My Kawasaki KX 125 A4
Having raced on and off road through most of the 70's and 80's I owned a variety of dirt bikes, street bike and cars !!! When I decided I wanted to do a restoration I really had no idea what I was going to restore. I looked through buy sell and trades and auto traders searching for the perfect bike, while searching through a Junk yard in NS one summer afternoon I found my trophy!!!! As the owner of the junk yard walked me through the back of the lot where all the junk lay awaiting it turn to be crutch for scrap metal, I spotted a beautiful green gas tank and frame! I asked how much? he said 200$ I continued down the line of bikes as to not show him my enthusiasm. my heart was doing cartwheels as I made my way back to the bike and said I'll take this one ! handed him his 200$. I load the bike in the back of my truck and drove off, I had just found a diamond in a mountain of coal. The bike I choose for my first restoration, held the fondest memories I had of Racing. "The Kawasaki KX 125 A4" This page is dedicated to my A4 restoration.

Step 1 "Finding your bike"
Hi all The first thing I did in restoring my Kawasaki 1978 125a4 was find it. It took over a year to finally find one. I raced one of these bikes in Atlantic Canada in 78 and it was always my favorite bike. Three of these bike were raced in Atlantic Canada that year, Myself ( Roddy MacDonald) Scott Lockart, and Jack Stone. After getting it in my driveway, Reality set in. I started with a frame, swing arm, tank, seat. and forks. No wheels, engine and a million other parts. The hunt begin. Over the last year I have gotten to know ever Kawasaki fanatic in the World. I have purchased parts from as far away as Australia. Its been fun, meeting and swapping parts. I found most Kawasaki collectors will not sell a thing but they will trade for parts they need. Problem was I didn't have much to trade.

Step 2 "What do I want to do with the bike when I am finished"
The next thing to do after you have decided to restore an old MX bike is decide what you will use it for. If you want to ride it around and use it as a play bike then you don't have to be so picky about you parts and pieces you will use. This way is very reasonably priced, if you go this way. The EXPENSIVE way is a 100% perfect restoration. This is the way I chose to go with my first a4. I have a second one that I will restore and ride when I'm finished of the first one. To do a perfect restoration you will get to know words like OEM ( original equipment manufacturer ) and NOS ( New old stock ). NOS parts are a prize when you can find them. You usually find them in bunches. Some guy has 5 on these or 6 of that. Buy them all, Take what you need and sell what is left. This will get you some more money to find other parts. Apart you need can be worth allot. One of the last parts I needed for the a4 was a OEM shifter. I looked for over a year and I paid 65.00 US and was happy to find it. I found a second one a week later and paid 4.00 US. You never no. The thing I have found is if you find the part you need don' t nickle and dime these guys. They don't haggle well.

Step 3. Tear it down!
The next step is to take it all apart. When doing this its a good time to toss anything that you will not use. Trust me you will have parts everywhere by the time your finished this step. I labeled and tagged everything. Lots of small parts were out in zip lock bags and labeled. This is very important because in a few months, or a year you will need to know where it all goes. I went to www.buykawasaki.com and found the parts list and all the parts # to help in the restoration. This is also helpful trying to see what parts from different years will work on your bike. Most bike companies use some of the parts for years. This is also a good time to buy about 4 Rubber maid big tubs to put everything in.