K0 Project

[UK Pete]

Hi all , i have been trying to buy a K0 for 3 years and have tryed to buy 3  different ones  up until now but for whatever reason i have not managed to close the deals, after getting the SOHC bug a few years back this has been my goal to own the earliest k0 i can find
Well after lots of thinking and working out restoration costs etc i decided the best way forward if i want to own one and restore it to original is to pay the money rather than hope one comes up real cheap, so thats what i have done,  i chose one that retains most of the original bits as they are the parts that rocket the price of restoration to the point where you will never get back your money
So what i have is a 1969 K0 US import all there and running but in need of restoration and registering, i am so content now i have added this to my collection, the only trouble is i have 5 projects on the go at the moment and non of them getting anywhere at the moment, i was doing a gpz550, cb750 cafe racer , Rickman Honda 750 , Klr 600 chopper, and another 750 F2 , I then had a nasty bike accident which cost me 5 months of recovery time, now i am better all i want to do is ride again rather than spend weekends restoring, but as Autumn is here now and my work drops off i will get back on track and start where i left off with the Gpz and Rickman,
But at the same time will get the K0 MOT and registered so i can ride it around for a year or so while gathering bits for the restoration
The Hard to get  bits (or shall i say expesive bits) i need to source are left hand fork ear, recessed ignition, and Exhausts, i have noticed DS no longer sells the HM300 complete exhaust sets which is disapointing ,Yamiya pipes are ridiculous price when you add postage and Import tax, the ignition switchs go for anything up to £400 so i probably will not bother with that,  but luckly i have good carbs ,  air box, good clocks, good seat, even a reasonable original double cut front guard, plastic chain guard, oh yes and the hard to get wrinkle tank , so over half way there with the rare parts
I will keep you posted with progress
Pete

[K2-K6]

That sounds interesting Pete, seems like you've got  whole musuem going there now!

Hope your arm recovery has got you back to normal now as well.

Be interesting to see some pictures of your new aquisition as well....that also means you'll hve the both the start and finish of the SOHC750 series in your collection.

[mick]

Hi Pete glad to hear you managed to get your hands on a KO eventually  & i'm glad i didn't sell mine  , do you plan on doing afull nut & bolt resto?,

post some photos when you get chance  cheers Mick.

[UK Pete]

Hi Nigel yes my arm is good now i recovered well, yes i have a sort of museum be a very messy one with ratty bikes, first an last, some people get one model and rubbish of the  other models saying there not as good  i love them all
Mick you done the right thing hanging on to yours, i am not sure what to do with mine, the cost of a nut and bolt resto on these is very high the cost of the chrome work alone is over 2k, but i have this vision of a lovely restored one sitting in my garage so i might have to raise some funds and do the job properly, i will post up some pictures soon
Pete