I Got So Fed Up I Almost Sold It

Refurbished as a rider not a show pony, this KH400 turned out a treat and didn’t cost the earth. But paperwork aggro almost scuppered it.

- Tim Dickson

PRAISE INDEED: “IT’S ONE of the two best bikes I’ve owned.” So says Rob James of his Kawasaki KH400. We’re standing in a sunny lay by as photographer Jason makes the most of the weather, chatting about bikes in general and Rob’s neatly but not wholly obsessively restored 1970s triple in particular. His words aren’t a grand pronouncement – the gently spoken Surrey-domiciled Scouser doesn’t seem the type to make those – more a passing, matter-of-fact remark that only partly reveals a passion for Japanese two-strokes in general and air-cooled ones in particular.

The refurbishment – the word ‘restoration’ doesn’t quite fit the bill here – of Rob’s US-import KH actually finished a couple of years ago, and since then the bike has been in regular use, not quite as a daily rider but regularly wheeled out of the garage for smoky, rasping burbles around the countryside.

“I probably take it out every couple of weeks and do maybe 30, 40 miles before it gets a bit... wearing,” says Rob. “It’s a nice thing, but I wouldn’t want to ride it all day.”

The story begins back in 2013 with a day trip to the south coast. “I went for a day out in Brighton with my son – he’s into bikes as well, he’s got an X7 – and we dropped into Triad Classic Bikes on the Old London Road,” recalls Rob back at his house. “There must have been about 20 bikes in there, but this seemed to be a bit cheaper overall than everything else. I thought it might have a few problems but it seemed to be all there. Anyway, £1300 later it was hooked onto the back of the car, taken home and stuck in the shed.”