Hello from Colorado

I guess I've been hitting the other forums hard enough, I should probably introduce myself! :laugh: My first (and still current) bike was a 1981 Yamaha 650 special, although there doesn't seem to be anything 'special' about it. I saw it on my way home from work one day, had my dad take a look for me, and picked it up for $650. Not too bad for something I've been riding for 23 years now.

The only other bike I've had my hands on was a Kawasaki 400 with a 6-speed. It was given to me without a gas tank or any spark plugs, after sitting out in the rain for many years. After filling the cylinders with WD-40 and letting it sit overnight, we got it to turn over. Some more work on the points, finding a replacement tank, and generally cleaning it up, and my god was that ever a smooth running engine! I should have hung on to it, but ended up selling it a few years later.

So my Yamaha is running rougher every year, and I don't see the point of trying to salvage it, so in the past few years I've been dreaming about building a new bike from the ground up. Recently someone I know online told me about the Z900's, but a quick check clued me in that this was going to be nearly impossible to find. A bit more reading and I learned of the KZ1000's, which appear to be a lot more common. I don't mind 'common' as long as I can build it the way I want it. So after watching Cragislist, I came across one that had been sitting for a month with no sale, grabbed a trailer and went down to make a deal. We settled on $500, and considering the problems Ive run into already, I'm glad I didn't pay any more. She's got issues, but I've got a bigger hammer!

I'm a hands-on kind of guy. I love working on projects. I have a trebuchet that throws bowling balls across the lake at the local Scotfest. A couple years ago I dug up my back yard and built a fish pond. Last Summer I built a steel front bumper for my Chevy Trailblazer (I don't recommend trying to shape 3/16" steel by hand!). I expect no less from this new project... I will dive in head-first, learn as I go, and come out the other side with something that I am proud of.

Welcome to kZR.
One thing about living in Colorado is the great roads, although at high altitude. A liter bike will have the power you need for going up those back roads and passes. Just watch the Cops. I always saw them out in the back roads as well as the main roads. Some of the best twisty roads have real low speed limits. 25mph is impossible to do on a liter bike when there are corners.

Welcome to KZR...the KZ1000J is a nice motorcycle...when all is dialed in.

Motor Head -- Yeah they do come out of the woodwork around here. Of course when you have somebody creeping down the mountain road with a mile of traffic backed up behind them, the cops are nowhere to be found!

Mcdroid -- Certainly going to be a LOT of tuning in my future. I'm taking everything down to the components, cleaning them up, and reassembling. This will be the first motorcycle engine I get my hands on. I've never had any trouble putting things back together, but I'll be driving everyone crazy with questions on getting it all dialed back in.