QuestionI recently purchase a 1972 Kawasaki 2 stroke triple. It has 7,000 miles on it. I took it out for a ride yesterday and for about 10 miles bike ran flawlessly. I was about 1.5 miles from home and I noticed some rattling noise. Sounded like sloppy piston in the middle cylinder. I've read countless reports on how mechanically noisey these bikes are. It would come and go. I was being cautious with the bike and making a corner when the rear wheel locked up for about 2 seconds, went into a skid then freed up. I pulled over shut it down, looked around and saw nothing. I wasn't going to push it home so I started it up and babied it. It ran on all 3 cylinders and sounded great. I shifted fine through 3 gears and NO noise. I just drained the oil and don't see any signs of anything like metal chips. The only thing I noticed is the chain, which is new is extremely loose. I don't see where it could have jammed up or tried to come off. I'm scared to ride it now. Any ideas?
Thanks for your time!
Rob
AnswerHi Rob,
I love two-strokes. I once owned a KH400, I cannot remember which year. It came out with the H1 & H2's or abouts, only it was a twin cylinder.
A couple of things come to mind with your problem: Either the chain started to come off the sprocket, binded, and caused the rear lock-up or, the cylinder/crankshaft seized.
Pull the spark plugs and examine them. Lood for anything unusual or aluminum build up on the center of the plug.
If the cranks rotates, perform a compression check and a leak down test on the cylinders and crankcase. These will indicate condition of sealing integrity and engine condition.
Compression testers and leak-down testers are rentable/loanable from the local AutoZone car parts stores with a deposit.
Send me an email addy and I'll return some related information files. Very good intel.
Send to my email: mshively1@woh.rr.com
Respectfully,
Mark Shively
Dayton, Ohio
