TOPIC:

Hi everyone, I'm a fairly new rider, and only got my motorcycle license in 2016. I pretty quickly chose a 2009 Super Sherpa as my first bike, and love it and have a lot of fun with it and plan on never getting rid of it (a problem I seem to have with all of my vehicles). It's great for what it's made for, but does have its limitations on speed, range, comfort, etc. and I've always felt like it's not a real motorcycle. I've often thought about getting a full-size bike, and that it'd be pretty cool to get an old police bike. After seeing how much HDs go for, I gave up on that pretty quickly. I've never been a huge fan of the BMW look, and always assumed the seat would be too high for me anyways (my Super Sherpa's height is perfect). So I realized that if I was ever going to get a full-size cop bike, it would have to be a Kawasaki. I often browse online government auctions, and have gotten a few Crown Vics from them and seen plenty of bikes come and go. However, a 1982 and 1989 KZ1000-P recently came up from a town in New Jersey, among a bunch of other cool stuff (1980s Chevy military pickups, Crown Vics, an ambulance body, pickups, SUVs, etc.). The 1989 immediately caught my eye, and so I was following it because of the low opening bid, distance (I'm in New England), and how beautiful it looked. It also doesn't hurt that I'm a giant Bruce Springsteen fan, and the town selling the bikes just happens to be the town Bruce was born in and where he later rented a cottage and wrote the entire Born to Run album. Add in the fact that my parents were married the year the bike was made, and I felt myself pulled toward it by the power of fate. Somewhere in there I went from watching the auction to deciding I had to have the 1989, and only the 1989 because the 1982 looked in much worse shape and had higher mileage. The description lists the bike as not running, being in salvage condition, and having rust and paint damage. I'll believe the first and perhaps the second, but I only see some minor surface rust and no paint or other damage aside from that (except for the duct tape on the exhaust). The 1982 certainly fit the rust description better, so I'm very happy to have gotten the 1989 for about $650. I hope that's a reasonable price for the bike, but if I over or underpaid please let me know. Assuming the odometer is accurate and hasn't rolled over, it only has 14,395 miles. My plans for the bike are to get it running, which I'm hopeful won't be too expensive as everything looks to be there and in good condition. Once running, I probably won't ride it too much given the personal significance, but could definitely see myself bringing it to shows or putting painter's tape on the police markings for occasional rides. Even though I haven't picked it up yet I've already named it "Born to Ride" (which I then found out is unfortunately the same name as a few poorly-received movies, but I'm sticking with it). Just wanted to take a minute to introduce myself and my new bike.

Welcome and that is a very Nice score and no you did not pay too much, I think you got a hell of a deal.

Very cool piece of work and +1 on the nice score. This is a great place to get quality support.

After many nerve wracking hours on the road yesterday, I picked up my new bike and got it home. Initial impressions are about what I was expecting and hoping for, condition is decent, rust isn't too bad overall and more so limited to some small parts. Choke is pretty rusty, as is the chain. Front brake is toast, trigger has like a quarter inch of play and does nothing. Rear has a little resistance, but I certainly wasn't going to roll it fast enough to test it. Saddle bag hardware is pretty rusty too unfortunately. Clutch still works, and it's in gear but I think might shift to neutral, so hopefully the transmission is good. The officer who helped me load it said he's been there six years and it was out of service for all of those and likely much longer. I hope it wasn't parked outside for all of that time, but I'm sure it's been out for years so it's in relatively good shape for it. It still has some gas in the tank, which I'm sure is bad and I'll have it drained when I take it to a shop to get it running and driving. They took the siren speaker but left me the mount and most of the wiring; I assume I just need to hook up a new 100w speaker and I'll be good. Is the siren speaker the horn as well? I couldn't see another horn so I assume when the siren is off it defaults to a horn or air horn. I do have a big problem, though: either the key in the ignition isn't the right key or the ignition and gas cap locks are frozen solid. I started to bend the key trying to turn them, so I'm thinking it's the wrong key. I didn't understand the seat lock enough to try it there, and couldn't find a helmet lock, but it seems unlikely both the ignition and gas cap would be frozen solid. I bought an ignition, gas cap and misc lock set off eBay to be safe and have a replacement if need be, but I'm thinking I just need new keys. Key code is long gone, so can I just call a Kawasaki dealer or Kawasaki itself and get the code?

Here's a photo of my two Kawasakis, really makes my Sherpa seem small. I'll add more when I have some more time. Thanks in advance for any and all answers.

I still think you bought a cool bike, nothing you said changes my impression of it or the value. It would have been nice to get the right set of keys for it. If you aren't familiar with "Metal Rescue" I strongly recommend you try it for parts you wish to save that are rusted. Very impressive stuff, Doesn't hurt paint when used as directed. Worth every penny IMO. The ignition tumblers may well be rusted but the gas cap seizing up seems less likely.
There are some talented folks out there that can make you a key if you send them the lock and a blank. I know we have one over on KZ650.info. Old school locksmiths can certainly do so. Thanks for the update.

The key code should be engrave into the key lock housing.

Thanks, I'll try a few dealerships first to see if they can get me the code and then I'll get out the ignition switch cylinder. I believe I've gathered from google that you remove the front headlight and can then access the two screws? Are they the annoying security screws where the heads break and you have to drill them out after?

Also just found out a little more from the officer I dealt with, he said the bikes were retired in 1998 when Harley donated three Road Kings to the department, so I'm guessing it was parked as a condition of the donation rather than due to mechanical issues. Still a big mountain for me before it's running, and I hope it wasn't sitting outside for all of those 19 years/exposed to Sandy waters. From the way it looks I think the answer to both of those is probably no. Will certainly be awesome if I can get a twenty year sleeping bike back to life.

Just woke up from a turkey coma, but have some good updates so figured I'd post them quickly before slipping back into Thanksgiving-induced sleep. I found a ton of extra keys in the saddle bags, some with ID tags positively identifying them as for the bike by unit number, and all conveniently stamped with the key code which matches the key that came in the ignition. With a little finessing, I was able to turn the ignition, open the gas cap, and unlock the seat to open it up and have a look inside. Aside from leaves, cobwebs, spiders and a healthy layering of dirt/dust, it's not in that bad of shape. I hooked up my jump box, and miraculously the following all work:
- Headlight (low beam and high beam)
- Tail light (steady light and brake light using foot pedal since hand brake is currently uselessly frozen)
- Blue lights on license plate frame
- Pole light (but no front or rear pursuit lights yet sadly)
- Front clutch side turn signal comes on steady with lights, but turn signal switch does nothing for that, the other three which are out, or the panel indicator and neither does the hazards button, which makes me think the relay is bad
- Horn (assumed it was missing/part of the siren setup, but played with the siren/horn button hoping something would happen and started to notice a muffled sound, found the horn below the fairing, and suddenly it must've broken any rust/crud free because it now works - it was actually pretty cool hearing it ease back to life)
- Indicator lights on instrument panel for neutral (goes into first and light goes out, so all good - doesn't want to go up to second though), pursuit lights, high beams, and oil light
- Miraculously the starter works - I wasn't about to hold it long enough to try to start the bike on 20 year old gas and who knows what issues that might destroy everything, but it immediately turns over when you press the button and only when the clutch is in and the kill switch is in the right position (I just tapped the button and never held it longer than a second)

I've already ordered the following:
- Two blank keys (before I found the spares, and they're all mostly a little rusty anyways)
- New chain
- Federal Signal siren speaker
- Federal Signal siren box
- Owner's manual
- Spare lock set previously described, good to have a backup set I guess
- Turn signal relay in case that turns out to be the issue

I think from here, the best thing I can do is clean it up and then take it to a professional to get it running properly. I couldn't even figure out battery removal, so I'll leave it to the pros. It'll clearly need all fluids changed, probably gaskets, electrical work for turn signals, brake work, new tires, chain replaced, throttle worked on, and probably much more. I don't know if a Kawasaki dealer will want to work on it, or if I'll have to go to an independent repair shop, but then I also need to figure out if they'll work on the emergency lights/installing my new siren setup or if I'll have to go to an emergency vehicle shop for that. Either way, I'm hopeful I'll be able to get it running and driving for as close to three figures as possible, and I think it's pretty reassuring that as much works as it does on the bike. Certainly a testament to Kawasaki quality that it'll do that much after sitting for two decades.

If a mod feels I've gotten to the point where I should be moved over to the projects forum, please feel free to do so.

At this point I'd start a new thread.
Steve

Do some serious homework before you pick someone for service. Very few people work on old bikes professionally. Even fewer are skilled.