The ring-a-ting-ting of a two stroke engine is really something that fires the synapses of any gearhead’s brain. It is the sound of fun, really. Go karts, dirt bikes, and weird homebuilt creations that use elements of both vehicles to become something dangerous, fast, and awesome. Outside of the sound of the engine there’s also a huge groundswell these days for vintage dirt bikes and stuff. They have always been popular as pit bikes and vehicles to beat around on but now guys are really, really passionate in collecting and restoring them.
Case in point, this 1978 Kawasaki KE100 ended up in the Hagerty shop to have its little one cylinder two-stroke engine revived. We’re guessing that after 40 years of use the thing had gotten pretty tired and worn out. Watching the little engine come apart is cool in and of itself but when you see how badly scuffed and basically used up the piston was, you know that this rebuild was necessary.
We have showed you a lot of these Redline Rebuilds before and we were surprised that we missed this one when it came out. Piston engines, be they big blocks, and or one lungers like this one, fascinate us. It’s fun to see them pulled down and it is doubly fun to see them rebuilt and then to hear the finished product is great.
Big fun in a little package here!
