H1F build- My first Kawasaki triple.

[2smoke]

Hi guys. I am new to Kawasaki triples. I got the bug about a year ago and have since introduced myself to the group and been reading about these bikes and going thru build threads.

A friend of mine has a 75 H2 on the road and I guess it rubbed off on me as I ran out and bought this 75 H1F:

Then I ran out and bought a H1F parts pile. 2 frames, 1 with an ownership. 2 complete engines, 2 incomplete engines...etc.

Everybody likes pictures right? Lol.

I decided right away that I don't want to build a stock bike. Too many cool specials out there and since I am starting with just parts, I don't feel bad about modifying a nice original bike.

Also after seeing Givr `s Zombie bike, I knew I wanted cast wheels and not spokes.

And I want updated handling and brakes.

After researching the various KZ model bikes and their wheel sizes, I ran across a few triples that were updated with parts from the 1990 Kawasaki Zephyr 550.

And I loved the wheels and the tire sizes.

So the tires/wheels are 110/80/17 front, 140/70/18 rear.

I can run much more modern rubber and lose the 19 inch front wheel!

RB ran these wheels/forks/swingarm on a H2

And Dave at Higgspeed on a H1

So I have collected all the Zephyr parts. I may not use the aluminum swingarm though. I might be using a KZ750 swingarm that I bought instead. The Zephyr one is 2 inches longer and 2 inches wider at the twinshock mounts which I don't like.

The KZ750 one is the same length as stock, gives me an inch more room to fit the brake caliper bracket, looks stock but is beefier and the front is boxed in and has needle bearings in the pivot...etc.

Progress has started.

To fit the Zephyr front end I have swapped the H1 steering stem into the Zephyr lower triple and welded it in. Put on new tapered roller bearings and voila.

The next step is to open up the hole on the Zephyr upper triple clamp so it will fit on the H1 stem, then I can add fork stops.

Still deciding if I should beef up the frame or not. Tabs for the rear master cylinder will get welded on, and once the front and rear

are done, the frame will get sandblasted and I will paint it.

I should mention, I am doing all the work on this bike. Everything but the crank rebuild and piston bores.

Been trying to decide a color and stripe scheme.

So much choice- I will use any color or stripes from any year or model of triple. But I don't want to risk a new untried color.

Lots of time to decide! Lol.

I want to have a sorted roller by spring. Do all the bodywork/paintwork outside during the summer while the machine work is getting done. Then finish the bike next fall/winter.

Any questions/ thoughts?

 

[daffey1]

Looks like you got quite a project going on there 2smoke . The thing about starting with a bunch of parts is that you can try a couple different ways of doing things until you find the best way. Have fun

[2smoke]

Hi
Yep, definately lots of parts. I went to both cvmg swap meets last summer selling stuff and i will be doing it again in the spring.
I am just excited to finally be underway with the bike.

[givr]

Looking good, always nice to have a pile of stuff to play with. Looking forward to seeing the progress here.

[2smoke]

Ok. I upsized the hole in the upper triple.

Then I mocked up the front end so I could decide what to do for fork stops.

Love the visual progress!

I am digging it!

I also planned out a bracket to mount the factory gauges to the Zephyr upper triple. And I have to shorten up the bracket that holds the headlight ears.

We`ll see what I can get done this week. Friggin cold and I have heat in my shop but it takes a long time to warm up.

By the way, does anyone know where I can get a new decal made up for the steering head like this?

Stay warm dudes!

[H2 Dude]

send RB a message here or on kawi2strokes.com..depends on how busy he is..

[koob]

Is it the angle of the pic.; looks like the bike will be sitting higher with the new forks...

[2smoke]

Its the picture. I measured the overall difference in height to be within half an inch. Which aint bad.

[koob]

No, that oughtta work fine, a lotta guys recommend using longer shocks, it'll look good.

[2smoke]

Busy week at work and icy temperatures kept me out of the shop this week but I did manage to cut and weld the zephyr headlight bracket to fit.

Now I have to decide to use the original headlight or this 8 inch one instead.

The 8 inch with H4 bulb would do a better job but does it look ok?

or stock

Anyway, I am starting on fitting the kz750 swingarm today. Spring is only 2 months away!

 

[daffey1]

I kinda like the Zephyr headlight myself

[Walms]

+1

[2smoke]

Thanks for the input guys.

The bigger headlight is growing on me. Its something I can change later pretty easy if I don't like it.

Well I am back from the medieval machine shop, aka my fathers garage. Lol.

Knocked out the bearings in the swingarm( wrecked one of them, crap.)

Then cut the pivot area down to the right width. It went well, no drama.

The pivot tube is much harder so I am taking that to work and cutting it down this week.

So I am hoping to start fitting the rear wheel next weekend.

[2smoke]

Ok, a quick update. I was sick all last weekend with a really bad sinus thing and didn't leave the house. Nothing got done with this bike.

But I collected my new swingarm bearings and seals so this weekend I got the swingarm mounted.

It looks like its going to work out pretty good.

In the pictures the wheel is pushed up to the first mark on the adjusters. I have about 1/8 inch equally on either side of the front of the tire. The brake caliper stay rod is just touching the right shock so I will probably tweek the rod a bit for clearance.

Probably not using these shocks, just used them for testing.

[daffey1]

It's starting to come together