Mike England's 1968 Kawasaki A7
Avenger
The old girl was ridden 60 miles to the Cardiff show and has been ridden to
several other shows over the last few years e.g. 1st Uttoxeter Show, Stanford Hall.
I knew that she was a rare machine when I
bought her, but not just how rare. The registration indicates that
she came from Reeds of Leytonstone and is one of the “original 15”.
The bike has a few battle scars commensurate
with having covered 40,000 miles in all weathers. She was returned
to the road in 2005 after languishing in the back of a garage for many years.
The plan was to get her into reasonable shape
for fun use and the odd local show but ended up taking her to the odd proper
show to fly the Avenger flag.
She passed the MOT no trouble, however, I did
need to sort a leaky petrol tap, rotary disc valve seal, fork seals and split fork gaiters over the next
year.
I made a mistake with the seat but I was bit
desperate to get something sorted. I will need to get it done
properly at some point as it annoys me every time I look at it.
The rear fender I picked up at the
1st Uttoxeter show
would you believe! I managed to tie it on along with all my
camping gear.
I painted the metal work and had the tank
panels re chromed to make her presentable.
I have gone for the later model indicators as I
prefer them to double sided ones. So she is still essentially
originally.
Were I to spend thousands of pounds paying
people to restore her I would never ride her and the joy of owning an Avenger. I can assure you is in the riding of them.
The bike cost me
£125. Which back in 1973 was hefty sum for an 18 year
old!!
2023
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