As new rings had been fitted I had to run it in for 300 miles, keeping the revs down to 5000rpm. It felt quite quick, but then I hadn't ridden a big bike for ten years. The noise the two stroke triple made was brilliant... any triple sounds good; and better with expansion chambers.
The redline is at 8500rpm with maximum torque at 70000rpm. Normally, I only rev mine to 7000rpm, little is achieved by redlining. There isn’t really a power band compared to things like RDs. Starting is no problem - cold starts need use of the choke, although in fact it’s an enrichment device. I only experienced oiling up problems when stop/start riding with a cold engine - then the triple very soon becomes a twin or single. It is only appeased by taking out the offending plug and cleaning it, revving madly doesn’t help.
The KH does have a big bike feel to it. It’s no lightweight at 350lbs plus fuel. It’s not very fast either - it was OK in 1976 but something like a KR1 is from another planet. One day I was even blown off by a lunatic on a TZR125. Top speed is between 85 and 90mph with the engine pulling easily into the red in top. It will accelerate faster than most family cars and cruises well at 60 to 70mph all day long. Over 50mph there is no need to change down as top pulls so well you are always looking for the non existent sixth gear.
Fuel consumption stays around 40mpg which is OK but the tank is just too small and only a 100 to 110 miles can be covered before it goes on to reserve. Oil consumption is fine at about 120mpp. I always use Shell Super Two Stroke which comes in four litre cans from the local motor factor. It’s semi synthetic, whatever that means, but works well and doesn’t smoke much and it’s a lot cheaper buying it like that.
The bike handles well enough but has a strange habit of understeering. It has to be physically pulled into a fast turn by pushing the bars downwards. I had problems with notchy low speed steering but that was caused by half the bearings being missing from the head races. It suffers from side winds, the front suspension is too hard and lacks travel, the rear is over sprung and under damped. It rattles yer teeth.
The front end is always light and seems to threaten a tank slapper. The disc works in the wet. Carbs out of balance cause mucho vibes. The stator corroded after I left the bike out in the cold for a winter and various wires have worn away. The tyres are Michelin M38s, look like lasting 12000 miles front and half that on the back. They feel very edgy in the wet and drop into slow turns.
Disaster struck after only 1000 miles. Accelerating out of a slow bend in second gear, the engine seized and locked the back wheel solid. Serious bad medicine. So a four mile push was the order of the day. On stripping, the right hand cylinder big-end had broken up, the con-rod had snapped and the resultant debris had beaten up the piston, scored the barrel and peppered the head. It was now exactly how I had bought the bike. Brassed off with it, it was slung in the lock-up for a while until the sun shone and the road racing season began.
Apparently, all this hassle was caused by the bearing corroding and the seals failing when the bike was not used for a time. You have to pour copious quantities of two stroke oil through the carb bellmouths until huge amounts of white smoke come out of the exhaust - that coats everything in oil and stops the decay. I had to fork out £130 for a reconditioned crank.
Maintaining the beast - first get hold of a workshop manual. I suppose this means a Haynes but I managed to pick up an American Clymer book at the bike show for a quid. Brilliant too. Joining the Kawasaki Triples Club is also a good idea. The bike is easy to work on, only a strobe timing light is needed. Tales of seized middle pots are usually caused by not setting up the timing properly. A measured 1100cc of gearbox ail should be poured in, the level on the dipstick is often wrong. The engine comes out of the frame easily and is simple to strip.
Common problems - the middle cylinder silencer mounting lugs split away from the silencer round the weld. The middle silencer can also foul the rear wheel spindle causing a nasty groove to wear in the silencer when the rear suspension moves up and down. Clutch action is heavy but check the nylon actuating mechanism as it gets covered in crud by the final drive sprocket - it needs constant fettling. The tacho drive at the engine end leaks oil. The gear change has a remote linkage and actually this will go sloppy and make the gear lever travel excessive. That is more missed gears. Finally, the locating screws that hold on the points and secures the ignition timing plates all strip their threads and have to replaced with short self-tappers by way of a bodged repair. Same thing happened on my Samurai.
During the last year’s 6000 summer miles three incidents spring to mind. First, I dropped the bike on some diesel spread on a mini roundabout, smashing an indicator, wrecking the points cover and the gear lever punched a deep hole in my ankle. The second one was on the way to Cadwell Park with a mate riding his Yamaha. Just coming into Horncastle I hit a raised manhole cover with a hell of a bang. A few seconds later the bike went on to two cylinders. It was no use stopping in the middle of town, I just carried on until I glanced down to see one of the fuel lines fallen off and petrol was pouring out. I switched the tap and stopped the bike. The whole engine was covered with fuel and it steamed off. How on earth it didn’t catch fire I don’t know. I mopped up the petrol, replaced the pipe and carried on.
The third incident was the most frightening. It involved the problem of leaving the prop stand down. I had been to fill up with petrol. On leaving the garage I changed up through the gears doing about 30mph I entered a gentle curve. The roads were wet and it was dark. The bike took control and headed for the white line. I was soon across the white line and heading for the kerb, worse still, an artic was less than 100 yards away. First, he blew his horn, then braked very hard. He was brilliant really, because by this time the bike was lightly out of shape. I had it crossed up with the front wheel locked but the whole plot was balanced perfectly on the prop stand and heading for the opposite kerb.
The bike was actually stopped by the rear wheel hitting the kerb about ten feet from the front of the lorry. I apologised and the lorry driver must have shook all the way home. It must have looked an amazing sight to him from up in his cab. OK, so hands up those who have left their side stand down at some time. If you're lucky it will kick the rear wheel out, if you are not the stand will dig in and spit you off. To start with I thought that the rear wheel had punctured. I could not hear the stand on the road. What I wanted to do was bail out by lowsiding the thing but could not because the curve was a left-hander, the stand was on the left and the bike slid perfectly balanced from left to right. Absolutely terrifying.
After 6000 miles is the KH250 a good bike to own? For me, yes. It is a toy, not serious transport. It’s no good choosing a bike like this unless you have a couple of them. One to ride, the others for spares. It’s a hack, it’s cheap and a member of the Forgotten Era club. It’s fun and it is not a classic.
By the way, it’s also a pain to clean. Cycle parts are becoming rare and are harder to obtain than engine bits. I wonder if it is possible to fit an H1 500 engine into the chassis? After all, the 400 was fitted into the same frame. Certainly an interesting thought. One day I'd like to own a BMW twin but for now the KH will do. The problem is I keep forgetting that it is nearly fifteen years old... it’s different to 1990 bikes, isn’t it?
John Dalton