American Eagle Case Study

Now, the bike that these grim looking parts belong to went on to win “Best in Show” at Stafford in 2008. This is another machine belonging to the Kawasaki triples expert, Malcolm Anderson. The bike is an American Eagle based on a 350 Kawasaki A7 Avenger. All these parts are fibreglass and were as bad as they look in the pictures.

Undeterred, we set about restoring the panels back into original condition. Kawasaki American Eagles often had bodywork seemingly sourced from a variety of different suppliers and inconsistencies caused by this made the restoration difficult . After mixing and matching panels from a couple of donor machines a good set of base bodywork was assembled. Careful sanding revealed multiple layers of old paint and eventually the base layer was found to be a pleasing shade of blue. There are no factory paint specifications for these machines and consequently Malcolm decided to paint the machine in a suitable ‘period’ seventies-style Candy finish matching the original blue.

Here it is in all its glory; winner of best in show at the 2008 Stafford show. It was a well deserved win and Malc received his award from non other than ex world grand prix champion Kevin Schwantz