guide, I think I might be in luck.

I'm going fairly slowly on this because I don't have a lot of free time (snatching 30 minutes to an hour here and there), and also because this is the first W1 engine I've taken apart. There aren't any surprises to date, but parts are expensive, if they can be found at all, so I figure it's better to tread lightly at first.

Any updates? I hope you haven't given up!

Good god man I thought mine was a ton of work!

Looks like an awesome start though

Someone thought my bike looked bad out of the garage. It was green and crusty...But compared to these, mine was factory fresh.

You may of been inspired by the builds here, but you definitely are inspiring me. Good luck. It is amazing how some elbow grease and wire brushes clean up so much. I think you will have a runner sooner than we think.

I love the look of the W1 as well as the Yamaha XS650's. The vertical twin is a beautiful engine, IMO, and those 2 are especially beautiful.

I hope you have excellent luck getting them roadworthy. Keep the picks and story coming.

I haven't given up... this will be a long project. I have been too busy to do very much, or to provide updates. That said, I have made some progress: I brought the bikes home and have almost finished stripping the 2 parts bikes down to the bare frame, and have started pulling apart the target for restoration. This is where we are right now:




Once I get the front end off the parts frame, it'll be put away with the other parts frame so I can focus on the restoration for now. Interestingly, both the 2 parts bikes have had one rear foot peg broken off... not a big deal given that I'm going to cafe them anyway. The one with the engine in it will be the restoration target. Here's a photo of the engine in that one... it's interesting because someone has taken the time to paint it black, and to have the covers chromed.



Sadly, it too is seized, but even so, it appears to be in better overall condition than the other two. Once I crack the covers, I'll find out for sure. I did find a place that seems confident they can rebuild the crankshaft if needed, which was a big worry. I also found a couple of Japanese blogs for people that specialize in repairing these things (they seem to have a cult following in Japan) which have a number of really good pictures of the engine rebuild process. One blog gave me an idea for a set of pullers that I'm in the process of fabricating.

I have been buying parts as I have been able to find them: the main original bits I'm missing at this point are a seat, air cleaner, original horn, handle bars, and a front mudguard (not sure about that... but it appears the one good one I have is from an A7... the others have been hacked down). I may need a wiring loom for authenticity, but I'm currently planning to rebuild what I have... I'll play that one by ear.

I started to put together the "restoration notebook"... basically a big long list of things to do. Top of the list is to finish organizing my work area! I need to take a lot more photographs of the restoration target before I tear it all the way down, but I'm hoping to get the frame media blasted (soda? plastic?) in the next 2 weeks, and to get it painted, then start getting bits repaired/rechromed/repainted and fitted to the painted frame. Getting to a rolling chassis is the goal: it'll look more like a motorcycle, and less like a pile of junk, which will make it easier to get motivated. I've decided to go with a black color scheme on the restoration and will paint it myself (including the frame, rather than having it powder coated, partly because of the expense, but mostly for authenticity).

I have also been distracted by a very original Aermacchi 250H I picked up.... it's very tempting to restore that one first because it's so close to being right. I may cave into temptation, but one restoration is hard enough... two would be very hard to manage. I will probably do a little work to stop it deteriorating any further and leave it at that until this project is at least up to a rolling chassis.

Quick update: I have the 2 parts bikes completely stripped (frames, engines are not completely apart). I started stripping the bike I'm restoring, and hope to have the frame and other bits off to media blasting this week.

Here's a useful trick: the steering stem was pretty well rusted on, so rather than spending $$ on a generic C spanner which may or may not have worked, I went to Lowes and bought a 1.25 inch socket and then spent some time with a grinder.




A little bit of heat and it worked like a charm.

+1 for making your own tools!


And I am SO looking forward to the before and after pics.

(just from the blasting. I can only imagine the after with paint and final finish!)

I had a good day today... pretty much everything is off the frame except the triple trees which need some penetrating on the steering damper. It was a pleasure to work on a bike that wasn't just a lump of corroded metal for a change! I'm going to finish stripping the frame down this week and if all goes well, I should have a bunch of bits off to be media blasted.

I'm wondering which primer and paint to use (not using powder coat). There are quite a number of little bits and pieces that need to be painted... transmission and engine mounting plates, toolbox, brake lever, pegs, etc. etc. etc. and they all need a very durable finish. Spraymax 2k perhaps? There are way too many choices out there....