The bike had under 4,000 miles on it when I purchased it, so I knew it had been sitting up for a long time. My intension was to bring the bike back to Concours condition. It runs really strong. I checked the compression, and it has 180 psi on both cylinders. The engine is tight, so I saw no need to break it down.

I did feel the need to replace most of the other moving parts due to the age of the machine and for safety. I replaced the front and rear brakes, wheel bearings, and triple tree bearings. The front forks were very rusty, so I replaced them as well. The fork boots were bad, so I replaced those. I replaced the tank cap and petcock. The battery in the bike was the wrong size, so I bought a new one. I replaced the spark plugs, caps, coils, and the condenser. I replaced both carburetor floats, misc. bolts and gaskets. I replaced the turn signal relay and had 2 new Dunlop tires put on. I drained and changed the oil.

I could not locate any paper air filters. The paper elements were shot after so much sitting. If the bike was to be ridden, new air filters were a must. So I improved them. I replaced the paper elements with the best UNI filter material. It can be removed, washed, and re-oiled. I have the process fully documented in upcoming photos. If you are going for all original and can find the paper air filters, they can easily be changed back.

I spent $1,984.90 in parts getting the bike fully ready for safe road use. It's a little less than the $2,000 mentioned on the video. I thought it was over two thousand when I made it. I have all the receipts. I put in a lot of labor. Everything on the bike works.

The last step in the process was to be the cosmetics. I purchased this bike from a fellow in NJ, so I was not able to inspect the bike except through photos, and they weren't that good. When I got it, I knew that Concours condition would require cosmetic work. It looked like someone tried to remove superficial rust from chrome parts with a brillo pad. Not very smart.

If you want an easy starting rider, I recommend two things that I did not do. One would be to replace the points/condenser with an electronic ignition system. They do make one for this bike, and its not very expensive. Secondly, the carbs need to be balanced accurately. That takes a tool I used to have, but do not anymore. It's not a hard process, but you need to find a mechanic who has the tool.

If you want a nice rider that's near concours, I would get new rims and spokes (available) and buy new or re-chrome the remaining chrome parts, which are not many. Then I would get the tank repainted.

The bike still looks good and is a good rider. I'm going to put on a fundraiser for my non-profit (www.ZoeTigers.org), so I'm selling the bike to help with startup expenses. I will consider reasonable offers.

Note on Price!

I know the blue book on this bike in excellent condition is around $2,000. I also know that as far as antique machines go, you can pitch that out the window. If you think you can find another K6 that needs no parts replaced and has less than 4,000 miles on the odometer, then I would purchase that one. I purchased this bike at around the blue book price and then put in almost $2,000 worth of parts to insure a safe riding machine. My asking price does not include the many hours of labor I put in. Most antique bikes are going to need parts and labor unless it's one in concours condition for which you are going to fork out some serious cash. You're not going to get this bike for the Kelly Blue Book price, so don't even ask. At my asking price, I'm already loosing money.