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New English bloke - not New England bloke

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streetsleeper:
Just wanted to say "Hi" now I've sussed out how to post properly - with help from Foxx4Beaver, Umberto and KXpegger, thanks fellers. Bought an '87 KX500 about 3 months ago and just got her going yesterday. The '87 was a one-year wonder so parts are going to be difficult to come by, but I've been told the cylinder is off an '88. This bike is going to tax me because I'm no spring chicken and kicking her over has already done in my (already seriously bad) back. If I had $500 I'd start with an electric start, which somebody has posted links to.
        There's something, or things seriously amiss, she lacks compression but has started twice - more by luck than through technique, I think. Couldn't even get a B8EG plug here where I live (in Mexico) let alone a BR8EIX so settled for a B8ES. The gap would be a good place to start, and if I owned some feeler gauges I'd check that now.
        Happy holidays!
P.S. Before and After photos attached. That's the bloke who sold it to me in the first one, and how an 87/88 looks without plastics in the second.

umberto:
Man, you think he could have washed it once in a while or put it under a tarp.  That's just bike abuse.   :-D

Foxx4Beaver:
Ebay will be your friend for some of the parts.
I find and buy a lot of old OEM parts from the Netherlands on Ebay all the time...seems there's an endless supply of NOS-OEM parts out there.

Sandgroper:
One of my friends was going through customs in the US once. For some reason he was asked who he was traveling with. He said "Those two blokes over there". The TSA officer asked in a humourless tone "What is a bloke?"

streetsleeper:
Yep, I think the bloke thought it was a lost cause - he never thought I actually ever get the KX running again. His surprise when I showed him a video of the KX running was palpable. As for parts, nobody is prepared to send them here. Reading the replies to my topic "Castor Oil Premix - Who's using it?" I totally understand the reluctance to send stuff, and the reasons are entirely valid. They're all in cahoots to rip people off, and take a perverted pleasure in buggering everything up, especially for Americans. "We're Americans too." they say - which they are. Except I point out you chose to call yourselves "The United States of Mexico" not "The United States of America."
      Racism is rife here and because I speak the lingo I hear the comments as I walk past "pinche gringo" etc. etc., and sometimes I respond if they're not drunk, telling them I'm a Londoner. If I say I'm English, well, for them that's synonymous with being American. I've been beaten up and left unconscious - basically for dead, and I've lost count of the number of assaults and fights I've had. ALL of them, bar none, were sucker punches or 2 or 3 onto one. I'm now in my mid fifties and still only weigh 10 stone (140 pounds), and they're just racist bullies. Never actually been mugged, but the police have robbed me about 8 times - and I've no recourse. I live here and don't want any more trouble. Been locked up twice as well - they love to lock up a "Gringo."
        A Mexican mate of mine was mugged at pistol point a month ago, and didn't even bother to report it - what's the point? My girlfriend worked in what you guys call a "drugstore" and it was robbed at pistol and knifepoint 5 times in a month. She's left now, thank God. I live in a big city and in 10 years have never seen the sea, let alone a beach.
        Sandgroper, I know what you mean. Those that can talk English, speak American English here; sometimes it's only Britons, Kiwis and Aussies that understand one another, and most of the time the Mexicans can't "hear" the difference in accent, and it's taken for granted I'm a Gringo. The business over the wall has hardened people's attitudes. A lot of the time I'm openly discriminated against. Last week a bloke wanted to start an argument about the Gringos and Russians and was surprised when I said I was English. So then he switched to Scotland and England. So I said, "Look, we're neighbours and get on very well, especially being UK citizens abroad." I told him he'd watched too many historically perverted films (e.g. kilts weren't worn in the 13th century, they took off in the early 18th century). He was stumped. 

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