70's Kawasaki 500 triple??

So my teen daughter has been looking for a cheap old project bike and a guy in our town has a pair of Kawasaki 500cc Triples. He's not sure of the year but thinks 74 or 75. I know nothing about these bikes but I know there is a small cult following.

Bikes appear to be near complete but basket cases, Somebody point her in the right direction if she decides to buy and work on these.

 

I know quite a lot about the 70's Kawasaki Triples from my brother. They are quite sought after so could be worth a lot in running condition. They go like hell and handle like crap. If they are indeed basket cases they are not for the "faint of wallet". First thing to check would be to see if motors turn over (use kickstart). If stuck then definitely a motor rebuild in her future. Either way the crank seals will either be shot or very soon to be shot. Could be replacing/rebuilding crank as well as a rebore and new pistons/rings. Being 2-strokes they are easy enough to work on. Parts are fairly easy to procure on eBay, but again the costs can get out of control pretty quickly.
Feel free to PM me with any questions and/or pics. My bro is quite a guru on these triples.

 

I know a guy that has a 1972 (first year of production) H2 750 that still has the plastic wrap on the seat, along with the owner's manual,.......And..... the bike has never been started or ridden......it's brand new and he is the original owner. It's behind glass in his little museum and it brought back a lot of memories for me when I saw it. I had one in 1974 and spent the entire summer that year drag racing it at a couple local tracks.....every Wed. and every Sat. night. It was stock except for a set of Denco brand expansion chamber pipes and a carb. jet job. Quarter mile speeds and times was pretty quick back then (high 11s and around 113-114 mph). Not too bad for a 750 back in the day.....nothing to brag about these days.

 

Kaw triples are a total pain in the ass. I was lucky enough back in the day ( I was 18 or so ) to have a 1970 H1 500, with the *drum brake* on the front. Tried to make a drag bike out of it, worked on it constantly and it never did pan out. So I did the smart thing and bought a then brand new RD400F Daytona Special...

And I have never WANTED A BIKE BACK LIKE I DO MY 500 TRIPLE!!!

As said above, they are now quite the collector's item, can be expensive, and valuable at the same time..

 

Ok, I went and met with this old guy with the bikes. He's a Korean war vet, a hermit, a hoarder and motorcycle lover but he's in bad health. He reminds my of my dad's brother so much. There's gonna be a whole lot more to this story. There is easily 100+ bikes on the mans property.

I'm bringing him coffee and breakfast in the morning and see if I can help him with some stuff. Nice guy but has no family to care for him.

 

Calling KawH1R . . . . .

Cheers,

Dave

 

Calling hinshaw929 . . . .

Cheers,

Dave

 

Sounds like an interesting story in the making. Staying tuned!

 

My Dad had a 750........such awesome bikes!!! Hard to keep that front wheel down

 

Brought coffee, OJ and bagel sandwiches this morning, guys name is Stanley. He was surprised by the food and offered to come inside. He says "excuse the mess but I haven't had any visitors in the house in maybe 30 years"

If you've ever seen a hoarders home or watched that TV series this would be an extreme example. The house structure is really unfit for living, some missing windows, doors and massive roof holes. Tarps covering the entrances and holes. Layers of dirt on everything, no working kitchen or bathroom. I asked him about his health and he replied that he does make it to the VA at least once a month.

The guy has a lot of semi valuable antiques, guitars, guns, tools, equipment and of course the bikes and misc car stuff. He wants to sell everything but I'm concerned that if the wrong person shows up he's either gonna get taken advantage of or worse.

 

I took tons of photos today but can't figure out of to upload them. I keep can a size limit pop up.

 

If you have google photos you can link to them, or use dropbox and link to the photos direct.

Stanley sounds like a good person to know, and not just for his objects. I used to know a couple of fellows like him, and mostly they want simple company (as you discovered), and they are generous with their time and stories. Good for you for helping him out, or at least for looking out for him.

 

Check out www.kawi2strokes.com.There are a lot of folks that love the triples.
They will be able to answer any questions you have about restoring this once proud but ill handling bike.

 

Good to see you taking care of this guy; and hopefully you can keep away the predators seeking to take advantage...

 

Agree 100%!! Keep the vultures from giving the ol' fella the shaft.

 

^This^ Keep us in the loop... Keep up the good work...

 

Please forgive me for posting a youtube vid. I just did a quick vid and then was trying to figure out how to share it.

I went back today and just dropped off a bag of dog food.

 

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/zmis3necqvsewpb/AADrCflzxWAuFZRav-BxXL5Ya?dl=0

Some pics of the bikes and property

 

Who's Plymouth?? Silver Bullet??