‘71 Kawasaki G4TR revival

Edited Date/Time 3/14/2018 10:57am
I have been bringing this old ‘71 kawi G4TR back to riding condition. I want to keep the cosmetic wear and tear intact as I like to think of that as part of the “history” of the bike.
I bought the bike for $150 last year and finally have got around to giving it some attention. I am guessing it has been sitting for at least 20 years without running by the looks of it. The gas tank is full of rust , tires are cracked and weather checked and everything was covered in a lot of dust when I got it. It did have a spark though which was a promising sign !
So I started out by doing a compression test and it came out at 115 psi. I pulled the carb and stripped it down for a full examination and cleaning , replaced the spark plug cap , checked the wiring , cleaned the air filter , changed out the oil in the oil injection reservoir , rigged up a “gas tank” with a plastic bottle hooked to the carb line , put some premixed fuel in the bottle and kicked it over...2nd kick and it fired right up !!
It smoked like a freight train but as I had to get it running first to verify if the oil injection pump was working properly I ran it on some 32:1 premix for initial start up to be safe. I later verified that the injection pump is working correctly so can safely put straight gas in it from now on.
Now that I had verified it started and ran I got busy tearing down the top end and pulled the piston. It’s still on the standard size piston , apart from some blow by it looked to be in good condition. The cylinder bore looks good as well. No noticeable play in the crank either. I’m not overly surprised to see that though as the bike only has 2092 miles on it but it’s still a lot nicer to have a good condition engine to work with than an engine that’s had a hard life!
I now have a bunch of parts as well as new tires on order and will hopefully have this little piece of moto history back up and running ASAP.



















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wertman194
Posts
110
Joined
2/11/2018
Location
Puyallup, WA US
3/7/2018 10:40am
What an awesome feeling when an old bike of unknown history fires up! Especially on the 2nd kick!
3/7/2018 10:52am
wertman194 wrote:
What an awesome feeling when an old bike of unknown history fires up! Especially on the 2nd kick!
It definitely says a lot for the old saying “they don’t build them like they used to” !!
Korbenw7p3c
Posts
39
Joined
1/19/2018
Location
Central Illinois, IL US
3/9/2018 4:31pm
Excellent find and a great toy to get up and running again (still!!!). My first dirt bike was a Kawasaki G31M. Oh to have that today! Enjoy that piece of early 2-strike history and thanks for putting up pics.

The Shop

Bent206
Posts
133
Joined
10/1/2016
Location
Coventry, RI US
3/9/2018 6:47pm
Look how thick those piston rings are!

Cool old bike. Good luck with your build.
Ewan
Posts
615
Joined
7/1/2008
Location
Scotland GB
3/12/2018 2:12pm
We’ve got a KM 100 sitting in the back of our shed that hasn’t been touched since I got a KX 100 in 1991!

This thread has got me thinking I should be giving the wee rotary valved Kawi some love!

3/14/2018 10:49am
Ewan wrote:
We’ve got a KM 100 sitting in the back of our shed that hasn’t been touched since I got a KX 100 in 1991! This thread...
We’ve got a KM 100 sitting in the back of our shed that hasn’t been touched since I got a KX 100 in 1991!

This thread has got me thinking I should be giving the wee rotary valved Kawi some love!

Definitely! They are a lot of fun !
3/14/2018 10:53am
More work done on the build. Treated the inside of the fuel tank with Metal Rescue rust remover , cleaned the petcock and reassembled it all. No rust and no leaks !





3/14/2018 10:57am
A steady stream of parts deliveries this week. Piston , rings , gaskets , spark plugs, tires and tubes , chain etc etc will be keeping me busy for a while !








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