How far have you all ridden your old KZs (on 1 trip)

So far, the longest ride has been about 200 miles - to the Gilmore Museum and back on the 650. It ran perfectly! However, there are days I wish I had a little more padding in my rear end - or in the bike seat :dry:

I doubt if there will be many trips much longer than that - I'm getting too old to sit on a motorcycle of this style all day long. But I just bought a trailer, and expect the old KZ will be accompanying us on a LOT of road trips!

Year before last, around 1300KM (800 miles) over 3 days. Plenty of overnighters of 500 to 700 miles. I recall my first long trip on the 650 2 years ago, apprehensive about the reliability of a almost 30 year old bike. Had enough tools for an overhaul, extra oil/brake fluid, cables and so on. Never touched the extra oil, just a light chain lube each morning, and the bike ran flawlessly. Learned to travel much lighter now and trust that with regular maintenance, these things are bulletproof.

(Here is a pic of that ride. Look at the pile of crap. Never used 3/4 of it. I think all I used was a change of clothes and my toothbrush...:laugh:)

Hey, we have the same set of bags/tank bag :laugh:, a good set, they held everything we needed for a few days on the road and more

I actually just got back from vacation a few weeks ago - ended up with a little over 900 miles in 5 days in Colorado on my kz550. 7 passes over 8000 ft, and the Million Dollar Hwy & Pikes Peak included. Absolutely no problems, and about 58 mpg.

Though I did learn it's hard to start the bike on an incline at 13000 feet in 2nd gear. :S

I rode from Vsncouver to Calgary in 1 day ~1100 KM and I was cold as hell when I got off the bike.

Make sure to stretch you legs every hour.

I rode across AZ last week (100+ temps) on my KZ1000 and did fine with a Camelback, but I stayed away from the black leather...
My biggest issue was range - population density is much lower out here and I had to plan my fuel stops to avoid getting stranded. Since it's an air-cooled bike, I also tried to keep the rpms below 4000 to avoid overheating.

My wife and I just returned from a trip to the Upper Penninsula Michigan last Saturday. We rode for 9 days and put on exactly 1980 miles on our 1979 SR650. Went through several days of occasional rain but other than a few spits and coughs from our old Kawi (just to let us know her displeasure at getting so wet) she ran fine the whole trip. The only maintenance issue we had was the need to adjust the drive chain several times. For whatever reason, the chain kept stretching and required an adjustment every couple days. (The chain is 2 years old and has been on about 18000 miles). I dunno why it stretched so much, so often but I will replace it soon anyway.
Other than that our Gitchie Gumie trip was great. No major mechanical issues and no worries.

I hope you were lubing the chain frequently and *not* using PJ1 oil? I used it one trip and that's exactly what my chain did. Glad you had a good trip too.
davenkids2001 wrote:

My wife and I just returned from a trip to the Upper Penninsula Michigan last Saturday. We rode for 9 days and put on exactly 1980 miles on our 1979 SR650. Went through several days of occasional rain but other than a few spits and coughs from our old Kawi (just to let us know her displeasure at getting so wet) she ran fine the whole trip. The only maintenance issue we had was the need to adjust the drive chain several times. For whatever reason, the chain kept stretching and required an adjustment every couple days. (The chain is 2 years old and has been on about 18000 miles). I dunno why it stretched so much, so often but I will replace it soon anyway.
Other than that our Gitchie Gumie trip was great. No major mechanical issues and no worries.