Posts
27442
Joined
7/22/2007
Location
St Helens, OR
US
Edited Date/Time
11/13/2014 8:09am
I talked to you a couple years ago about my Dad's old bike. It's a 1969 Kawasaki 238cc Scrambler. Well.....by luck....I found a guy out here in the NW that knows how to restore bikes the right way.....and he's spoken to you a few times! He has some of his restored bikes at Hillsboro Honda and has sold some of them all over the NW and even to a dude in Sweden!
I'm a contractor and actually got called to come give him a bid on his job. Once he found out that I rode MX.....it was on from there.We talked MX for a bit and then he filled me in on how he restores bikes for fun. I told him about my Dad's bike and later that same night....he had already contacted some other builders that had a line in on some parts for the old gal.
Winter project coming........and I may be able to get this thing running again after 31yrs. I blew it up when I was 15yrs old. After I blew up my 1975 XR75....my dad couldn't afford a new bike for me and said " Kid....if you want to keep riding.....the 238 is out in the shed " So being 12yrs old , about 95lbs soaking wet....over the next 3yrs I learned the school of hard knox while that bike beat me into the ground! Mis-timing that compression release when you're that small....really , really hurts....and will send you over the bars every now and then!
This is what she looks like now. And I'm tearing it down to the bare frame and re-building her from the ground up. Goal for now is to just get it running. Also....if I can find the pics....I have some in 1969 where I was 1yrs old sitting on the tank with my dad sitting behind me. Bike has a bunch of sentimental value to it to me.
What I'm kind of shooting for.
I'm a contractor and actually got called to come give him a bid on his job. Once he found out that I rode MX.....it was on from there.We talked MX for a bit and then he filled me in on how he restores bikes for fun. I told him about my Dad's bike and later that same night....he had already contacted some other builders that had a line in on some parts for the old gal.
Winter project coming........and I may be able to get this thing running again after 31yrs. I blew it up when I was 15yrs old. After I blew up my 1975 XR75....my dad couldn't afford a new bike for me and said " Kid....if you want to keep riding.....the 238 is out in the shed " So being 12yrs old , about 95lbs soaking wet....over the next 3yrs I learned the school of hard knox while that bike beat me into the ground! Mis-timing that compression release when you're that small....really , really hurts....and will send you over the bars every now and then!
This is what she looks like now. And I'm tearing it down to the bare frame and re-building her from the ground up. Goal for now is to just get it running. Also....if I can find the pics....I have some in 1969 where I was 1yrs old sitting on the tank with my dad sitting behind me. Bike has a bunch of sentimental value to it to me.
What I'm kind of shooting for.
That looks killer just the way it is!
I would get her running and just clean her up a bit leaving the natural patina on it!
Either way you go with it keep us up to date as you make progress!
The thing is.....between the ages of 12 - 15yrs old....this is the bike I rode. While some of my other friends had hopped up 80's....I had to learn how to go fast on this thing....and I can tell you right now , I had some of the best riding ever on that thing in those years.
The restoration is planned to bring it back to stock some what. BTW....you guys see the seat cover...Leather! My mom did that for my dad back in the early seventies because he wore the stock seat cover out. Also ( and I just found this out today ) the exhaust pipe isn't stock either.....but I guess a " Hooker header " exhaust? I had no idea they made dirt bike exhaust. AND....the guy that's helping me with the restore mentioned that the handlebars are something worth some $$$. Can't remember what he called them. The " V " in them is what caught his attention.
Really hoping Newmann chimes in here on this.
The Shop
Good luck with the restore bud.
God....I have so many cool stories about riding with my dad when i was younger. I seriously think my dad was talented as hell on this bike...I'm not kidding!
I'll try not to be long winded to much in this , but here goes.
I was about 10yrs old and I came home and told my dad I found some new kickass little trails down by the creek i wanted him to come check out with me. Next morning , we strap up and head on down towards the creek. He didn't realize we were that close to the creek. And there were these really tall swamp grass/ weeds that were like 8' tall and he blew off the ridden path right throgh those things right towards the creek! I yelled........." Stop dad!! ".......he didn't hear me until it was to late. He barreled right off about a 10' embankment and right into the creek! he sent me to the house to go grab the starting fluid since the bike drowned.
After about an hour of trying to get it fired back up.....the next chore was to find a way out. So i lead him over to where the trail was leading down to my crawdad fishing holes were at. I'm NOT kidding when i say......I had a rope to hold on to , to help walk up and down that trail!
My dad took a couple runs at it....and made it up that SOB.....pinned!! I did NOT think he was going to make it up that trail...but he did! About 10yrs later i went down that way on my 90' KX 250.and there is NO WAY in hell I was going to attempt trying to go up or down that damn trail!
One day that sticks out in my mind about some of our rides.....but I have a few different memories of my dad riding that thing. And NOW....I realize that when most of my uncles said " Kid.....your dad is a crazy SOB! ".....I completely understood what they were talking about! Haha!
All the best brother
I remember one race, at OCIR night mx, in So. Cal., I holeshot all the latest CR, YZ, and CZ-Maicos, led for about 1/2 lap, bike just would not turn very well. Sweet memories.
Unequivocally keep the leather seat cover. That's a must. Personally I'd keep the airbox, pipe and bars too. That's the kind of stuff that makes it your family's bike, not just another old bike.
And yeah, I think you should keep the seat. It looks tough, retro and authentic! and way cooler than the black seat in the other bike in this thread.
The fact that your mom made it makes it even cooler!
I'm so excited about this restoration , especially since I have a guy who can find basically anything. He said that he was really interested in helping me out because 1.) enjoys doing it , and 2.) He knows me and my dad had a strong connection with this bike.
It's bugging me really bad right now....but I'm going to find those old pictures , get them scanned and post them up here.
Just talked to my sister a few minutes ago and she reminded me of this time my dad had a buddy drop him off at the house ( I was probably 5 - 6yrs old? ) and pops was all banged up. I asked what happened and i remember my dad's buddy said " Well kid......your dad went sailing off this gnarly hill where there was 4 huge logs........he cleared 3......didn't quite clear the 4th one "
Dad sat home from work for a few weeks with a bunch of broken ribs. Holy shit.....when I think about it....some of things I used to see him do on that bike blew my mind!
Those restored ones look pretty amazing and for such an old bike, they really do speak the language of moto. Pretty sleek and minimalistic, just the way I like them. You really need to make it a rider and get it out on the track for some vintage mx. Ride it, don't hide it. The vintage moto scene really is a whole other world. Cool people, cool events, legends showing up to rub elbows and bang bars. Kind of like a big party where a motocross race breaks out.
Not to hijack your thread, but I had a similar story. Had a XR75 (this was probably '85 ish) and somehow I found a way to kill the unkillable bike! My dad had a mint RD125 street bike in the shed. I took that out and was riding with my friends every day with the street bike tires while they were on their XR and CR 80's and 125's. Learned to flat track pretty good with those tires on dirt/grass, made me a better rider. Unfortunately by the end of the summer the MINT RD has dents in the tank, broken turn signals, etc. Years latter I felt bad I did that to his bike, he's gone now but appreciate that he let me ride his bike!!
Post a reply to: Attn Newmann!!....You are going to like this thread!