1953 K ... on the road finally
Posted: Thu Jan 25, 2018 1:03 amIn light of the previous topic on the 54KH I figured I would share a little info on my current 53 project.
I purchased this 53K from a racing family in Sturgis, and was given the OK that it was ready to race. I immediately took it to my local race, where it died in 3 laps. It would start cold, and die hot. I decided to avoid any further testing, and sent the bike to St Louis to be rebuilt by my pals Jason Adams and Greg Osborn. Sure enough, the cam cover had been siliconed which had worked into the oil passages. The piston looked like it had been dragged behind a Mack truck down I-5. We were glad the cases weren't damaged, but it was another lesson that I should never fully trust a previous owner's word on the condition of a motor.
I decided that this motor wouldn't be put back on the track again. I had taken my 53KK to the Sacramento Mile earlier in the year, and learned the hard way that a standard K is no match whatsoever to a KR. So, until I could land my ass on a proper KR, I would not tempt fate with a set of cases on a track.
I didn't have enough proper K-model road parts to do the build correct, but I wanted this bike on the road. I adapted a few parts I had around the garage and made myself a little town cruiser. It's had a few different iterations, and I'm chasing more correct parts to potentially work with.
So here it is today:
It's not perfect by any stretch of the imagination, but at least it hits the road at 55mph.
I purchased this 53K from a racing family in Sturgis, and was given the OK that it was ready to race. I immediately took it to my local race, where it died in 3 laps. It would start cold, and die hot. I decided to avoid any further testing, and sent the bike to St Louis to be rebuilt by my pals Jason Adams and Greg Osborn. Sure enough, the cam cover had been siliconed which had worked into the oil passages. The piston looked like it had been dragged behind a Mack truck down I-5. We were glad the cases weren't damaged, but it was another lesson that I should never fully trust a previous owner's word on the condition of a motor.
I decided that this motor wouldn't be put back on the track again. I had taken my 53KK to the Sacramento Mile earlier in the year, and learned the hard way that a standard K is no match whatsoever to a KR. So, until I could land my ass on a proper KR, I would not tempt fate with a set of cases on a track.
I didn't have enough proper K-model road parts to do the build correct, but I wanted this bike on the road. I adapted a few parts I had around the garage and made myself a little town cruiser. It's had a few different iterations, and I'm chasing more correct parts to potentially work with.
So here it is today:
- IMG_4935.JPG (265.41 KiB) Viewed 9152 times
- IMG_4936.JPG (364.25 KiB) Viewed 9152 times
- IMG_4938.JPG (298.64 KiB) Viewed 9152 times
It's not perfect by any stretch of the imagination, but at least it hits the road at 55mph.
