Kawasaki ke175

Battery: 6V, 6Ah.

This Retrospective article was published in the March issue of Rider. This little woodser was a tribute to good engineering and an American passion for motoring through the semi-wilderness. In the s the Japanese were selling a heckuva lot of little bikes with lights and semi-knobby tires, intended for following the dirt roads and trails in the millions of acres of state and federally owned land in this huge nation of ours. There is something undeniably peaceful about puttering along an unused dirt road, following it through the woods, over the hills, into the dales. Come to an abandoned apple orchard, the thick grass dotted with white daisies, stop, take off the little backpack, pull out a sandwich and a bottle of water and have lunch…and a nap. For this you do not need a big , but something light and friendly, like the Kawasaki KE This KE was a direct descendant of the old cc F series that Kawasaki had been producing since the F1 appeared in

Kawasaki ke175

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With the standard gearing Kawasaki claimed the KE could climb a degree slope—no mean feat. I picked up kawasaki ke175KE at a yard sale. The overall 38mpg figure is low because most of the miles involved were on the trail, kawasaki ke175, but even so an owner should expect no more than 45mpg with normal road use.

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With the classic bike scene on the rise, and many green laners re-evaluating what they want from their machines, will we soon be seeing the rise of the retro trailie? Barni tracked down a mint example of the classic dual sporter…. Colin Matthews and his immaculate Kawasaki KE are a case in point…. Ever since the age of 13, Colin knew that all he wanted to do was work with bikes. At the time Phil owned a red KE and a third brother, John, owned a yellow version. Neither relented. Now you might think that the larger, more modern, liquid-cooled motor in the KMX would allow it to easily see off an old air-cooled Despite it being his boyhood dream, Colin left the motorcycle industry for a while, though kept in touch with the Alfords. She bought a fast car instead!

Kawasaki ke175

Quite possibly this was nothing revolutionary even back in or in when fitted to its grandfather but the fact remains the bike was and is a delightful piece of kit. The apparently simple spinning disc provides just that little bit more extra oomph at low and medium speeds. Unusually Kawasaki claimed both maximum power and torque figures at rpm. When these machines were made they were genuinely Special Ks. With regards to genealogy the KE traces its roots back initially to the F7 which in turn was descended from the F3 Bushwacker. Kawasaki had been just a little faster out the blocks than Yamaha with smaller capacity, purpose designed, trail bikes. For reasons no one is really sure of Honda saw fit to keep out of the fray until This is frankly bizarre; the XL is recognised as being a damn fine alternative to any of the above. Looks, price, brand loyalty and access to a local dealer were normally the deciding factors. On the dirt, with standard cogs front and rear at least, the KE was probably the best of the group for slow, steep, nadgery climbs.

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By Kawasaki was claiming, with a straight face, some 21 horsepower at 7, rpm from this little motor…though that figure was grossly exaggerated as dyno tests showed a verifiable 15 horses at the rear-wheel corral. Neither was it so easy to trickle around on a near-closed throttle despite similar gearing to the smaller bikes. The chassis used a conventional cradle frame with duplex downtubes, a Hatta fork at the front and a pair of shocks at the back. I enjoyed riding the TSER and I wouldn't have noticed its lack of useable power so much if we hadn't had the Yamaha and Kawasaki around for direct comparison. After the first stepped rock or tree trunk, you'd be running without an exhaust system. The engine was essentially the same as on the F7, though a new casting covered the entire right side, concealing the carburetor and oil pump. A friend of mine had an early 70s version that was pretty darn fast, so the state of tune of those rotary valve engines had a lot to do with it, as that was basically the same layout as Can Am used, and they were far and away the fastest bikes in their classes back then. Despite being overshadowed by the completely new KED2, especially on engine performance, the DTMX '80 still excells on suspension thanks mainly to the 'Monocross' cantilever system at the rear. About Bikez. Suspension for road-only machines can be designed to operate under much more limited conditions, so it suggests there is a lot of road suspension development work going undone. Qverall standard of finish was good.

This Retrospective article was published in the March issue of Rider.

Things you haven't seen since you rode your last Bantam. Benelli's Enduro looks so odd after the stereotyped Japanese trail bikes, you can't help feeling that it must be terribly good at something in particular. Puncture repairs must be considered too advanced for the home mechanic. If things go wrong and the tyre sealant doesn't work it never works for me , it's nice to know that the rear wheel comes out without disturbing the chain or its adjustment. This meant we had to leave one bike behind each day. Road clearance unloaded was officially 9. Now so average Leading axle forks are now so average that they're becoming commonplace on street bikes. Any corrections or more information on these motorcycles will be kindly appreciated. Fresh colour scheme The only other changes are a new chain guard and fresh colour scheme and graphics. Hell, what you need is a full track performance analysis such as you'll find on page There wasn't much difference in top speed, either, and both s were faster when carrying a passenger. Trade my little black book for help. Rear Tyre. Combined with good positioning of the bars, seat and footrests, it had a big, easygoing feel reminiscent of Honda's XLS.