Newbie KH500 rebuild
Posted: Tue Jun 23, 2015 1:51 pm
So, having lurked around in the shadows of this website for too many years, I’ve decided to come out and declare my long-term KH500 restoration project..
The real reason is that despite owning a pile of bits for 30+ years, I’ve never rebuilt any motorbike so I need help!
I bought the bike in (ahem) 1984. This is what it looked like back then (you can date the picture from my wife’s hair..). As usual, it was pretty much all there, except of course for the airbox.. When I got the bike, it didn’t actually run. It did fire and show willing, but I’ve never ridden it!
Pretty sure it’s a genuine UK bike. Registration is PMV480R. Mileage on the speedo is only about 6K, but I suspect it’s done more.
For the restoration, I’m not planning a concours job, but will update a few components here and there to focus on rideability. I want to bike to look period, so no modern forks etc..
Over the past few months, I’ve stripped the engine and had the crank rebuilt by Gary, who’s also given me loads of advice and support – much appreciated!
I’m getting parts ready for the engine rebuild, but there’s a couple of things to check out before I proceed. When I stripped the engine, it all looked pretty good, except that the middle gear selectors was burred, as per the pic. The other two look fine, but this one isn’t. Any ideas what caused this and do I just replace it? Or, do I need to find out the root cause and fix that too? The mark on the selector is 'T7'. Thanks
The real reason is that despite owning a pile of bits for 30+ years, I’ve never rebuilt any motorbike so I need help!
I bought the bike in (ahem) 1984. This is what it looked like back then (you can date the picture from my wife’s hair..). As usual, it was pretty much all there, except of course for the airbox.. When I got the bike, it didn’t actually run. It did fire and show willing, but I’ve never ridden it!
Pretty sure it’s a genuine UK bike. Registration is PMV480R. Mileage on the speedo is only about 6K, but I suspect it’s done more.
For the restoration, I’m not planning a concours job, but will update a few components here and there to focus on rideability. I want to bike to look period, so no modern forks etc..
Over the past few months, I’ve stripped the engine and had the crank rebuilt by Gary, who’s also given me loads of advice and support – much appreciated!
I’m getting parts ready for the engine rebuild, but there’s a couple of things to check out before I proceed. When I stripped the engine, it all looked pretty good, except that the middle gear selectors was burred, as per the pic. The other two look fine, but this one isn’t. Any ideas what caused this and do I just replace it? Or, do I need to find out the root cause and fix that too? The mark on the selector is 'T7'. Thanks
