Mercy! Mercy! That Dang Nabed PERCY!

Surprises in the Kawasaki Bighorn adventure

F-5 350 Kawasaki

Today I did a damage assessment on my 350 cc Kawasaki Bighorn.

I took off the right side engine cover, and tested my rebuilt carburetor. To my astonishment I noticed a big glob of solder or maybe a weld behind where it mounted. The right side case is essentially junk. Maybe I can find a replacement on the Internet. Regardless I'll still try and get it running in this condition but wether or not the weld/solder fixed the problem is mute. There is no way that blob is going to fly. The carburetor still fits even though the attempted fix pinched the oil line. If run very long this would have done serious damage to the engine. Still the motor still turns over and that is a hopeful sign.

This model of Bighorn has an external oil reservoir. The motorcycle does not required a premix of oil as the oil is designed to automatically flow down into the combustion chamber where it is metered by the throttle cable. I plan to take the oiling system out and seal it off and run a premix in the gas tank. While some say the oil also lubricates the main bearing others say that premixing works just fine.

I probably need to pull the top end and take a look.

I also noted that the tab where the rear break attaches was torn and will need welding. The steel foot lever has been cobbled together and will require some fabrication to work properly.

Once I get the oiler taken out I can look to removing the part of the case that covers the clutch pack. The clutch is presently not working. I suspect it's corrosion and will sort itself out once it is cleaned. Then I can see if the transmission works. If it does I'll breath a huge sigh of relief, however sometimes the transmission works on the bench but under load reveals other issues. Broken gear teeth require spitting the case and a complete teardown of the engine.

The good news so far is that I have a clean tank, a good carburetor, and an ignition that produces spark. If I can get the clutch to free up and the gears to work, I'm in a position to attempt cranking the engine to see if it still runs.

At best this motorcycle will live on as a dirt bike and at worst will be used for parts. Time will tell.