Yup! even the front Cerianis were Showa!

FINALLY!!!!!!!!! The mythical prowler in the flesh!!!!! Looks gorgeous. Keep her safe my man!!!!! so very safe...

You have a beauty there....As someone involved initially with the transition of KB100 to RTZ and Delta engine,I always had a first hand info and Pre-release ride testing of the KB series till KB125...I stopped my interaction with Khivraj and Bajaj thereafter, and when Prowler was introduced I had no info of it..When I came to know of it and went to Khivraj, they said like the 125 this too had been withdrawn....
Thanks for posting the Images of The Pristine Condition Prowler.
P.S. I still have my 1987 KB100..

psr Anna, i always felt that there is a deep connect between you and your KB. now that you have partially revealed your association with the evolution of the KB100 ... 'yeh dil maange more'.

it would be an education for newbies like me if you could share your experience with BAL and the different things tried and tested during the transition of the KB100 to the KB125. my engine rebuild is currently on so it will help me in understanding things better. i'm also curious about your other exploits. i know you'll never go about it in a chest-thumping manner, in fact, i'm not even sure if you'll reveal anything at all. but if you do, we will benefit immensely.

warm regards

Since you asked me..An intro of me....I am BA in English Literature,Diploma in Automobile engineering, Diploma in Electronics,Passed ICWA till Inter, had worked as a techno Commercial Man., in a PSU,and as a Quality Control person Inspected 40% of Power station Control Panels in India...presently working as consultant for design & implementation of digital Audio/Video studio in Chennai.I am putting the info because I want you to understand that if you put your mind and effort..you can achieve a lot more things than by being laid back...and I had learnt SO MUCH in Xbhp.
The first KB100s (which I have) had short length seats(2 inches less),rear foot rest welded to swing arm, a Side draft Mikuni VM19sc,short rear pannier,better flow Megaphone Exhaust,and the engine was a fully imported one.
The RTZ addressed some of the problems.,
1. The bore fin size was marginally increased in size to improve cooling
2. The rear foot rest used to go up and down along with swing arm causing the pillion to loose foot hold.so a separates L shaped piece with foot rest was designed and fitted with additional bracket welded to frame for fixing it.
3. The seat was short and was not adequate for seating two comfortably...
so the seat length was increased by 2 inches, and the rear plastic piece was re-engineered to suit this.
4. the rear pannier was so small that the pillion had no hold...so it was made bigger and lengthier,coming upwards in a curve behind the pillion.
5.The top speed was improved with larger Main jet changed from 90 to 95....
6. Many complaints of oil dripping and staining exhaust , lead to design change in the core tube length...The core tube was made smaller in dia to reduce exhaust sound and inner tube extended beyond edge of exhaust outer so that oil from exhaust drip will not leave a stain on exhaust..
7. The petrol tank of KB100 used to rust due to lack of Lead/TIN coating...In RTZ and after, entire Petrol tank was Lead/Tin coated to prevent this

With delta engine, the following were added..
1. A Helmholtz resonator of about 120cc was added in the inlet with opening just behind the Rotary Valve to improve low mid RPM range.
2. The Carburetor Float bowl was at the same pressure level as the inner, and so a separate breather tube was fixed,ventilated to outside air, to keep the float bowl at atmospheric pressure. This further improved the low mid performance.
3. The Connecting rod near the small end was made thicker for better strength..
Engine parts totally indigenous and lead to many failures ,including bore&piston,gears etc.
Kawasaki and BAL were not interested much in further developments, since stricter pollution norms were being introduced...a KB with Disc brake was seen at workshop.......
When the KB125 was introduced it was awesome in terms of power and acceleration..It was an all Aluminum bore ie., no inner liner (like R15) and was hard chromed inside.. Unfortunately the technology used was Indian and in trial bikes it self seizures were common at normal speeds of 60 Kmph..The KB125 was an 100% in house development...
Major changes from KB100..
1. The bore was an all Aluminum bore made from a totally new design with no sleeve inside..Hard chrome plating was done for resisting wear..The head itself was bigger in size with larger and wider fins to dissipate the heat.
2. The Left and Right Crankcase were bigger to accommodate the bigger bore..
3. The crankshaft was made heavier and wider.
4. The connecting rod was made thicker to withstand the 125 power.
Two Problems emerged with KB 125...
1. The Hard chrome plating inside the bore was not uniform and the coating itself started peeling under heat stress.
2. The oil pump was not improved to deliver better linear oil output to suit the increased displacement and power ...
by this time Kawasaki and Bajaj had stopped development to-gether on the KB series and the stricter emission on Two strokers were clamped ,leading to the KB series untimely end.
The KB100 can accept parts from RTZ,and Delta engines....The re-engineered KB125 still shared parts like chasis,outer crankcase,oil pump,petrol tank etc., but the core engine parts were different.
Throughout my interaction with both BAL engineers and Engineers from Kawasaki, I always found the BAL Engineers to be very willing to listen to customer's opinion and views,while Kawasaki Engineers did not want to ,and had more negative approach to suggestions.

thank you psr Anna. in one post you have shared so much knowledge about the KB, perhaps more than what i could have learnt in an entire thread.

so i gather that the resonator was unique to the Delta series of engines. i wonder why it wasn't continued in the KB125?

about the oil pump, the KB125 has a Mikuni oil pump, the same as the KB100 variants. is there any way in which the output from this pump can be increased?

This is what i always wanted to know. As per my knowledge, a resonator box improves the low and midrange.. even if it does not, atleast it does not hamper the perf. in anyway. Thats why later most Yamahas incl. MX racers came with YEIS.

The resonator should be fine tuned to each engine design..When the KB125 came the sample model had it, but The performance with or without it made no difference, so they removed it from design...In fact right from the original KB100 released in 1986/87 the right side crankcase has an outline for the resonator piping..
The mikuni oil pump can be made to deliver more oil output by adjusting the pump lever setting.
The truth is Yamaha used Yamaha Energy Induction System(YEIS), a resonator much before BAL used it in Delta Engine.Yamaha started using it as early as 1982 in TZ 250 motors.

psr sir you are a walking talking encyclopedia on bikes

So right!!! Talk to him about anything and you'll be like......
BTW my bike has a damaged throttle adjusting screw(thanks to local auto mechanic who tried to open the throttle assembly, but i had no a choice then....long story). Is there any alternative part I can replace with?
Also there is a rubber washer on the top of the carburattor cover. I've lost that too and am worried since water and dit can enter easily. Help!!

throttle adjusting screw, i have to assume that it it the hexagonal part with the locking nut , in the acclerator cable , if thats the part then replace the cable , "there is a rubber washer on the top of the carburetor cover" im assuming its the small rubber packing under the carburetor cap , if thats the part then get yourself a similar part from a suzuki or yamaha and use it after modifiying it by making another hole for the idle control screw

Ha ha ,don't joke, what I don't know is so much more, I am still learning.
Post a pic of the parts you need and we will try to get it for you.Give me a call and come over, and will see what can be done..

its not a joke sir ,its the truth, and im not the only one who thinks so

What a informative response ! Thanks for your compliments !

Good to know that you still have beauty with you.

RTZ was a model with solutions to all known problems hence they named it as RTZ (Reduced To Zero) Meaning All Problems Reduced To Zero RTZ.

Thank you for providing information about the Resonator. I was planning to add resonator to my KB125 or Prowler RR 125. If there is no improvement in performance I should better drop this Idea.