NEW from NEW JERSEY!

Hey All,
I've been scouting around for KZ info and parts for a week and happened by this site. It looked pretty interesting, so here I am.

A little history on me. I'm 58, my first bike at the age of 15 was a 1966 Kawasaki F1 175. I rode the wheels off that thing in the woods next to my house. Damn thing never broke! Turned 17, got my license and bought a 1970 Kawasaki 500 from a friend. It only had 800 miles on it because it scared the crap out of him. Sold it and never rode again. Between the age of 17 and 28 I owned 3 500's, one '69 and two '70's. In that same period I also owned two 1970 750's.

In 1981 I walked into a Kawasaki dealer to buy a new '81 GPZ 750 with cash in hand to replace my beloved two-strokers. The clowns working there were having a discussion about their weekend ride and didn't much care that I was waiting for some help. I gave it 15 minutes and walked out. Headed to my second job, wrenching rice burners at a now defunct Harley, Triumph and Moto Guzzi dealer. But, we worked on anything with two wheels. As I arrived at work, there were several new Harleys put on the floor that day. Two that actually interested me were the 2nd year 80 cubic inch Sturgis, complete with primary and final belt drive. Also, the second model year of the 80 cubic inch FXWG Wide Glide, complete with FLAMES!

Well, that was the first day of a 8 year stint on my Flame Wide Glide. Got married and the first kid came along. Didn't have much time for the bike after that. Then the second came along 22 months later. Decided to sell the Harley. But, I promised myself I'd get another bike when the kids were out of the house. Both kids gone and I started hunting down a project bike, a '69, or '70 500 Kawasaki. Just couldn't justify the eBay prices for a rat ass fixer-upper. In the meantime, I spot a drop dead beautiful 2005 XL1200C Sportster that looks exactly like my old Wide Glide, right down to the bobbed rear fender. It was love at first site! I've had it for just over a year now and don't regret it.

Don't worry, there's a KZ in this story and here it comes. A friend who owns a service station in the town where I work, tells me he's building a Cafe Racer out of an old KZ650. I get all excited and tell him about the Cafe bikes I use to build in the '70's. Back when not too many people knew what the hell they were. He asked me for some ideas and if I wanted to help. Naturally, I jumped at the chance. Two weeks go by and he asks if I'm interested in the bike because he's never going to have time to get involved with the project. He shows me the bike and before I can ask how much he wants for it, he says, "take it." For how much, I ask? "Nothing, take it," he says. You're kidding, right? He tells me he'd rather give it to me, because he knows I'll appreciate it and do something good with it. Hell, yeh! He's right, too.

So, I'll be busy researching my next project over the next couple of months and figuring out what I'm going to do with the 1979 KZ650C I now own. I'm sure I'll be looking for some opinions and advice while I'm at it. That's where you guys come in! Seeing how I've been away from my roots for some time, this will be somewhat of a rebirth for me. Kawasakis have always been good to me and I'm looking forward to renewing the relationship and maybe making a few new friends while I'm at it.

Welcome KraZyRider...welcome to KZR. If you've come looking for advice and opinions...you've come to the right place... Nice introduction.

Welcome aboard, lots of great info here !!! Ditto with Mcdroid about the great intro ya gave of yourself too ...

Welcome to KZR,
You came to the right place. I too love the two strokes, always have always will. Sure would love a widow maker. The 650 sounds like a fun project for you. Ask all the questions you have and I am sure you will get most of the answers you need.

Here is my little two stroke

Welcome KraZyRIDER.
Looking forward to your KZ build.
Good to have you aboard.

+1 on the introduction. I enjoyed reading your journey Welcome aboard!

Welcome mate. The people on this site are great. It's really been a pleasure to get to know the people and read their stories.
What a wonderful gift your friend gave you! Talk about a Christmas to remember.

Thanks, guys! The warm reception is much appreciated. I also appreciate the fact that you didn't bomb my life story. But, I felt giving you some background would help break the ice. There's lots more to my biker experience, but what I revealed seemed the most pertinent to this forum. Too much info can be like swimming while holding a 50 pound rock.

Kawickrice:
Nice RD, man! A '74 RD is what got me back into riding. I was at Lowe's one day and getting into my van to leave and heard a 2-stroke with chambers entering the lot. Something about expansion chambers when they get into your blood, you can hear them a mile away. This 60 some year old guy pulls into the lot on a mint-mint RD. Near pissed my pants. He bought it off of eBay. When he told me that, I did piss my pants! Went straight home and hopped on eBay and what did I find? Nothing less than a early '70 500 Kawasaki, the charcoal with black strip version. As close to mint as they come and all original. Told my wife, this is it, I'm back in the saddle again! Figured I'd drop up to $4,500 on the old Cow. What I didn't figure, was for someone else to drop almost $7,000 on it. I was getting depressed at looking at rolling wrecks for the next several weeks, until I came across the XL1200C I mentioned in my intro. I would have loved to own a 500 triple again, but it just wasn't to be.
Back to your Yam, super nice, I'm jealous. There's just something about a chambered 2-stroker. The seat and tail are awesome, are they Yamaha? The tail almost looks like something off of one of the old Kawasaki triples. That set-up would look great on my 650.

rstnick:
I've been eyeballing your ride for ideas, hope you don't mind. Especially, the chin spoiler. What's it from? Your ride is awesome, you've done some amazing things to it. Kudos!

KZJOE900:
You're not patronizing me, are you Joe?


Chaotic Reason:
Agreed, everyone should have such a great friend. Or, maybe it's all the Dunkin' Donuts and coffee I bring them all the time.
:whistle:


It looks like I was right, the people here are warm and friendly. It's not often you check into a new site and don't get lambasted for being a newb. At 58, I don't now how I could be considered a newb, but it happens. This community seems different right off the bat. I just hope I can live up to its high standards and contribute from time to time and maybe even entertain a bit. Thanks to all for the warm welcome.

KraZyRIDER wrote: KZJOE900:
You're not patronizing me, are you Joe?

No, no, no. :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: Nothing but the best intentions for sure. KraZyRIDER, your pictures may have be too large (must be 2 meg or less) and therefore did not display / upload properly. Just resize them on your computer and you can edit your post and delete the inserts. Afterwards, just reload/reinsert the smaller file size photos. Good luck.

Joe

...first newb mistake. Guess I can't delete this?

...hmmmm, photos aren't that large, maybe just too many. Lets try one and see.

...nope, didn't work. Just checked my setting and it IS too large. Someone messed with my SETTINGS! Kids. I'll resize.

...In the meantime, here's a shot of my '05 XL1200C Sportster. Can I be banned for posting this photo here? (wink-wink) I took this photo when I was on a business trip to Dallas, Texas about 6 weeks ago. Behind my bike is a friend from another forum, XLForum.net. Instead of KZ owners, it's all XL (Sportster) owners. We met for the first time and did some riding while I was in Texas. Nice when you can mix business with pleasure. Something I get to do with my job, from time to time. Be kind now, no throwing rotten vegetables.

:lol:

OK, got the size issue taken care of. Here's a couple of shots of the project KZ650C. Not to confuse, the body parts are mixed. I believe the tank is from a '78, if I'm not mistaken and the correct blue side covers were primed a long-long time ago.







And, here's one for any 2-stroke lovers out there. It too, needs some TLC. It belonged to me when I was in my early 20's. Sold it to a then employer. It hasn't been ridden in over 15 years. He asked me to get it running, I did. That was 2 years ago and it still sits here at my house. He's supposedly going to sell it, but never gets around to it. It has a no miles, brand new extra engine to go along with it. I'm tempted, but I just can't bring myself to it. It's like dating an old girlfriend after 30 years. Even if she is a '72 H2.