1982 Kawasaki AR80

I'd been on the lookout for a small, cheap project bike to work on this winter.  A couple weeks ago I stumbled across this 1982 Kawasaki AR80 listed for sale on mopedarmy.com by a guy here in Lexington.  Single cylinder.  2-stroke.  Kickstart only.  Six speed gearbox.  Sweet mag rims.  It runs, but is in need of some serious TLC.  Exactly the sort of thing I was looking for.

The exhaust has a little surface rust.  Just a little.

Judging by the dirt and the rear tire I'd say one of the POs used this thing off road.  That might also explain the dents in the bottom of the exhaust.

The kickstart boss is broken, which means this is a push start affair for now.  I've already ordered a replacement.

What does such a small bike need with so many wires?

Not the stock headlight.  Not the stock turn signals.  From the factory this bike actually had a round headlight with a cafe racer style fairing.  I'll probably go with a round headlight sans fairing.

Its been a rough 5,448 miles.

Born in Japan.  Plated in Minnesota.  Off-roaded in Ohio (probably).  Restored in Kentucky (hopefully).  I do not have any small children by the way.

The stock seat pan has been recovered with lower profile foam and the seat cover off of a KTM.  I like this profile much better than the bulky stock one but some better upholstery would be good.

The bike came with a box of parts: stock side covers, NOS headlight, random headlight bucket, stock airbox, extra brake MC and caliper, and a whole bottom end.

The tank is in pretty rough shape.  Its got some rust and has been patched with JB Weld in a few different places.  Finding a replacement tank for one of these can be difficult so I may have to try and fix it.  The tank was actually leaking when I went to look at it.  The PO started it by hooking up a water bottle as a gas tank.

The oil tank sits under the gas tank.  Automatic superlube oil-injection baby.

My plan is to get the tank, exhaust, and kickstart sorted out first.  Then I'll tear her all the way down to the frame to clean, paint, and replace things.