Sometimes it pays to be nice

This week I had Tuesday off work after having to work all weekend so I decided to see if I could make my 77 1000 LTD run since I have ignored it for the last year. Since I have to be nice and cordial to people 6 days a week, on my day off I don't really want to be bothered by people while I'm trying to work on these old bikes. After being interupted by two different sets of people who stopped to chat with me about bikes including one guy with a little peckerhead kid in bad need of ritalin (he was rolling around the grass in the yard while the old man bent my ear) I was getting kind of annoyed. Then a third guy shows up and he starts out by asking if I fix bikes. Im sitting on a milkcrate next to a bike, greasy hands holding a wrench and he asks me this. I fight off the urge to say something smart and find out he has 3 old bikes he wants rid of a 250 Honda, a GS750 Suzuki and a 900 Kaw that he says has been bored out to a 1000. So now I'm interested, I get his name and number and told him I'd call him this morning.

He only lives about a mile down the road so at 10:00 I drive down there. I look at the first 2 and really don't have any interest finally I get to look at the Kaw. It is sitting in what's left of a building that the guy is going to tear down the roof is collapsed walls are falling in. I climb over all this crap and get close enough to see it's a 76 KZ900 with a Zig-Zag man painted on the gas tank which is totally rusted away from the outside in. It has a chrome Kerker header, what looks to be a set of Andrews coils, a seat that is total garbage some aftermarket Drag Specialties guages, a square stock sissy bar and some trashy square dual headlights. I look it over as best I can after moving some crap off it and ask the guy how much he wants for it and he says not much. I talked some more and asked him again how much? Finally he tells me to make him an offer so I tell him $50.00 and he says ok it probably won't bring but $30 for scrap metal.

Now I have to wait for him to get a backhoe or some sort of machine so he can hook a chain to this thing to lift it out of the remains of this building. I think the engine is probably stuck but at some point in time somebody spent some money on this bike because all the engine covers have been chromed as well as the fork lowers. He also said he has a title for it and it does have both side covers along with the tail with the slide out tray. I'm not 100% sure how much of this is salvageable but for $50.00 how wrong can I be?

how many does that make now i have worked in the racket for 18 years and you have picked up more bikes in the last 6 months then i have seen ever offered to me not fair im jealous! good score.

"Ohio, where bikes go to die" Which makes it a good place to look for forgotten rides on the way out. Its a pity that more people in my area don't have barns, maybe thats where old cars and bikes breed.

For 50.00 I doubt I could pass on it either.

the gods have smiled on you bro.....that ol girl did not wanna go to kawi heaven yet.....nice....get er done.....get a pic while its in the junk barn and while it's on the lifting /dragging out strap...and start a project thread....:woohoo:

timebomb33 wrote:

how many does that make now i have worked in the racket for 18 years and you have picked up more bikes in the last 6 months then i have seen ever offered to me not fair im jealous! good score.

Not true this has been a slow year as far as me buying bikes I bought the GPZ1100 about a month ago and now this one and I did sell one of the 550's a few weeks ago. I've pretty much stopped counting I think I have 17 or maybe 18. By this time last year I think I had bought 5.

i wish i could just fall into the deals like you do.
$50
i will just have to despise you if he has a title as well.
anyone want to take bets to see exactally what is in this motor?
cams, carbs etc.
i tell you what. i'll double your money sight unseen.

Andy...you continue to amaze me :blink: :blink: :blink:

Andy isn't as amazing as the state of Ohio. I don't think that any other state has the sheer number of motorcycles that Ohio does. It seems as though half the membership on here hails from Ohio. Ohio must be motorcycle crazy.

Ohio is #2 after Texas for number of bikes per person. i go to OSU an there are about 300 bikes on campus on any nice day it gets hard to find parking. i see new kz's on craigs list every week.

You know I've tried to clear up this rumor that Ohio has vintage bikes falling out of the trees before, and nobody wants to believe me.

This latest find was really a fluke especially since it was so close, that usually doesn't happen. The GPZ 1100 I just bought came from Lansing, Michigan. By all rights there should be a ton of vintage Kaws in Ohio because the world's largest dealer who I used to work for from 77 to 84 was located here and we sold these things by the thousands. I really don't know where they all went to, but believe me, they are not all here in Ohio trust me on this. I spend a lot of time looking and most times I end up doing an all day road trip to get what I want.

i wish bikes just fell outa trees in ohio, but when i look at ebay seems there all in indiana or wisconson, guess they came to cleveland to buy them and took them outta state:)

I finally went and took some pics of my latest "Barn find"
As you can see the guy still hasn't gotten it out yet.