Why did you get a KZ?

I got a KZ because the vibration is in an entirely different location...

No seriously though. You can't beat the reliability, collectibility, style, form, and top notch craftsmanship of a KZ. KZ's are classy and are in a league of their own when it comes to showmanship. Also it gives me a special feeling knowing so many rice burners are out there smoking the oil chugging, part vibrating off, over priced, "American Made" HD's.

Oh, and my name is on my title.... Not my bank's name. That factor plays heavily into the decision to go with a KZ.

I still ask myself this question today. Why ? Guess I'm hanging onto the last bit of my youth.

Because I had just gotten my license, was dying to find a cheap beater bike and I saw a 78 KZ200 chained to a fence with a for sale sign on it. I had no idea about KZ's, I just knew it had two wheels, very low mileage and it ran. After getting it home I realized how cool the standard style, kick start and chrome fenders looked and started to do research. That's when I found this site. My second KZ I bought off a guy here and very quickly sold to another guy here for the same price. Didn't like the looks of it that much, had no idea how to get it to run and basically didn't think I needed two old bikes in the garage.

Fast forward to yesterday...Volusia (VL 800) in the garage, KZ200 sold to a guy in Brooklyn and the 400 in Wolfencopter's posession (maybe still for all I know) and I get offered a free 78 KZ400 Standard (Pics forthcoming when I take posession). I didn't think I needed two old bikes in the garage but I never said I had a problem with one new and one old.

I guess my story is much less interesting than most I've read here. I bought my SR 650 because it was priced right, looked good and was located less than 20 miles from me. I bought it for about $1200 and it had only 5820 miles on the clock. It was the best deal I could find, though it was my first Kawasaki ever.
I am not a brand fanatic, like some guys here, but I always liked the look and styling of Kawasaki's. My "little" 650cc has taken me and my wife over 14,000 in the last 2 years without any major problems, so I guess that's testament enough as to the quality of this bike.
In retrospect I am very pleased and happy I bought this bike, although at the time I was not looking for any particular make or model.
That's my story and I'm sticking to it.
-Dave

I own a KZ cuz I can't get Arai to co-sign my loan app for an OCC bike... bwhahaha

wiredgeorge wrote:

I own a KZ cuz I can't get Arai to co-sign my loan app for an OCC bike... bwhahaha

Last year I was still driving a dual-sport, trying to figure out how to convince my wife that I needed a Z750 or a Bandit. I don't normally buy magazines, but I was traveling for work and needed some reading material for the plane. I picked up Motorcyclist (I think the Ocotber 2006 issue) which had a teaser article by Mitch Boehm about building a racer out of an old KZ with a bunch of crazies from Ohio in 2 days for an AHRMA bike race at Mid-Ohio Vintage Motorcycle Days.

The article had a picture of the bike, and it looked so cool - way cooler than a modern bike. I became really smittten with the idea of building a road racer from an old KZ. I waited patiently for the next issue of Motorcyclist so that I could read the story on how they turned a KZ550 (LTD!) into a race-ready bike in two days.

Obviously, a lot of work went into that bike. I decided that if I was going to ride anything, it was going to be a bike as cool as that. So I started hunting for a KZ. Eventually I found my KZ650.

And now the fun is just beginning

Joey, I had the opportunity to work on the MOMBA bike last year at the Mid-Ohio vintage race. They didn't mention me in the article but I helped wire the bike and set up the carbs for them. Of course, in the article, the Harley folks who did the work and Mr. Boehm got all the press bwhahaha The bike wasn't all that race ready. There were no jets to be had other than some larger Keihin main jets and the gearing on the bike was a mess. They had grafted on Suzuki wheels and this meant they grafted on the very very very tall Suzuki rear sprocket. There were no coutershaft sprocket choices and only the stock Suz rear sprocket. The very tall gearing combined with not so well sorted out carburetion (TK22s have few tuning options from a swap meet) and the heaviness of the rider made the bike not so competitive. The bike was amazing in that it passed all the race bike rules and such. They would have been better off to go to a larger displacement category as there would have been more speed parts available at the swap meet. They also didn't mention Z1Enterprises where they found half their bike parts... Jeff even talked me into wearing one of his tee shirts while down in the pits bwhahaha

I've always liked the older machines and i just did my research. At first i wanted a gs1000 but for some reason it seemed like the kz name had a bigger infrastructure. basically over the past 8-9 months i was just looking around to see which bike seemed more appealing. Sadly no matter how i looked at it the yamaha and honda's seemed out of the question for me... maybe it was because i already owned one of their brands. When push came to shove all roads led to the z1 and its latter spawn of kz's. After i had my heart set on the kz i later found out it was in one of my favorite shows i had watched when i was a wee pimply lad (im only 19). that was icing on the cake for me and now i have one... still haven't driven it yet :whistle: count down is on 3 days till i get to though :evil: i decided im not gonna tear this one apart and find a gs1000 or another kz1000 to turn into a streetfighter.

Wow...Where to begin? Get ready for a long read!
When I was a wee little kid in about 1980, My dad had a CB100 (I think). Dad soon wanted a bigger ride, so he went to a 1976 CB550 Super Sport. I was a gear head from day one, and was fascinated by the bikes. In about 1981 or 1982, dad had a friend with a 1978 KZ650 SR (the one I have now). The friend had taken dad on a set of stereo speakers, or at least that's the way I remember it as a 7 or 8 year old kid. The guy hit something at a slow speed and the forks twisted in the tripple trees. Dad looked at the bike after the wreck, and "worked out a deal" to get it. To make sure that mom didn't fuss about another bike(mom also rode, she got dad into bikes!!!) he had it painted some kind of baby or powder blue and told mom he bought it for her.

We spent many years riding with mom, dad and my brother (dreamsofaz1r on this forum). I have lots of memories riding on the tank of the SR as a kid.

Now we're in 1984 and mom and dad got a divorce. Dad didn't deal well with it and his riding habits showed it. He parked the bike in the driveway, uncovered because he said, "when you go through traffic at 130 mph and don't care, it's time to stop!" Dad never would give the bike to mom even though it was hers (read above). The bike sat outside, uncovered for about four or five years and the motor locked up. Dad sold the bike for nothing to a guy in town. He messed with it some and the bike changed hands again. This guy messed around for a while and it sold AGAIN.

Well being a very small Ohio town (my graduating class was 73 people) every one knew the bike from dad terrorizing the local cops on it. Dad got remaried, moved out of town, and died in October of 1993. Int the following spring, the guy who ended up with the bike saw me at a mutual friend's house and asked if I'd like to buy it. Of course I had to have it!! I asked the local bike mechanic, who helped dad all of these years, about it and he told me it would be cheaper to buy another like it already running (he was right).

After I passed on the bike, the local bike guy bought it, spent MANY hours, parts,and dollars fixing it up. He asked me if I would buy it because of sentimental value. He made money an I got dad's/mom's bike. All where happy!

Well, I was 19 and going to whip the world of bikes. After a few years of enjoying the bike, I did like dad did. I was at a traffic light with three other bikes. One was some newer Yamaha crotch rocket and two harley behind us. My long time friend was on his Sportster and made a wise crack about get that Jap junk out of the way. When the light turned green, I hit it, went sideways and might have lifted the front tire some. When I went for second gear, I missed it and the tach hit the peg. When we got to my friends house there was a loud "ticking" in the top end, so I parked the bike like dad did. Again, it sat for about two years, uncovered in the weather, until I met Abilane. This was my self-imposed punishment for NOT respecting what a bike can do to you if you act dumb!

After sitting for a few years, the bike locked up, rusted to hell, and just plain needed to be fixed because, I had matured. I took the bike to fore-mentioned local mechanic (who then and still lives in Knoxville TN) and he took it apart and said it would NEVER BREATH AGAIN!!!! Well Abilane and I took a trip to retrieve the bike, got an evilbay engine, tore the bike to bare frame in the kitchen and the following spring had a nice 78 KZ650 SR to cruise on.

I have never PROPERLY taken care of this bike. It has never been out of the weather from summer of 1994 until this past January. It always sat outside with out even a tarp over it. It always started each spring with fresh gas and cleaning the points.

THIS is why I own a KZ and tell everyone to get one!!
Sorry this was so long, but I think it is a cool story.

ran429 wrote:

thus the mossbeater was born.
see link below.

Dude .. you so should have painted it Moss Green!! I could have sold you my guille sniper suit to ride in .. it would have been a sight to see!! :woohoo:

I got my Z1 cause my buddies old man was drunk and sold it to me for $200. He wasn't happy about it the next day, but this is the same guy who referred to his son and me as "The Mistake and the Mistake's friend." Couldn't have happened to a nicer guy! :laugh: :laugh:

wiredgeorge wrote:

I own a KZ cuz I can't get Arai to co-sign my loan app for an OCC bike... bwhahaha

George.........I'd co-sign for you if your credit score was bigger than your shoe size.............bwahahaha !