hotwheelin1969
1979 Kawasaki KDX 400 with 5000 miles
These bikes seem pretty rare. When I got this one it was wrecked,didn't have fenders,seat was baked and shredded,and of course it was sun baked to perfection. Other than that,it was pretty much complete. I spent 3 or 4 months on this bike back in 2000ish taking it completely apart and cleaning, painting, and brainstorming it back together. I had to install aftermarket handle bar risers to hold a set of realistic handlebars, the ones I replaced I actually still have, I should post that photo. I can show anyone how to do it if needed. I'll shoot a photo of it later. I cut a saddle into the seat foam,1/2 because the foam was toast,and 1/2 because I had a theory.Works great. It lowers the center of gravity, and addresses one of the only complaints about the bike from the magazine articles from the day - Too Tall'. It feels great climbing or going down hills. I would do it to a roached seat agian if I had one. I wouldn't do it to a nice seat nowadays due to my views on originality have changed. I'm geared more towards leaving the bikes as stock as possible now.
Long story shortened.
When I was done with this bike,it looked new from afar, totally bitchen. I have a polaroid I will scan and post, the only photo I have of it when it was done. I took it out to ride the 1st time, and had a friend with me, he was on my 81 RM 465. I couldn't believe how much of a dream this bike was to ride. Unbelievable. I bragged to my friend and said you gotta ride this thing, and we switched bikes. As we rode, after about a mile, he flies by me and does his own thing for a bit. I was stopped having a smoke, and here he comes ripping up to me,slows down in front of me, turns into a donut, completes 3 rounds and flies off. I was pissed. I fired up the 465 and took off after him to get my beautiful bike back, then he rides up next to me and shouts out loud, I'll trade you my truck for this bike!..............................................................................What was I going to say....?......I paid $75 for it, put a couple hundred more into it, and all that time and work, 'and' the bike was so beautiful (at the time), but I didn't have a truck at the time. So I said OK. He owned it for a few years leaving it outside uncovered,never fixed anything on it,took the airbox out to install a super high performance K and N drag racing air filter for maximum horsepower (like this thing doesn't have enough), took the headlight off, and rode it till the tabs on the pipe were broke, and the brackets on the stock silencer were broke, brakes gone,etc. He was down on his luck, his new truck had just got stolen, and I had his other now perfectly running truck, and felt a little wierd, so I let him ride my 1976 CB 550 around till he got back on his feet. He rode the piss out of it, and everytime I seen him I was doing maintenence on the CB. So I hit him up one day to trade my CB for the KDX and he said YES. And that's the story of how I got my KDX 400 baby back. I'm always on craigslist looking for a 1979 or 1980 KDX 400 parts bike ever since getting it back. I really want to keep it forever,it is that cool.
1979 Kawasaki KDX 400 with 5000 miles
These bikes seem pretty rare. When I got this one it was wrecked,didn't have fenders,seat was baked and shredded,and of course it was sun baked to perfection. Other than that,it was pretty much complete. I spent 3 or 4 months on this bike back in 2000ish taking it completely apart and cleaning, painting, and brainstorming it back together. I had to install aftermarket handle bar risers to hold a set of realistic handlebars, the ones I replaced I actually still have, I should post that photo. I can show anyone how to do it if needed. I'll shoot a photo of it later. I cut a saddle into the seat foam,1/2 because the foam was toast,and 1/2 because I had a theory.Works great. It lowers the center of gravity, and addresses one of the only complaints about the bike from the magazine articles from the day - Too Tall'. It feels great climbing or going down hills. I would do it to a roached seat agian if I had one. I wouldn't do it to a nice seat nowadays due to my views on originality have changed. I'm geared more towards leaving the bikes as stock as possible now.
Long story shortened.
When I was done with this bike,it looked new from afar, totally bitchen. I have a polaroid I will scan and post, the only photo I have of it when it was done. I took it out to ride the 1st time, and had a friend with me, he was on my 81 RM 465. I couldn't believe how much of a dream this bike was to ride. Unbelievable. I bragged to my friend and said you gotta ride this thing, and we switched bikes. As we rode, after about a mile, he flies by me and does his own thing for a bit. I was stopped having a smoke, and here he comes ripping up to me,slows down in front of me, turns into a donut, completes 3 rounds and flies off. I was pissed. I fired up the 465 and took off after him to get my beautiful bike back, then he rides up next to me and shouts out loud, I'll trade you my truck for this bike!..............................................................................What was I going to say....?......I paid $75 for it, put a couple hundred more into it, and all that time and work, 'and' the bike was so beautiful (at the time), but I didn't have a truck at the time. So I said OK. He owned it for a few years leaving it outside uncovered,never fixed anything on it,took the airbox out to install a super high performance K and N drag racing air filter for maximum horsepower (like this thing doesn't have enough), took the headlight off, and rode it till the tabs on the pipe were broke, and the brackets on the stock silencer were broke, brakes gone,etc. He was down on his luck, his new truck had just got stolen, and I had his other now perfectly running truck, and felt a little wierd, so I let him ride my 1976 CB 550 around till he got back on his feet. He rode the piss out of it, and everytime I seen him I was doing maintenence on the CB. So I hit him up one day to trade my CB for the KDX and he said YES. And that's the story of how I got my KDX 400 baby back. I'm always on craigslist looking for a 1979 or 1980 KDX 400 parts bike ever since getting it back. I really want to keep it forever,it is that cool.