MT1 or KV75?

Navy Jumper

Navy Jumper

New Member
#1
#1
Hey everyone! Cleaning out my parents shed I stumbled upon this Kawasaki.
My dad bought this brand new a longggg time ago. Original color was Orange.
Is it an MT1 or KV75?
Any way to figure out what year it is?
The only marking I found was on the frame: MT-019882
Hasn't run since 1996, and has been in the storage shed since then.
 

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Brian V

New Member
#3
#3
Serial number indicates it was probably the third year of production, '73. Take it apart, replace what needs replacing, take off the blue and repainted to the original orange color and you'll have a very nice bike that has decent value. Supposedly only 60,000 of of these bikes were built in an eight year production run. Most were trashed due to trans problems. They were built for small riders, not adults. Heavy riders bend the selector forks and round the gear dogs making shifting almost impossible. Your bike looks intact and has all the big ticket items like the head light, tail light and a good looking tank. Very worthy of a restoration.
 
Gatecrasher

Gatecrasher

Well-Known Member
#4
#4
Brian V said:
Serial number indicates it was probably the third year of production, '73. Take it apart, replace what needs replacing, take off the blue and repainted to the original orange color and you'll have a very nice bike that has decent value. Supposedly only 60,000 of of these bikes were built in an eight year production run. Most were trashed due to trans problems. They were built for small riders, not adults. Heavy riders bend the selector forks and round the gear dogs making shifting almost impossible. Your bike looks intact and has all the big ticket items like the head light, tail light and a good looking tank. Very worthy of a restoration.
Click to expand...
Kawasaki produced approximately 60,000 of the MT1/KV75 over a 10 year period (1971-1980).

The MT1 was produced from 1971-1975

The KV75 was produced from 1976-1980

In addition to the 1972 and 1973 models, the 1980 models were also orange however your serial number does reference a 1972-73 model.
  • 1972 MT1A was "bright orange"
  • 1973 MT1A was "orange"
  • 1980 KV75-A9 was "chrome orange".

Here's a picture of my 1972 MT1A survivor. All-original except for the rear shocks which were replaced with more adult-friendly units. I still have the original shocks. This bike is absolutely mint. The tires, seat, cables, grips, chain & sprockets and everything else are all original.

 
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