[tmack18]

I would like to ID this bike. The frame # is F210710 Thanks for any help. Tim

 

[nedley]

Now THIS is a challenge - only a frame number to go by! Wouldn't have a picture or 2 would you?

 

[A2rider]

 

[RapidoArt]

It is a 1966-69 Kawasaki F2 175.
Serial number on the frame started at F21 0000 so that makes your bike number 710, I would guess they made more than that in the first year, so it should be a 66.
I realize the first post was from a couple years ago but, what are you doing with it? Have you started to restore it or are you parting it out?
If you are restoring it, how about some new pictures?

 

[salopian]

If you're going to restore that my friend, I take my hat off to you !

 

[wdhewson]

Bit by bit by bit, the old mount can be brought to life again. Do it!

 

[Polar_Bus]

Bit by bit by bit, the old mount can be brought to life again. Do it!

And have your wallet ready, and stuffed full of $100's ...

 

[Deeppurple52]

Rust never sleeps!

 

[RapidoArt]

Mine is in as bad of shape with missing parts as well.

Does anyone have one that they are parting out? Need Sidecovers, etc.

 

[Den Meguro]

Hi, I've got a very similar bike to the above, which was probably restored 10-15 years ago and is in good running condition though not pristine. I have however been unable to locate its chassis number. Any idea where I should look for it? Thanks

 

[kawah1c]

Either vertically on the headstock or like this:

 

[Den Meguro]

Thanks a lot. I suspect the number was lost in the old restoration. The head stock has been stamped (badly) with the registration plate number, and there is no plate screwed on the bike like the one you posted. By the way, I am new here, how do you post pictures?

 

[Den Meguro]

 

[Den Meguro]

Here's a photo of my mid-60s Kawasaki

 

[wdhewson]

That's really neat. Were there Kawasaki dealers back then, or did a hardware store sell it? Please takes a few sentences to describe what she is like to start up and ride. Thanks, Don

 

[Den Meguro]

Hi Don, the bike (and I) are in Vietnam. I presume the bike was made in Japan and sold new or used in Saigon sometime in the mid 60s-early 70s, in any case before 1975. There are lots of bikes in Vietnam, and a fair sprinkling of older bikes and scooters (Hondas, Vespas and Lambrettas were local favorites) but old Kawasakis (or Suzukis) are extremely thin on the ground, so I presume that there never was a dealer network, but more likely some importers who bought the bikes overseas, paid the customs officers a beer or two and dodged import taxes, a fine tradition that lives on to this day in Vietnam. I bought the bike just over a year ago from someone who had been here since the mid-90s and had had the bike for some time. When Vietnam reopened in the 90s, a lot of the fancy bikes that had been hidden in South Vietnam reappeared and were sold to cash-rich foreigners, after a more or less sympathetic 'restoration'. When I bought it, she had used this bike, affectionately known as Den (means Black in Vietnamese) as her daily ride and it needed some reconditioning: none of the electrics worked, the silencer wasn't properly attached and made a lot of noise, the front brakes were useless... On the other hand it started easily (first kick usually) and was fairly reliable (unlike say my 1969 Lambretta) and the reconditioning was done very cheaply by some local mechanics. The bike has a 4 speed transmission with the same "rotary" pattern as found on say a Honda cub: N-1-2-3-4-N if you keep pushing the gear selector down. Power and speed: the engine revs quite nicely with a mild kick when pushed hard but top speed is maybe 80-90 km/h (speedo doesn't work, naturally), it feels like the engine could have been more powerful back in the days but after 40 odd years in Vietnam why hurry now? The frame is generally speaking in good condition with very limited corrosion, although there is a rather impressive crease on one side in the box section underneath the tank that suggests an old accident (before the restoration in any case because the tank and everything else that would have been damaged in a crash are spotless). Ride is good and the bike feels very safe but the suspensions are very tired and on the local pot-holed roads, I can usually feel every bump. As mentioned above I don't know what the exact model is and the frame number is seemingly lost. The engine number is KD126868, if that means anything to anyone.

Sam

 

[RapidoArt]

Ohhhh, if you are in Vietnam that makes sense.
I couldn't figure out what it was from around here but in your area there was a B1 sold. It has the same kneepad on the tank on yours, also chainguards were same. What I couldn't match up for sure was the slope on the head. It looked like most B1's had flat heads (I could be wrong just from the angle of the pictures). But at least B1 gives you a start.

There are at least 2 locations for the serial number. Below the oiltank or sidecover on the right hand side, it should be a brass plate (mine is gone) and then the same number written vertically behind the headstock on the right hand side, just in front of the gastank (you should see it with the tank on).

Now, the engine and frame numbers do not match in those years. My F2 engine number is in the 40's and the frame number is another 50 numbers higher.

 

[RapidoArt]

That's really neat. Were there Kawasaki dealers back then, or did a hardware store sell it? Please takes a few sentences to describe what she is like to start up and ride. Thanks, Don

Hey Don,
There is a person in our vintage club that retired out here from Ontario. When he was a kid in the 60's he got his first Kawasaki bike from Canadian Tire. I don't know whether there were other dealers but I thought I would pass that info along.