KT250 reproduction parts game

[David Lahey]

Going along with the Green Japanese theme for the upcoming annual Twinshock Masters at Conondale, here is a trivia game.
It is based on being able to recognise which parts of the KT250 in the attached photos are from KT250 reproduction parts supplier Fred Carter http://kawasakikt.tripod.com/FREDKT.html
Over the years, many KT owners have been greatly assisted by Fred in getting their bike going and looking good, because he has arranged manufacture of reproductions of many KT parts that would otherwise be unobtainable. The big challenge for people doing this game is that Fred's parts are sometimes very hard to tell from the original (I didn't say it was going to be easy did I?)
What have you got to lose by having a go? (nothing)
What might you win by having a go? (yet to be decided, but it will definitely be something to do with green Japanese trials bikes)
Anyway, here are the photos. All the Fred Carter parts are visible in the photos, but don't be tricked into thinking my bike is a Fred Carter showpiece, because there are quite a few original Kawasaki parts on that bike too
Red herrings, subterfuge and distractions are encouraged
One entry per person
If there is more than one correct entry, the winner will be decided based on originality and humour.
As with Don Roland's TY trivia challenge, the judge's decision will be final and no correspondence will be entered into, whatever that means
The prize will be brought along to the Twinshock Masters and will be presented there, or will get to the winner somehow if they are not there
Entries close midnight Tuesday 31 October

[Mark K]

David,
being uneducated in the finer points of all things KT in general, and Fred Carter reproduction parts in particular, I'm not even going to try to hazard a guess and embarrass myself any more than necessary.

I still want to say that is a good looking bike. In my opinion most non-standard colour schemes range from not quite right, to very poor, but on this occasion you seem to have created something that has a touch of class and a good general appearance.

That being said, and taking into consideration your normally very good attention to detail, I do have a couple of questions/comments.

You found a colour coordinated fuel tank breather pipe, but for the fuel line the top half is clear and the bottom half black? Or is it that the top bit is green but just doesn't show up in the photo?

You're using a clutch lever for the brake?

Did you have trouble starting it? I ask because the second bottom photo seems to indicate you've forgotten to put the spark plug lead on.

Finally are you trying to get us all excited with the flash of naked wires in the second photo? (some of us love a good naked wire)

I only said all of this because I don't have GREEN JAPANESE, and as I've already said elsewhere in these forums I'm not about to expose my little TY to the ominous dangers of fresh paint. But, but, but ..... a green bike .... it might be a touch too early to say ..........

[David Lahey]

I must say you have the required attention to detail for this game Mark K and there are photos of Fred Carter's parts on Fred's web page, so you have no excuse
Yes it is a piece of clear fuel hose (I only have my piece of tank draining hose left in green of that size)
Yes it is a clutch lever and it works great as a brake lever
The spark plug on the RH side of the head is there because I don't have a blank plug to fit in that sparkplug hole. KT250s are parts-bin-specials, so the KT cylinder head was probably originally made for a bike that had two plugs, which was in-fashion for a while in the 1970s. On the KT, the exhaust pipe gets in the way of the HT lead if you try and get it to fit the RH plug, so it is superfluous
Naked wires mmmmmm.... I love naked wires too
I hope you do turn up with a green japanese bike, and I have a feeling I might know which one you are on about

[Julz]

Hi David

I am fairly new on here, but I live in the same city as Fred and I ride a KT250 that I bought from him - so I may be at a slight advantage. However, Fred's repro kit is pretty true to the original, so I will take a punt...

I'd say:
Fuel cap is obviously one of Fred's alloy ones
Airbox connector looks matt finish and the original ones tend to go shiny (at least in NZ) so repro
Muffler connector is too dirty to tell, mine is original, so I will say yours is too
Side covers look too straight to be original so I will say repro
Mudguard stays don't look as good as Fred's so I will say original
Decals - new with new paint job, so repro
Front guard looks like the one on Fred's bike, not mine, so could be from him (can't tell with rear)
Handlebars are clearly too shiny to be original
And finally, I can't tell from the pics whether you are using one of his barrel spacers.

How did I do?

My bike is a fairly scruffy KT250A with mis-matched tank & sidecovers. I have lowered and enlarged the footpegs, added Rox pivoting bar risers, and recently swapped in a modern KX100 muffler (to get rid of the bonga bonga bong exhaust note). Fred has just rebuilt the bottom end for me and I have been playing with the float level as it was getting too much fuel at low revs. Seems to be going much better. Looking forward to seeing how she goes in the first round of our local twinshock spring series - TODAY!!!!

Cheers
Julian

[David Lahey]

Well Julian you did do pretty well, but if I give you feedback, others will be able to make an even better entry which would not be not fair to you.
I hope you had fun at that trial today, and it would be great to see photos of your KT - particularly the Roxx risers, footpegs and muffler

[Julz]

Hi David

I have added a general pic of the bike to the 'Show us your twinshock' thread, but here are some pics of the specifics.

Footpegs and mounts are a bit ugly but they give great platform. Tank, side covers and seat are all scruffy, but so far I have been focussing on getting it going right.

Roxx risers

KT250 002 small.jpg (66.34 KiB) Viewed 7808 times

Roxx risers

KT250 003 small.jpg (75.68 KiB) Viewed 7808 times

KX100 muffler

KT250 004 small.jpg (78.26 KiB) Viewed 7808 times

Lowered & larger footpegs

KT250 005 small.jpg (91.27 KiB) Viewed 7808 times

Cheers
Julian

[David Lahey]

Thanks for the photos Julian. I especially like the look of the muffler and if it sounds nice too, all the better.

[David Lahey]

OK here is where the participant/s can help decide what the prize is
So far, I'm thinking of a (kawasaki KT250) personalised coffee mug or stubby cooler as the prize. Any other ideas?

[Julz]

Hi David

I vote for a coffee mug (as its not warm enough for beer coolers over here ).

Of course, if you happened to have a genuine period GREEN Kawasaki riding top in size large...

Well I'd love that too

Cheers
Julian

[David Lahey]

Hi David

I vote for a coffee mug (as its not warm enough for beer coolers over here ).

Of course, if you happened to have a genuine period GREEN Kawasaki riding top in size large...

Well I'd love that too

Cheers
Julian

Julian this is my 13 YO daughter wearing the only genuine 1970s Kawasaki shirt I have, and as you can probably work out, it is probably NOT large size. It does have pretty good provenance though because it was given to 1970s Aussie Trials Champ Peter Paice on one of his Trans Tasman Championship rides in NZ. It says "Hutt Motorcycle Centre" on the back