New Member....Old Kawasaki

[Airoyster]

Hi Lads,
I'm new to this forum and also new to Kawasaki....I've always been kinda of a Honda Thumper guy.Anyway,here's the story. Last Sunday I purchased a lovely little Candy Lime MC1-M that has been sitting in the original owners garage under a bed sheet for almost 30 years.The bikes condition is nothing short of amazing with almost no sign of deterioration.The bike seems to have been prepped properly for long term storage with all the fluids drained(gas and injector oil tanks) and crankcase filled with oil.I haven't made any attempt to start the bike yet,but did check for spark and it lit up right away.I have limited experience with oil injected two strokes aside from a Yamaha DT50 I had as a kid,and no experience with a motorcycle engine that has it's carb hidden inside the engine case.My father used to always say; "don't mess with things you know nothing about"....so I figured I'd wait until the shop manual arrived(also managed to get an original Owners Manual from ebay)before attempting to get this little guy running.If you fella's could offer any tips,that would be great.Also,I'm having a little trouble nailing down a production year on this bike,there is no serial number as such,but it does have a frame and engine number.The frame number is MC-******.I think it's either a 1973' or 74'...but I could be wrong.Again,any help,info or tips would be super.

[BrianTSmith99]

I know nothing of which you speak, but that sounds like an awesome and facinating find! Would love to see a picture of it!

Brian

[Bill Frazier]

It's a 1974. See: Kawasaki MC1 KM90 - CycleChaos

[Mcdroid]

Originally Posted by Bill Frazier

It's a 1974. See: Kawasaki MC1 KM90 - CycleChaos

I can confirm the year based on frame VIN...my source is the Kawasaki Model Recognition Manual...nice find. Congratulations.

[StarGate]

Here is a link where you can pick up some of the specs on the bike.
74 MC1M 90

[Airoyster]

Thanks for the info guys! That will tie me over until the manuals arrive.

[Airoyster]

Here she is fella's!

[clifftt]

Ooh, nice clean bike!

[StarGate]

Amazing to be in that sort of condition after 30 yrs of storage. You've got a real jewel there. Enjoy it.

[herk]

Ain't that sumthin'. Neato.

[grumpy56]

Amazing is it. Congratulations!!!

[txturbo]

Originally Posted by Airoyster

Hi Lads,
I'm new to this forum and also new to Kawasaki....I've always been kinda of a Honda Thumper guy.Anyway,here's the story. Last Sunday I purchased a lovely little Candy Lime MC1-M that has been sitting in the original owners garage under a bed sheet for almost 30 years.The bikes condition is nothing short of amazing with almost no sign of deterioration.The bike seems to have been prepped properly for long term storage with all the fluids drained(gas and injector oil tanks) and crankcase filled with oil.I haven't made any attempt to start the bike yet,but did check for spark and it lit up right away.I have limited experience with oil injected two strokes aside from a Yamaha DT50 I had as a kid,and no experience with a motorcycle engine that has it's carb hidden inside the engine case.My father used to always say; "don't mess with things you know nothing about"....so I figured I'd wait until the shop manual arrived(also managed to get an original Owners Manual from ebay)before attempting to get this little guy running.If you fella's could offer any tips,that would be great.Also,I'm having a little trouble nailing down a production year on this bike,there is no serial number as such,but it does have a frame and engine number.The frame number is MC-******.I think it's either a 1973' or 74'...but I could be wrong.Again,any help,info or tips would be super.

All you need to do is put fresh oil in the oil tank, fresh gas in the gas tank and make sure the crankcase is filled to the proper level. Then start it up....but make sure smoke is coming out the exhaust. If the oil lines were completely drained it may take a little bit for them to push the air out.

[ratvespa]

wow! that looks amazing! good score!

what I typically do with older injected bikes is the first tank I would run about a 2 percent oil premix, also fill the injector tank. then with it running you can pull the cover that has the carb under it (you might need an impact screwdriver to do this). you will see the carb and the oil injection, the oil injection has usally 2 hoses, one in, one out. On most old injected bikes I have delt with they were clear. so run it till you see oil slowly pumping through the oil hoses. it might take a while to get primed. those oil injections are based on RPM's and throttle position. Its pretty rare for them to not work. my wife has 2 early 60's yamaha trail bikes that have been sitting most of their life, and both oil injections work great.
if the hose is not clear you can crack open the banjo bolt to the outgoing oil line while it's running to see if oil is coming out.

and man, if I had that, I would ride it around a little bit, then it would go straight into my living room!

[V2K_CCTX]

welcome as wow nice vintage

[wdhewson]

If you now own a rotary valve 2-stroke, then "Stealing Speed" by Max Oxley is a must read. It is a good quick story of the guys at MZ developing, then having stolen this design. An inexpensive book for a few days of good entertainment.

[Airoyster]

Hi Lads,
Well it's been a month or so since I purchased this little green monster,so here's an update.

Other than a new throttle control cable,which I had to order from an online seller in Ohio,this little MC1-M is totally original. After getting the workshop manual to educate myself on this 90cc rotary valve two stroke,I totally flushed out the oil injection system with Seafoam to remove any of the 30+ year old crud and to ensure the pump was free.Filled the injection tank with fresh injector oil.I removed the carb and totally disassembled it(you shoulda saw the crap sitting in the bottom of the float bowl)and then soaked everything in carb cleaner.I installed a new carb kit just to make sure everything was kosher and tuned it to spec.The air intake was a bit of an adventure.....when I removed the filter housing and opened it up,the air filter element poured out like powder,so I cleaned out the entire intake right down through into the carb housing and ordered a new element from the dealer.With the carb,air intake and injection system serviced,I did an oil change,installed a new spark plug,flushed out the gas tank with fresh gas and then poured in a 32-1 mixture just in case the injection pump crapped out.I then turned on the petcock and crossed my fingers.The engine fired up on the third kick!.....and smoked like the ****ens!....I guess the oil pump is working! I let it run for a couple of minutes to adjust the idle,rode it up the street to run it through the gears and blow out some of the cobbwebs,then changed the oil and poured straight gas into the tank.The bike runs great and starts right up every time.As you can probably tell from the pic,I did a major cleaning and lubed all moving parts.It's a great little motorcycle.....I just don't know what to do with it now.I'm 6'1 220,so using it as a play bike is out of the question,and my 14 year old son would destroy it in a week.I'm working on my wife to let me put it in our upstairs office as a showpiece,but so far....no dice.....over the fireplace maybe?.....

[wdhewson]

Nice work. Is it a peaky little screamer, or does it have some broad useful power?

[Airoyster]

It actually has some usable power and the 90cc engine can carry my 220lb carcass around pretty good.I took it for a little ride through some trails last Saturday and it performed really well running through the foiliage and down singletrack foot paths. It's not like those ultra hyper two stroke"Bing!Bing!Bing!" dirt racers that take off like a scald cat and throw you off on yer arse when they hit powerband.This bike is really easy to predict and is pretty quiet for a two stroke.

[wdhewson]

I always liked small bikes because you use the full characteristics of the engine. Our current crop of road burners rarely spend any time in their upper reaches.

[Airoyster]

My wife said I had a grin from ear to ear after my little ride last Saturday.....who needs Viagra? LOL!