my first bike

Disclaimer: Links on this page pointing to Amazon, eBay and other sites may include affiliate code. If you click them and make a purchase, we may earn a small commission.

Swims350

Full Access Member
Joined
Jul 30, 2010
Posts
4,351
Reaction score
812
Location
Logan WV
First Name
Chris
Truck Year
1983
Truck Model
K10
Engine Size
none
So not many know but I recently got a 95 buick lesabre that my step brother had ad was going to use the 3.8 as a spare for my wife's 01 monte carlo ss. I was informed by Andy that it would not work one was tall deck and one short.

So I traded it off.

I ended up with a 81 kawasaki 440 ltd bike. it's a belt driven bike, needs some work. I was going to fix it up to get it running and driving then sell or trade, probably still will.

So far I know it needs a carb or carb parts some are physically damaged, found that out today.

Throttle assembly whole twist part and cable is gone.

drive belt or swap over to chain and sprockets, belt is hard to come by.

battery of course, and some wiring needs work for sure, or all of it LOl.

key switch and cover as well up front for th elights and such in between the gauges.
You must be registered for see images attach
You must be registered for see images attach
You must be registered for see images attach
You must be registered for see images attach
You must be registered for see images attach
 

animal

Super Moderator
Staff member
Super Moderator
Joined
Jul 30, 2010
Posts
5,431
Reaction score
3,555
Location
Georgia
First Name
Lee
Truck Year
1986
Truck Model
c10 silverado
Engine Size
350ish
Nice :wave:
 

Swims350

Full Access Member
Joined
Jul 30, 2010
Posts
4,351
Reaction score
812
Location
Logan WV
First Name
Chris
Truck Year
1983
Truck Model
K10
Engine Size
none
try not to laugh too hard I've never owned nor riden a motorcycyle, well drove one.

I rode bicycles for years like half my life, and my dad had a 750 super sport honda when I was a kid I rode with him 3 or 4 times, and rode my uncles harley sportster once, and of course by ride I mean pass. or bitch LOL.

So if I get this one running/ driving I'm gonna learn and try it out, hope I don't wipe out much.

I had zero in the car, and it had bad subframe, either rotted out or broke and hadsome bushings gone, so may have just been bushings gone, but anyways, got nothing in the bike so if I parted it or sold it as is it'd be profit.

I figured if I had time to check out the car and could honestly say what was wrong with it, maybe get 500-700 or so for it.

This bike I'd hope maybe running driving get 1,00 or so for it since come spring everyone wants bikes to ride?

If not then I got a new toy.
 

SDJunkMan

Full Access Member
Joined
Nov 17, 2017
Posts
1,794
Reaction score
2,632
Location
Black Hills of South Dakota
First Name
Jeff
Truck Year
1978
Truck Model
K10
Engine Size
350
The 440 is a nice little beginner bike. A friend of mine had one that was about that year and really liked it. It's a little small for the highway, but great for around town.
 

yevgenievich

Full Access Member
Joined
Mar 1, 2014
Posts
4,789
Reaction score
3,327
Location
Texas
First Name
Viktor
Truck Year
sad
Truck Model
very sad
Engine Size
less sad
Looks interesting. I had a vulcan 750 of similar era that I put a bit of modification on but parted ways with it for little unfortunately. I miss it, except the wore out first gear that required a roll to engage.

You must be registered for see images attach
 

crazy4offroad

Equal Opportunity Destroyer
Joined
Jul 30, 2010
Posts
8,468
Reaction score
1,070
Location
West BY-GOD Virginia
First Name
Curt
Truck Year
1979
Truck Model
K-10
Engine Size
350/SM465/NP205
Nice trading, Chris! If I had never ridden before I would say this phase of my life is close to too late to try. Falling down off a motorcycle hurts a lot more now that it did back in the day. I used to have a Suzuki GS750 way back when, I traded a Toyota Tercel for it AND a 1961 Chevy C10. The bike was a deathtrap, it could pin the speedometer in 2nd gear, and the tach registered 12,000 rpms and I regularly had it in the 10s. It would have to be an estimate but I would say I had it up to around 140 mph once. And, it would readily raise the front wheel so that's something I was also doing that I shouldn't, riding 2nd and 3rd gear wheelies for hundreds of feet. I think you'll have fun as long as you keep your balance and watch out for sand/gravel in the curves on the blacktop, just don't get crazy with it. Here's a snap of the bike I had...
You must be registered for see images attach

I had to keep it in the basement because the law was always looking for it lol and the guy riding it! Back then I was mostly about dirtbikes, this was my only streetbike.
 

Big Chip

Full Access Member
Joined
Oct 19, 2017
Posts
4,656
Reaction score
6,728
Location
Michigan
First Name
Kevin
Truck Year
1979
Truck Model
C35
Engine Size
454
Looks interesting. I had a vulcan 750 of similar era that I put a bit of modification on but parted ways with it for little unfortunately. I miss it, except the wore out first gear that required a roll to engage.

You must be registered for see images attach
Is that a Quantum wagon?!?
 

Swims350

Full Access Member
Joined
Jul 30, 2010
Posts
4,351
Reaction score
812
Location
Logan WV
First Name
Chris
Truck Year
1983
Truck Model
K10
Engine Size
none
nice bikes guys.

if I ever get this one going it'll be easy my eyes are bad so I'd never get my license, but to ride around my lil camp/neighborhood here would be fun.
 

Honky Kong jr

Super Sarcastic Man
Joined
Jun 14, 2016
Posts
14,968
Reaction score
9,789
Location
Denver,PA
First Name
J-me
Truck Year
87
Truck Model
V10
Engine Size
Lil BB 407
Nice trading, Chris! If I had never ridden before I would say this phase of my life is close to too late to try. Falling down off a motorcycle hurts a lot more now that it did back in the day. I used to have a Suzuki GS750 way back when, I traded a Toyota Tercel for it AND a 1961 Chevy C10. The bike was a deathtrap, it could pin the speedometer in 2nd gear, and the tach registered 12,000 rpms and I regularly had it in the 10s. It would have to be an estimate but I would say I had it up to around 140 mph once. And, it would readily raise the front wheel so that's something I was also doing that I shouldn't, riding 2nd and 3rd gear wheelies for hundreds of feet. I think you'll have fun as long as you keep your balance and watch out for sand/gravel in the curves on the blacktop, just don't get crazy with it. Here's a snap of the bike I had...
You must be registered for see images attach

I had to keep it in the basement because the law was always looking for it lol and the guy riding it! Back then I was mostly about dirtbikes, this was my only streetbike.
That funny about hiding it. I had to get my Buell painted because the law would follow me out of town when I’d leave my house on it before the respray. I had it painted like the VR1000 race bikes Harley ran. Orange on one side black on the other with a white stripe down the center.
You must be registered for see images attach
Like this
You must be registered for see images attach
Opposed to this originally not mine but identical to mine before the respray.
 
Last edited:

yevgenievich

Full Access Member
Joined
Mar 1, 2014
Posts
4,789
Reaction score
3,327
Location
Texas
First Name
Viktor
Truck Year
sad
Truck Model
very sad
Engine Size
less sad
Is that a Quantum wagon?!?
Ls swapped datsun, but long sold now as I had too many projects. It went around same time as the vn750
 

Honky Kong jr

Super Sarcastic Man
Joined
Jun 14, 2016
Posts
14,968
Reaction score
9,789
Location
Denver,PA
First Name
J-me
Truck Year
87
Truck Model
V10
Engine Size
Lil BB 407
Ls swapped datsun, but long sold now as I had too many projects. It went around same time as the vn750
My bad on the Yota, I remember seeing a video but forgot the make.
 

shiftpro

Full Access Member
Joined
Aug 31, 2012
Posts
4,855
Reaction score
6,086
Location
BC Canada
First Name
shiftpro
Truck Year
73-87
Truck Model
1500, 2500, 3500
Engine Size
350, 383, 454, 496!
try not to laugh too hard I've never owned nor riden a motorcycyle, well drove one.

I rode bicycles for years like half my life, and my dad had a 750 super sport honda when I was a kid I rode with him 3 or 4 times, and rode my uncles harley sportster once, and of course by ride I mean pass. or bitch LOL.

So if I get this one running/ driving I'm gonna learn and try it out, hope I don't wipe out much.

I had zero in the car, and it had bad subframe, either rotted out or broke and hadsome bushings gone, so may have just been bushings gone, but anyways, got nothing in the bike so if I parted it or sold it as is it'd be profit.

I figured if I had time to check out the car and could honestly say what was wrong with it, maybe get 500-700 or so for it.

This bike I'd hope maybe running driving get 1,00 or so for it since come spring everyone wants bikes to ride?

If not then I got a new toy.

Best advice I can give you is to start with a dirt bike. Learn how to control a skid, brake hard, look ahead and CRASH. You just can't practice this in your head enough. There is a skill set that comes along with going down in a way that you can get back up again.
There's nothing worse than watching a rooky rag doll down the highway, making sure every point sticking out his body gets road rash.
I wish you the best of luck however you decide to move forward.
 

DoubleDingo

Full Access Member
Joined
Jul 3, 2012
Posts
10,174
Reaction score
14,470
Location
Right where I am
First Name
Bagoomba
Truck Year
1981, 1965
Truck Model
81-C20 Silverado Camper Special-TH400-4.10s; 65-C20 with 4:57 gears and Borg Warner Overdrive
Engine Size
Carb'ed Vortec 350; 1972 L48 350
Looks like a fun project.
 

DoubleDingo

Full Access Member
Joined
Jul 3, 2012
Posts
10,174
Reaction score
14,470
Location
Right where I am
First Name
Bagoomba
Truck Year
1981, 1965
Truck Model
81-C20 Silverado Camper Special-TH400-4.10s; 65-C20 with 4:57 gears and Borg Warner Overdrive
Engine Size
Carb'ed Vortec 350; 1972 L48 350
..... And, it would readily raise the front wheel so that's something I was also doing that I shouldn't, riding 2nd and 3rd gear wheelies for hundreds of feet. .......

That reminded me of a time I was in the fleet car checking on a project. Just got on the freeway to head back to the office, was in the middle lane and looked in the rear view to see a motorcycle that looked different. As it passed me, I was up to 70 mph by this point, the guy was riding a wheelie down the freeway at easily 80 mph. That's why the bike looked different in the mirror...lol...
 

Forum statistics

Threads
42,116
Posts
909,464
Members
33,611
Latest member
RNFL
Top