Kawasaki KH125

After hearing the hair raising tales of how my dad raced Geoff Duke (ahem) on his Ariel Red Hunter, I was bitten by the bug. When my brother got a Suzuki GT185, what joy - I couldn’t wait till my legs touched the ground either side of it. I hoped that if it was left out in the rain it would shrink - no such luck.

The prospect of owning a nifty fifty never thrilled me, who wants to do side stitch at 30mph? At the glorious age of 17, the offer of a job 14 miles away meant transport of some sort or other not too many buses in the outback of Northumberland. Then I saw it, X reg, KH125, 7000 miles, 270 notes - well that was it, nothing could stop me. There I was the proud owner of GBB565X. The sweet sound of the holed exhaust was music to my ears.

The journey to work consisted of 4 miles of straight main road (the drag strip) and 3 miles of twisty country lanes. With this type of riding the bike returned 80mpg, even with my itchy right wrist. The bike would scream along nicely at 70mph or if redlined through the gears, with helmet next to the headlamp, an indicated eighty could be obtained.

The brakes (front disc and rear drum) must have been effective because I always managed to stop in time, except after a winter of snow the front caliper seized and being on the YTS didn’t do much about it until a Ford Capri fancied its chances. I ended up on my bot outside a restaurant it suddenly occurred to me to get it fixed.
Fortunately, damage was restricted to a slightly bent front fork.

The local dealer managed to obtain and fit a used caliper for 14 notes, whilst the front forks were straightened in the college workshop - the teacher had great practice at using the hydraulic press for this purpose. The engine consumed spark plugs for breakfast, and once I cross threaded the plug in the head. No calamity - I took the head off, screwed it in from the other side to straighten the thread, simple but true.

The suspension seemed alright to me, but then I wouldn’t know any better, as long as the back wheel didn’t overtake the front in corners I was satisfied. Once, while chasing an aunt who had left a camera behind, the bike started performing a pogo act in the corners and then went totally wild the cause was later found to be six spokes missing from the rear wheel. The clutch also went out of action on that run - the lock nut on the clutch was loose.

The rear mudguard was of the quick rot variety, although the front had hardly any rust spots. The alloy engine casings didn’t shine up and despite lots of elbow grease soon faded back to a dull sheen. The exhaust pipe was rusty when I bought the bike, but the silencer is still relatively rust free.

The vibes aren’t very intrusive although do check the gear lever regularly as it has a tendency to slacken and fall off and they are impossible to find. The lights were OK up to 60mph but the switch needed fiddling to make them come on. At 14000 miles the big-end started to go, so it was replaced and the bike and I finally parted company in favour of a KE125.

If only I had known better, it returned an abysmal 48mpg and lacked a sixth gear, with a top speed of only 65mph and went through spark plugs even quicker than the KH125. The KH was fast, economical, comfortable and only a RD125 could beat it, although I always seemed to have it in pieces every other weekend. It’s still running around now, eight months after I sold it.

David Atkinson