• Can't post after logging to the forum for the first time... Try Again - If you can't post in the forum, sign out of both the membership site and the forum and log in again. Make sure your COG membership is active and your browser allow cookies. If you still can't post, contact the COG IT guy at IT@Concours.org.
  • IF YOU GET 404 ERROR: This may be due to using a link in a post from prior to the web migration. Content was brought over from the old forum as is, but the links may be in error. If the link contains "cog-online.org" it is an old link and will not work.

74 h2, 1st fire up in 20? years

m in sc

Street Cruiser
side work job. 74 H2, some wiring, tuning, and freshened up the carbs including drilling out, tapping and replacing the 3 stripped and frozen pilot jets. it matters to have the right tools.  Note the massive oil smoke (buildup in crankcases from sitting) and the knackered vacuum petcock with the leaks and clogged 3rd port.

(new one on way)

either way, another one breathes back to life. no, the paint is not original. (or that good )

http://www.2strokeworld.net/wp-content/uploads/MISC-BS/h2-w-dencos-bad-petcock.mp4





 
m in sc said:
side work job. 74 H2, some wiring, tuning, and freshened up the carbs including drilling out, tapping and replacing the 3 stripped and frozen pilot jets. it matters to have the right tools.  Note the massive oil smoke (buildup in crankcases from sitting) and the knackered vacuum petcock with the leaks and clogged 3rd port.

(new one on way)

either way, another one breathes back to life. no, the paint is not original. (or that good )

http://www.2strokeworld.net/wp-content/uploads/MISC-BS/h2-w-dencos-bad-petcock.mp4

at one point, in the '80s I had 3 of them sitting in my stalls, in various states of "funk"... prolly only had $300 tied up in all of them, one ran when I bought it, only to find the crank seals were "doctored" with RTV, so it ran once, then puked.. second one, same story.. bad seals... third one was a charm, picked it up for $50, as the "owner/mechanical kid" decided to do a ring and piston replacement (why I don't know, it only had 4k miles on it..), and didn't have the knowledge on how to gap the ends of the rings... and .. well.. wedged the cylinders down, and got them about an inch, and gave up.. all I had to do was "unwedge the cylinders", and properly end gap the rings, run a hone on the bores, lube, and reassemble.. planned on making a twin engine, had the frame pretty much done, and was piece part buying when I had to stop working on the project.. it all went to hell in a handbasket, and it sat in my garage for years after a move, and ended up all being "seized" buy the landlord when he evicted me.. man.. I'd love to have them all right now.. with this "free time"...
 
m in sc said:
as an fyi, that bike was sold upon me fixing  it for 10k.

thanx for rubbing it in.. like salt on whipped flesh....  :'( :'( :rotflmao: :rotflmao: :rotflmao: :great:

thank goodness I had my '78 KZ, sitting in a locked storage facility, during the loss of mine (along with an RM250, and a couple others, along with $2k worth of tools...)
:'( :'(  meh, live and learn..
 
strange that link dropped the sound, easily the best part.  here ya go:

https://youtu.be/XW5snhiiu-A


:beerchug:


I got into the 2 strokes when i was 22 because nobody wanted them, i was young and broke. (im now 48) I just got really good at working on them and tuning them. as far as the triples go, ive had them all. and i mean complete running restored, hot rodded, etc. Im kinda over the triples, the yamahas are just flat out better bikes. If i were t wind up with another 3 cyl, it would either be a GT380, S3 9thats a 400 kaw) or maybe a 73 H1. I've owned  and ridden and worked on literally everything else road going 2-stroke from a DT50 up to a full denco cobra tracey bodied 72 H2 with over 135 RWHP (that was a serious money bike), and a few RG250/500's and rz500's. TBH, i always found the square and v 4s a huge PIA to work on. . TBH, the $ doesn't matter to me, at all but it amazes me to see what people will pay for nostalgia and bikes that overall really aren't that good over-all. However, i do see the importance of keping them around and the engineering on them is so simple yet elegant in its own way.  :rotflmao: However, on very rare occasions i'll do side work on these because i'm bored or get asked to at an opportune time. this  was one of those times and sicn ei just bought a new set of tires for the CB1100 (in the back ground) it more than covered the cost of those and was a decent way to spend a saturday afternoon. And, i like the guy so sure, I'll help him out. The local shop referred him to me actually.

This same guy has brought me a few others to work on, 3 aprilias : (rs 50 with 70 kit, rs 125, and an rs250 sp cup.. very rare and very fast), and an rd400 to go through. Best part of doing all this is the tes-trides and the looks on their faces when they get on them and they get running again. a lot of times its the 1st time they have ridden them, ever. its a very cool experience.





 
I never used the horn on my  500. Just pull clutch and rev it. People would get whiplash twisting their heads. 1st winter I put it in the basement where the landlord told it was bleeding oil. I put it on the street and it got towed by the city eventually. I probably didnt renew plates cause it wasn't running . Bittersweet but may have saved me.
 
Ahhhhhh, an H2 with "spannies" (Expansion pipes). Thank you.  :great:
I used to fiddle with a wide variety of 2 strokes from 50 to 500cc.
I had a selection of 50cc singles, mostly air cooled but did have a watercooled Zundapp KS50, culminating in a Yam RD50, then a '79 Suzi RM125, an '80 KTM 250GS, and I worked a lot on a friends Suzi GT500 and on another friends Yam LC350 (pre-YPVS).
I've ridden quite a few since but haven't owned a stroker since the early 80's. :-[
 
my rd has a (not available in us) elsie topend on it w/aircooled bottom. I actually like it better than the valvie i had.  :great: 

20191215_155100-scaled.jpg


 
Nice, an LC motor in an air-cooled RD frame.
Not sure I could handle the riding position though  :rotflmao:
 
its not nearly as bad as it looks, thats why i made my own rearsets etc. The few people i have let ride it say its downright comfortable. ^ ride was about 2 hours that day solo
 
Back in the early 80's, 83 or 84, I lusted for the RZ350 Kenny Roberts replica, I knew that bike was the swan song for 2 cycle street bikes in the U.S.. I had just gotten my 82 KZ550A and had no room for another bike.
 
RZs are fun for sure. I had an 84 for a long time, sold it a few years ago. you can still pick them up between 5-12k.

Interestingly, they did KR models in red/white and in the iconic yellow/black. there were -no- mechanical differences between them and the regular RZs.  :beerchug:

If you get the opportunity, pick one up, they are dead reliable.


rz-swingarm-5.jpg



as a final note on that H2: before keith got it back, i did some digging. the motor was actually a legit stage1 denco street motor.  found the stamping edge under the cyl and the porting work was really nice.  :beerchug: :great: also explains why it ran so strong.
 
They were and are VERY,VERY rare in Ohio, even when new, I think I only saw one on the dealer floor ever.  I have since looked for a much more available Aprilia RS50
 
John Aylor as gumby and codys H1 w H2 motor at gap 2-stroke meet in '16. :rotflmao:



 

Attachments

  • 101_0074_zpsuk9ujbkg.jpg
    101_0074_zpsuk9ujbkg.jpg
    85.2 KB · Views: 124
I’m waiting for a fella to get back to me with a price on this ’75 H2. Suspect it’ll be out of my league, but we shall see.

H2.jpg


Had two back in the 70’s, a blue ’72 and a purplish ’74. Rode the ’72 up to Kawasaki in Edison, NJ in January of ’73 to attend a service school. Had to put on my rain suit somewhere up in Southern Jersey to act as a barrier to the cold wind; it was COLD! Left on a following Friday evening to come home. Ran into a snowstorm near Charlottesville that lasted for about an hour, and finally pulled in front of the house in Lynchburg (VA) about 6:30 Saturday morning. Had to sit on the bike for about 15 minutes ‘cause I think the water in my knees was frozen. Legs just wouldn’t work too good.

Also had a green ’74 H1 that I put on a set of low café-style bars, and a 3 into1 silenced expansion chamber. Can’t say that it did anything for performance other than flatten out the peaky inrush, but it sure did sound nice, in a muffled sort of way. Rode that one down to Daytona for Bike Week in ’74. The further south we got, the more stuff got peeled off, until we were in a tee-shirt and jeans. This was all pre – ATGATT days. Coming home we ran into a blizzard down in one of the Carolinas and had to stop for the night.

I really like the triples, and hope the fella with the H2 isn’t wanting to put in a second swimming pool for what he’ll be asking.

We wait.
 
if its under 8k buy it. those straeder 3 into 1's are awful for the most part but work really well on suzuki gt750 buffalos, but they do sound good.

 
m in sc said:
if its under 8k buy it. those straeder 3 into 1's are awful for the most part but work really well on suzuki gt750 buffalos, but they do sound good.

I don't remember who made the set I got, but I really had no complaints. A friend had one of the '72 model H2's (might have been my old one). He put a set of the 3 into 1 pipes on the bike, but those were not silenced. You could hear him coming, even tho' he was 4 or so blocks away. Can we spell L-O-U-D, boys and girls? I knew you could.

One thing I do recall with the '72, when I first got the bike, the gas mileage was in the 17 mpg range. It had the original carbs when I made that trip up to Jersey. Sometime later in the year, Kawasaki shot-gunned the carbs because they said there was an issue with the slides sticking. I never had a problem with that, but they replaced the full rack with a new set. BOOM!! Instant ~45 mpg mileage range. That was nice and I can't recall it ever affecting the bike's performance.
 
yup. thats was a tsb on the venting on the bowls designs from bellmouth to open, long story,  and a jet tube change.

45mpg? don't think so. best stock they ever really did was 30-32 ish. maybe, riding it like a grandma. I've owned these recently and have had hands on experience with them for the past 25 years, trust me on this one. even with ethanol free fuel.

now, the smaller ones got the worst. S2: 15 to 17 stock. No joke, they were awful on fuel but had the best HP to CC ratio of all of them.

keep us informed on this one.

good board to research the triples. Been a member on here FOREVER. these guys are great.  http://www.kawi2strokes.com/forum/
 
Rode a new, red '72 S2 for about a month. That bike would loft the front end on pure acceleration alone - if - you could keep the plugs clear in it. The three-point scheme was a real bummer, ditto that on the H1 in '73 when they pulled out the CDI ignition and put points in it. Really glad they went back to the electronic ignition in '74.

And yes, I'll repeat it - 45 mpg. That's what my '72 jumped up to with the carb change.
 
just fyi:
73 h1 had the 'h2' 3 pickup ignition, only year. 72 was points. ;) 69-71 had the 'buzz box', 74-up had the 2 pickup setup, ground brush setup. the earlier cdis had many issues. the the distributor bikes. good, until they weren't.  :eek:
sorry, these are very much in my wheelhouse of experience to this day. Not trying to be argumentative just factual. 

sorry, i'll disagree with you on the 45 mpg all day long. no way unless you seriously changed the gearing or never went over 4k. But if that's what you got, it was a miracle.  :great:

@ giff: that an a7?  :great:

 
let me add to this.

the -only- person i know who claims to have gotten 45 mpg from a stock h2 is Rick Brett. hes *the* triple expert (look him up). I know RB personally, but he says he can get it (on a *perfect* machine), doing 50-60 max all day long highway only.  Of course, he also owns every model of every year in multiple forms, in every color, museum quality.

Lets be honest here. No one rides an H2 like that regularly. I think he did it to prove he could. So possible? maybe. Likely this was done in the 70s by a young guy? extremely improbable.

 
m in sc said:
just fyi:
73 h1 had the 'h2' 3 pickup ignition, only year. 72 was points. ;) 69-71 had the 'buzz box', 74-up had the 2 pickup setup, ground brush setup. the earlier cdis had many issues. the the distributor bikes. good, until they weren't.  :eek:
sorry, these are very much in my wheelhouse of experience to this day. Not trying to be argumentative just factual. 

sorry, i'll disagree with you on the 45 mpg all day long. no way unless you seriously changed the gearing or never went over 4k. But if that's what you got, it was a miracle.  :great:

@ giff: that an a7?  :great:

The H1 model we were selling that had the points came in orange. Thought they were '73 models, but may have been left over '72s. Dealer got a slew of them and they languished on the floor eating up floor plan expenses.

I'm sticking by my guns with the 45 number. I know what the bike did.
 
I’m waiting for a fella to get back to me with a price on this ’75 H2. Suspect it’ll be out of my league, but we shall see.

H2.jpg


Had two back in the 70’s, a blue ’72 and a purplish ’74. Rode the ’72 up to Kawasaki in Edison, NJ in January of ’73 to attend a service school. Had to put on my rain suit somewhere up in Southern Jersey to act as a barrier to the cold wind; it was COLD! Left on a following Friday evening to come home. Ran into a snowstorm near Charlottesville that lasted for about an hour, and finally pulled in front of the house in Lynchburg (VA) about 6:30 Saturday morning. Had to sit on the bike for about 15 minutes ‘cause I think the water in my knees was frozen. Legs just wouldn’t work too good.

Also had a green ’74 H1 that I put on a set of low café-style bars, and a 3 into1 silenced expansion chamber. Can’t say that it did anything for performance other than flatten out the peaky inrush, but it sure did sound nice, in a muffled sort of way. Rode that one down to Daytona for Bike Week in ’74. The further south we got, the more stuff got peeled off, until we were in a tee-shirt and jeans. This was all pre – ATGATT days. Coming home we ran into a blizzard down in one of the Carolinas and had to stop for the night.

I really like the triples, and hope the fella with the H2 isn’t wanting to put in a second swimming pool for what he’ll be asking.

We wait.

Poo!!

Well, not the exact word(s) I want to use, but just found out that the fella decided to give the bike to his son so it would stay in the family.

Looked like a good one.
 
Doesn't surprise me, they rarely go 'out of the circle' these days. keith kept the denco H2 i worked on, sold the other 74 to another guy i know that has primarily suzuki triples. Has an h1 (71) he wants me to look at next. Maybe after the move.
 
Top