TOPIC:

Hello all!
Im on here because I recently found and old 750ltd (a barn find) and brought it home. Went to the MTO and its not registered to anyone as the VIN has been purged. Ive got a letter from the dealership and Im ready to start the rebuild, but heres my question. The man at the dealership said to "walk away" and I had a really tough time getting him to even take my money. The bike is in great shape aside from the engine. it has almost 300,000 km on it. It turns over but has very low compression. I can hear an air leak at the cylinder gasket. Is this worth rebuilding? I really don't care how much its worth, I just want a fun rider and a project to work on. Im planning on a complete rebuild over the winter. Just wanted some opinions before I sink too much money into ownership and battery ect

Well, what is it worth to you to have a fun project to work on over the winter? That's the real question. Possibly you could have less than it's worth into when your done... but you won't know until you dig into the problem some more.

The sad ugly truth is, many rebuilds and restoration projects cost more than the finished bike is worth.

Hasn't stopped me, hasn't stopped countless members of KZR and other classic vehicle clubs from doing the same.

Do what you enjoy doing. Unless you want to make a few bucks... then yes I would walk away.

The issue with the 750 twins ( I assume that's the bike in your avatar) is that parts are hard to find. Not impossible, but not readily available. If the bike is 100% complete that's a good thing... if it missing a lot of parts, well its not going to be easy. You may have to swap engines as opposed to rebuild the one you have.

Welcome to the site. Wow 300,000 km. Could be a record ! Can you post some photographs ? Photos might give us an idea of what needed to be done and at what cost. Example - a couple of tires + new chain and sprockets could come close to $ 500CDN and at some point you may have to decide now much you want to put into this or if better to put the cash to something else.

What year is it ? I have parts diagrams with cat #s for the 1981 750 h1 LTD on pdf. If you need a copy send me your email address by PM. Until very recently all the parts information was available on kawasaki.com and we are all hoping this info will be restored.

Edit: just read Tyler's reply above. Is you bike a twin or a 4? If a twin then my parts diagram file is no use to you. When you get a chance maybe you could add the bike details to your signature

The picture is a twin. With 300km on it, I would be looking for a low mileage used engine to drop into it.

like it was said before. just love what you do and are you passionate enough to see it through. ive outspent so many bikes, but my mouth has a smile.........even when my wife doesn't at time..lol

Berzerker wrote: Hello all!
Im on here because I recently found and old 750ltd (a barn find) and brought it home. Went to the MTO and its not registered to anyone as the VIN has been purged. Ive got a letter from the dealership and Im ready to start the rebuild, but heres my question. The man at the dealership said to "walk away" and I had a really tough time getting him to even take my money. The bike is in great shape aside from the engine. it has almost 300,000 km on it. It turns over but has very low compression. I can hear an air leak at the cylinder gasket. Is this worth rebuilding? I really don't care how much its worth, I just want a fun rider and a project to work on. Im planning on a complete rebuild over the winter. Just wanted some opinions before I sink too much money into ownership and battery ect

Are you sure it's got 300,000 kM and not 30,000 kM?

I have never heard of a bike with 300,000 km which is 180,000 miles.

IF really that much, I would get a decent low mileage engine to drop in and assume that it would need a top end job (valves) and maybe a cylinder hone. If it needs a cylinder bore with new pistons that still only adds about $300 to the job which isn't terrible. But I would not get into a worn out engine that needs the whole bottom end rebuilt and maybe the tranny as well.

It is a shame you are so far away from me - I have a 750 twin engine in my garage.