TOPIC:

Well my friends had this bike in his garage owned it since high school . He hasnt ridden it since 1984 when he bought his gpz 1100 . Ive been trying to get it for years and he finally gave in and sold it to me . He kept the tank topped off all these years and kicked it over a few times a year all these years . I turned the throttle and it snapped back just like it had been ridden yesterday so I think it will run without to much fuss . Anyway heres the pics . Its a 76 kh 400.

Nice. Do you have the engine cover?
Steve

He said he might have it but should be able to find one if he doesnt .

He said his friend painted the tank when he was in the navy in the late 70 s . Said they bought a brand new tank and sanded it down .

Nice find! It looks good too. There was a guy her in the lou that had been advertising a old 2 stroke triple on CL for ages. It didn't look half that good in the pics, and I doubt it ran . He advertised it for ~$9K firm. I imagine he still has it.

Withs ome elbow grease and fab skills it could be look like this:

Ha Ha A little elbow grease . Not sure if my elbow or my wallet has that much grease . Those are some nice bikes . Not sure what direction Im going with this one . Thinking about just getting it running .making it safe and cleaning it up for now .

Nice pipes. I know that tank picture from somewhere. I think it was an album cover from the 70's? Molly Hatchet?

Cool. Triples are loads of fun when running and frustrating when they are not. The smell of two-stroke exhaust makes it all worthwhile

GREAT FIND!!!!!!

The KH400 and the S3-400 triples were the best handling of all the Kawasaki triples. The '76 KH400 was the first of the small triples to have electronic ignition instead of those poor performing points ignitions!!!! I used to production road race a '76 KH400 back in '76 to '78. I still have a notebook full of things that worked, and things that did not. I was one of the few people that raced the KH400 instead of the very popular Yamaha RD350 and RD400 in the 410 Production class. There would be 25 to 40 or so RD's and me on my KH400 at most races back then!!!

A few small hints for you on the KH400. Ditch the clubman bars, and go for a set of Superbike bars instead of those bars. The closest I ever came to crashing without actually hitting the ground was when I had clubman bars on my 400. I went into a lock to lock high speed wobble and I just did not have the leverage with those bars to stop it!!!! A steering damper is a MUST on any triple too!!!! Switch to a high quality synthetic two stroke oil, and stay with that brand. Don't go mixing different brands of oil. You can back the oil injection pump way off when you use synthetic oil instead of cheapo two stroke oil. NGK spark plugs only. I ran B9HS on track, and B8HS when I rode it on the street. Transmission oil, I used Ford type ATF just like Denco recommended so your clutch doesn't slip at high rpm's. If you use a heavy gear oil, I guarantee the clutch will slip!!! Been there, done that!!! With those chambers you should have heavy duty clutch springs too. I ran the H/D clutch springs even with stock pipes. My little "stock" KH400 ran at best 13.71 to 13.91 at 102 to 104MPH in the 1/4 mile back in the day.

Good luck with your new find. The 400 is a real gas to ride fast through the twisty roads!!!


This photo is me going through the flat out Turn 2 at the now gone Mid America Raceway in Wentzville, Mo back in 1977.

kzsolo wrote: Nice pipes. I know that tank picture from somewhere. I think it was an album cover from the 70's? Molly Hatchet?

Yes Molly Hatchet Flirting with disaster . His friend in the navy painted it . He said they bought a brand new tank and sanded it down . He signed it on the tail section .

Dr. Gamma wrote: GREAT FIND!!!!!!

The KH400 and the S3-400 triples were the best handling of all the Kawasaki triples. The '76 KH400 was the first of the small triples to have electronic ignition instead of those poor performing points ignitions!!!! I used to production road race a '76 KH400 back in '76 to '78. I still have a notebook full of things that worked, and things that did not. I was one of the few people that raced the KH400 instead of the very popular Yamaha RD350 and RD400 in the 410 Production class. There would be 25 to 40 or so RD's and me on my KH400 at most races back then

A few small hints for you on the KH400. Ditch the clubman bars, and go for a set of Superbike bars instead of those bars. The closest I ever came to crashing without actually hitting the ground was when I had clubman bars on my 400. I went into a lock to lock high speed wobble and I just did not have the leverage with those bars to stop it!!!! A steering damper is a MUST on any triple too!!!! Switch to a high quality synthetic two stroke oil, and stay with that brand. Don't go mixing different brands of oil. You can back the oil injection pump way off when you use synthetic oil instead of cheapo two stroke oil. NGK spark plugs only. I ran B9HS on track, and B8HS when I rode it on the street. Transmission oil, I used Ford type ATF just like Denco recommended so your clutch doesn't slip at high rpm's. If you use a heavy gear oil, I guarantee the clutch will slip!!! Been there, done that!!! With those chambers you should have heavy duty clutch springs too. I ran the H/D clutch springs even with stock pipes. My little "stock" KH400 ran at best 13.71 to 13.91 at 102 to 104MPH in the 1/4 mile back in the day.

Good luck with your new find. The 400 is a real gas to ride fast through the twisty roads!!!

This photo is me going through the flat out Turn 2 at the now gone Mid America Raceway in Wentzville, Mo back in 1977.

Thanks for all the info . I had never heard of the atf thing . Makes perfect sense though . Its got the B8HS plugs in it now .

Great Pics Thanks for posting them .

I was looking at the different ATF's at Wally World today, and I didn't see any Ford Type ATF. Not sure if they even make it anymore. Just make sure you don't use anything like 80/90w gear oil, or even 20w/50 motor oil. Your clutch will slip worse than a worn out old Powerglide!!!!! The KH400 has a tiny clutch compared to the H1'a and H2's. They use the very same clutch plates as a KE125 dirtbike!!! Two of my friends have been running 10w/30 in their H2 750 transmissions without any slippage so far!!!

One more thing to watch on your KH400. Those clevis pieces and their pins in your shifter linkage wear out and then it gives you massive amounts of play in your shifter pedal. That and the shifter piece that bolts to the shifter shaft always loosens up and then you start missing gears big time!!!!! Been There, Done That!!!