Messages

Peter,
      Checking that the mating surface of the head is flat would be a good idea...it may neeed to be shaved a little. If so, Ive gotten away in the past (although, admittedly, not on a penton or sachs) with running two head gaskets to keep compression the same.
   - Jim

Bob, you took the words right from my mouth.....Adrian, thats a beautiful bike you have there.
   Your ignition cover sure is identical to mine in all but one minor aspect.. the slot for the ignition wires is at the front. The wires exit here, and run up the front right frame tube. Only a minor thing..  It seems the "R XX" stampings on the crankcase halves aren't all that uncommon. The lack of an engine number, and the black paint, could easily be attributable to the crankcase halves having been replaced at some point. As for the frame...I believe you may well be right. With no sign of grafting, I can only assume a) that it came from the factory this way..a mix of two year designs...or b)that at some point someone has grafted two frames together, so well that the welds match those done at the factory. Either way, I'm happy with the result. Other modifications I think have, as you said, been performed by various owners along the way.
  I'll still attempt to chase up some history on this bike, as it does kinda hint at a chequered past. In the meantime, I'm going to strip the bike and give it a good clean up.
  Thanks so much for everyone's help and advice..I'll be sure to post pics of the cleaned up results...and also let you know if I find out anything more concernng its past. If you have any ideas, keep them coming !!
   - Jim

Alan, I chcked out Conelayout.com....and Ive just made myelf a new collector pipe for the exhaust on my car. I can see a few uses for this, so I'm gonna buy it. Thanks for posting the link !!:)

Of course. You're exactly right Mike - I should have realized that. Where the two plates have been cut and joined on mine is such a neat job, it looked like one piece folded over. Thanks once again!
   - Jim

Bob, of course...I should have thought of posting this pic before....

- Southrider,
                You're exactly right. I DO need to find out more about this bike's origins. If it was modified by a shop or distributor for a sponsored rider, or if it should be a prototype[:0] or factory bike[:0][:0] then changing it would be sacriledge...I'd only clean it up. To this end, I'm attempting to contact the guy who was the Australian importer from '69 to '74. He was also the distributor here in WA at that time. I don't actualy know this guy, but I do know a couple of people who do...so hopefully I may get to the bottom of the story that way.

Oohh...you beat me to it Mike[] I knew nothing of a European habit of venting sidecovers...but here in Oz back in the '70's, it was a fad for a while. In such a dry environment like West Oz, the likelihood of a wet race meeting was low....so holes would be drilled through the airbox to improve airflow. Ocasionally airboxes would be removed altogether, and a foam elemant clamped directly to the back of the carb.
   Thanks once again for yours, and everyone's...enlightening comments...I'm learning !
   - Jim

G'day once again,
                 Thanks MRW for posting those pics...I see now exactly what the frame/airbox join would have originally looked like. I'm still deciding whether to retain what I have, or change it back to original. I think the original setup may have been changed because the pipe sits a little higher than I think it should....the bottom plate would have had to be removed to allow room for it. I have some more pics to hopefully either pique your interest, or maybe clear some queries...

Firstly...a '72 works factory bike with a vented sidecover...a rather neat job, too....



Next...the ignition cover...showing the notch where the wiring exits is at the top front....



This pic shows the rear fender mount...it consists of the top plate trimmed down and thn bent back double, presumably to add some strength...



The remains of the rear tank mount can still be seen....



The left hand crankcase has the same R56 stamp as the right...



...and, finally, the frame tube that looked rather skanky in one of the other pics...no obvious sign of a graft here...



 The rear seat mounts are actually  at the top of the elongated 74.5 down tube...I think this may have been done of necessity, as the frame may not be of a standard length any more.

   - Jim

Thanks Mike...I'm gonna be up all night looking for little dags of weld now [] Its 12.40am here in West OZ !!

Would this photo suffice?



sometimes I'm prepared...

Thank you to everyone who's helped me try to identify my mystery project. I seem to have unwittingly opened up a can of worms ! As requested, I have some more pics, maybe to deepen the mystery...

Left hand side...


top of frame, showing no tags for mounting the rear fender, the filled-in top of the airbox, and the cut-away plate to allow room for the exhaust, which sits a little higher than I think it maybe should...



...And finally....what seems to me to be a total lack of an engine number ( I searched very carefully....even searched Al Buehner's site for a pic of where to look....



Mike R. Winter - you're quite right Mike...there's no evidence of a pipe mount beneath the tank on either the pipe or frame...although this could possibly be as simple as careful grinding. ..

Mike Lenz - The front mounting bolt of the rear brake stay has a 6mm thread, and does look as though it may be an original part

Knute - Your observations are all correct....those lovely looking Ohlins will be replaced during the rebuild...they won't pass here in Western Australia either !! The front hub is a magnesium unit.

I really don't have any information about this bike's history, although I may have a couple of leads to chase up....from 1970 till  1974 John Kirkpatrick was the Australian importer of KTM motorcycles, trading as "Motocross Motorcycles". This shop has long since closed, but John, and his son Shane, a noted rider here in Western Australia during the 70's, are still very much alive, and may possibly know something about this bike, especially if there was something special about it at the time. The search continues.......[8D]

G'day All,
         I've been following the topics on this forum for a while, but this is my first posting (so please be gentle)...
  I recently purchased from a "friend of a friend" what he escribed as "a '74 KTM'...but on closer inspection, I'm really not sure exactly what it is that I've bought ! Frame number is 54 30666721, Engine number 54 30003010, and the date clock reads June '73. So...I figured it must be a '73....but it's red ! I'm pretty sure it's had modifications done over the years...but chipping a little paint shows the original tank and airbox colour are red. The motor's centre two cases are black, but the rest of the motor is unpainted...so I'm a little confused. Its also had the rear frame loop replaced, and the top shock mounts have been removed. I'm going to attempt to include a pic for your perusal before I begin dismantling it...could omeone please provide me with any information about what I have? I plan to restore it to as close to new condition as possible, t race vintage mx, so any advice would be appreciated...in exchange I'll gladly keep you updated with photo's as it comes along...

Oh...yes, I'm single...my bikes do live inside with me....at least until i build the new shed for them !! [8D]