Why did you get a KZ?

I've always ridden streetbikes, or on/off road bikes. I'm not much for riding in dirt or sand.
Got my first bike in 1970. I was 15, and it was a Honda CL125 Scrambler. If I laid on the gas tank, it would go 62mph.
Joined the AirForce in '75, and bikes were a cheap way to get around for a poor airman. A buddy in our unit had a Z1, and boy, did I covet my neighbor's bike! Traded in my Honda XL350 for a KZ650 in '77, and from then on I was hooked.

Well, I told a friend at work that I always wanted a motorcycle, but just could not afford one. He happened to have an old Kz in his shed that he didn't have time to get ready. About $500 and a lot of work later I had a running, licensed and street legal Kz400.

kawtoy wrote:

Great stories. Keep them coming. Hey Gringo, you should load up a few of the bikes that you don't really want and bring them to Mid Ohio. You can sell them in my booth. Then you can buy another bike there and get rid of the withdrawl you are having.

Thanks for the offer of space Shane. I'm trying to formulate a plan for Mid-Ohio this year. I guess I need to come up with a plan A and a plan B based on the weather. I'm planning on coming down Friday and Saturday this year. I'm thinking of maybe riding the Z-1 Classic down on Friday if the weather looks good but I don't want to sell that bike. I'm also thinking of getting rid of the 750 L-3 but I don't see myself riding that uncomfortable sucker for 2 hours. I've got a 650 B that I either need to fix or dump, a slew of 550's I need to do something with as well as a couple of 750 LTD's I have to decide what to do with. Hopefully between now and then the guy with the 1000 LTD will get off his butt and get me some pics so I can decide if that is going to be my next project which would cure my withdrawl.

Cuz it was $430 and it ran. After that I blame brain damage from hanging round here.

i went from a 125 hodaka to a basket case z1 when i was 13 compliments of dear ol dad and my uncles leaning on him to make it happen:evil: its pretty hard to keep up with this family!

Because of the several bikes that I've owned over the years, I always ended up looking up a KZ's tail pipe.
Now it's my turn to be in front dammit.

My first KZ1000 was engine only... made a go-kart out of a old riding mower when I was a young aspiring wrench in Arkansas. My second KZ was a 400 that I picked up in Hawaii at the barracks, I think that I was the 20th or so registered owner. I promptly painted it fluorescent green, got it running, put new tires on it, got a ticket on base, and had to sell. Now I am looking to get a KZ1000P later this year.

Almost forgot about the KZ1000 that my brother had... until he taught my sister in law to ride. Not too long after the ambulance showed up, the wrecker showed up. If memory serves me, she panicked coming up to the drive way, grabbed a handful of first gear, hit the curb, some air and then hit the house. Broke wrist and collar bone. Bike mangled.

I agree with The Gringo... working on a bike (even if its not yours) and cold beer go very well together.

Post edited by: Faughn, at: 2007/06/04 13:00

Reading Cycle World back in the early '80s got me hooked on the KZ models although I knew little of the pre-1980 models since they didn't cover them any more. I coveted a Z1 Classic, then a KZ550 or KZ750, then the GPz550, etc. Of course, none were ever in my financial future back then.

Fast forward to 2003 and the bike bug bit again. I still wasn't much of a Honda fan so the other three brands of UJM were in the running. The more I looked, the more the styling of the KZs appealed to me. Then I found this site and it cinched the deal. :laugh:

As luck would have it, I was offered a 650 SR, a model I knew absolutely nothing about until I did some research, and bought it. It is definitely a "one of a kind" around town, which suits me just fine. Now I'm working on the next one, a 650B. It should be fun to learn the riding differences between them.

Why a KZ? Why not?

I saw a picture of an old KZ on the bulletin board at a convenience store; non running KZ750 LTD with the most god-awful sissy bar you could imagine. Paid $300, started wrenching on it, found KZR, and it runs like a top. Been through a few others since then, it is an addiction. In the winter, I can roll a bike into my cellar, fire up the radio, woodstove and a stogie, and I am in my own world.
I still have the sissy bar.:S

Keep in mind that I am only 25 so this will sound like a story from someone older, not a young buck. I started on a 76 Bultaco Alpina 250 and rode that for about three years. After about two years a started to get the craving for a street bike. I really didn't want a big bike for my first one, but the 83 kz 1100 i got was the only one in my price range that fit. There was a big learning curve at first to go from the bul to a big kaw.( i guess a just like farm animals to go from a bul to a kaw. I have had it 4 years now and wouldn't change it for anything in the world.

When I was a sophmore in high school, 1978 the KZ650 was the "hot" ticket. I had been saving up money for a bike and bought one, 78 KZ650C. Still own it.

A mechanic buddy was spinnin' a yarn about some yocal who had a 1000 and tried to do a wheelie with it. Said he thrashed it all afternoon, but it wouldn't come off the ground. It did, however, shred...literally... the brand new Metzler on the rear.
Me, about 16 at the time thought..."cool,"...wipe drool, "I gotsa to get one!"