ValiantK360
Well-Known Member
Well today I picked up this 1979 Kawasaki KE100 Enduro that was not currently running. The biggest issue it had is that the kick starter was not working properly, so the only way to turn over the engine was to push start it. Before I bought the bike I tried getting it started by doing that, but had no luck (I forgot that the fuel petcock was "off" 
). I tried it again after I bought the bike (I remembered to put the petcock to "on" lol) and it still did not want to start. So I took the spark plug out to see the condition it was in and it looked brand new, but it was really wet from all the gas. I dried it off and set it to the factory spark plug gap (0.028). I put the spark plug back and did another push start (thinking it still was not going to start up) and surprisingly enough, it started right up! I put it into neutral and revved it up a few times (it was smoking like a chimney), and let it idle for about 5 minutes. The engine sounded really healthy and it was producing a great amount of smoke (that's a good sign since it's a 2-stroke). I did not get a chance to give it a test ride, but I'm pretty excited it started up very easily! I know it will need a bit of carburetor work/tuning though since it is running rich at the moment. The weird thing is that I don't know where the choke is for the carburetor, but that will have to be something I will have to investigate. I knew from the start that this "project" bike was really a good investment and I predicted that it wasn't going to take much to get it running. I was expecting a bit more trouble, considering the fact that it's a 37 year old motorcycle. I still want to get the kick starter working, but that will require me to split the case and all which is another project within itself. Looks like for now I'm push starting it . This was my success for the day!
). I tried it again after I bought the bike (I remembered to put the petcock to "on" lol) and it still did not want to start. So I took the spark plug out to see the condition it was in and it looked brand new, but it was really wet from all the gas. I dried it off and set it to the factory spark plug gap (0.028). I put the spark plug back and did another push start (thinking it still was not going to start up) and surprisingly enough, it started right up! I put it into neutral and revved it up a few times (it was smoking like a chimney), and let it idle for about 5 minutes. The engine sounded really healthy and it was producing a great amount of smoke (that's a good sign since it's a 2-stroke). I did not get a chance to give it a test ride, but I'm pretty excited it started up very easily! I know it will need a bit of carburetor work/tuning though since it is running rich at the moment. The weird thing is that I don't know where the choke is for the carburetor, but that will have to be something I will have to investigate. I knew from the start that this "project" bike was really a good investment and I predicted that it wasn't going to take much to get it running. I was expecting a bit more trouble, considering the fact that it's a 37 year old motorcycle. I still want to get the kick starter working, but that will require me to split the case and all which is another project within itself. Looks like for now I'm push starting it . This was my success for the day!
