KV75 owners

#1
Any KV75 owners here? I recently purchased a KV75 looking for parts and info sources, seems kinda scarce I did google also found Vintagekawasaki.com but thats all are we that rare J/K ha ha

Thanks Dog
 
#3
Nothing in particular just would like to learn more and find the parts sources, my KV needs very little in terms of parts but I'd like to add a speedo and directional in attempt to make a street legal unit, in my youth 1970's era a local guy was running a mini Harley licensed and registered in NY it would be cool to do the same with the KV.....
 
#6
Would like to find a source for KV badges I did find them for 43 dollars a piece but I aint paying that much :laugh:, I have a grafix art friend going to see if he can make a batch a better price. Other than that I have KV on the brain just want to read up and learn look at pics :thumbsup:
 

Gatecrasher

Well-Known Member
#9
Would like to find a source for KV badges I did find them for 43 dollars a piece but I aint paying that much :laugh:, I have a grafix art friend going to see if he can make a batch a better price. Other than that I have KV on the brain just want to read up and learn look at pics :thumbsup:
What year is your bike? I think in 76-77 the badges were a stamped aluminum foil-type adhesive emblem and from 78-80 they became a decal.

Some guys are just ridiculous with the prices they are asking for parts. You have to remember though that Kawasaki only made about 60,000 MT1/KV75s from 1971-1980 while Honda made 500,000 z50 Minitrails from 1968-1999. That's why you see so much more aftermarket stuff for the Hondas.

I like the Kawasakis though because I had one as a kid in the 1970s. I used to blow all the other minibikes away with it. Of course we didn't have a lot of the radical minibikes we do today like the z50s with 4-speed 110cc engines or old-skools with screaming Predator engines on them but the Kawasaki was a lot faster than the z50s were back then.

The KV75 shares some things with the z50 Monkey bikes. The wheels and tires are the same diameter so speedometers from z50s will work. So do a lot of the other parts. The fuel petcocks, shifter and kick start levers, and you can make a few other things work too.

One of the high-wear parts that used to be almost impossible to find were replacement steel rear sprockets. Some aftermarket sprockets were available in aluminum but they sucked and wore-out real quick. So I finally decided to make them myself and still sell them today.

I have five Kawasaki Minitrails. A 1971 "Parnelli Jones" Dynamite MT1, two 1972 MT1-As, and two 1976 KV75-A5s. There's a guy that lives about an hour from me that has over 30 of them. He makes all the decals for them and might have the "KV75" decals you are looking for.
 
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#10
Nice to know that a Honda speedo will work :thumbsup: I will shop for that one. Yes decals are raised I have the exhaust side its raised so I doubt that can be reprod by the guy I know but will check it out anyway...... My sprockets are good enough for now but i will keep you in mind after I get a head on the 700 dollars that I already spent on this bike and necessary repairs .

What your opinion I paid 700 dollars is that high low or reasonable? Nice non running KV needs a throttle cable and a good scrub down and a bit of frame paint, seat ,tank tires, brakes and lights all there and in nice condition,
 

Gatecrasher

Well-Known Member
#13
Those blue books don't mean diddly.

An excellent KV75 is worth $2000 or more depending on just how nice it is. I've sold some for more than that. I saw a real nice one sell for $3,700 on eBay a few months ago.

$800 usually gets you a beater.

It looks like you got a pretty-decent deal for $700.
 

Gatecrasher

Well-Known Member
#15
Like I mentioned, there is a guy by me who has over 30 of them and restores them and sells them on eBay. They are showpieces when he gets done with them. He buys sprockets from me by the dozens.

I don't buy mine to sell though. I just like them. You couldn't touch bikes like my top two are for $860. You'd have a hard time finding ones as nice for twice that.
 
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#16
GC, I'm in NY and a regular browser of Craigslist and wantaddigest.com. KV75's almost never show up for sale here ,mostly Z50's and CT70's with prices low hundreds to several thousand , this is a cool bike it will be fun around the yard when family comes over , I also like the two stroke factor, two strokes are cooler in my opinion.

Do you make other parts for the KV? Do you have a website?
 

Gatecrasher

Well-Known Member
#17
So far I only make the sprockets and that was mainly because I needed them myself and saw the insane prices they were going for (if you could find a rear one). The only other option were cheap aluminum ones that wear-out quicker than you know what. The front sprockets aren't as difficult to find because they are shared on various bikes but the rears were MT1/KV75 only parts.

I offer a nice package that includes both sprockets and chain for $39.99 which is less than just rear sprockets were going for before I started making mine. It's a good deal and is less than Kawasaki originally charged back in the 1970s for the same set-up.

My sprockets are machined from quality steels, zinc plated and exceed the durability of the originals. I remember when I was a kid these were the single most-replaced item on our bikes along with the back tires from riding on the street. We used to ride them until there were no teeth left on the sprockets and they didn't last that long. Every KV75 that has been sitting for years definitely needs them. Get them while you can. They won't be around forever.

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