Bike of the Month.

What a beatiful machine!
Well done!

H.

Wellicht done, a real beauty!!!

That looks fantastic!! You really did an excellent job.

 

I would really appreciate some participation from you guys, there are hundreds of great bikes sitting in members garages that deserve to be showcased here. Send me 6-10 pics and a couple of paragraphs with the back story and lets appreciate the work you do 

Back to the UK for another from Warren's stable this month (apologies for the late posting)
This standard Z650B1 was bought new by me late in 1977 from Paul Smart Kawasaki Paddock Wood Kent UK. Paul was a UK racer and a development rider for the original Z1 who sadly passed recently following an RTA.
I went there to trade in my GT250M against a Z1, Z1a or B but there were no second hand bikes in stock.
I test rode a Z650 and decided to buy a new one over a Z900a4. My new bike was still in its transport crate so I had to go back the following week after assembly and PDI. Price back then in 1977 was £1137.00 and I still have the original sales receipt. When I collected it a week later a Z1B had been traded in by a customer so I had to buy that as well. Both bikes have been with me since that day some 46 years ago.
The 650 was daily transport and ridden very very hard and was somewhat mechanically tired after 20k miles and a few years of teenage thrashing so was relegated to the back of the garage.
Following the sale of my company in 2006 and with excess time on my hands I thought it time to drag it out and clean it up.
Having restored over a dozen 650’s in the intervening years there wasn’t anything that daunted me and my spares bin was fairly comprehensive should I come across anything beyond rescue. To my surprise and as a nod to Kawasaki original design and build quality other than a engine refresh not much was needed. All that was required was a little bit of rechroming and a lot of elbow grease. As with all my 650 restorations both primary and cam chains were renewed as a matter of course along with new rings and cylinder hone.
When Kawasaki launched the new Z650 in 2016 I was contacted by Martin Lambert Kawasaki GB press officer asking if I would be willing to lend them my bike so that they could pose both side by side at forthcoming launch exhibitions. Having agreed, it was exhibited at the 2016 National motorcycle show at the National exhibition centre Birmingham. After the show closed Martin asked if they could keep hold of it for a few months for other press releases and shows. Being late in the year and with winter looming I agreed. That year it actually did more miles traveling the world in a container than it had ever done on the road with me. From the UK it went to Portugal, Spain, a few other European countries, South America, US, Canada as the new 650 launch travelled the world. After its eventual return to me Martin then came with a note pad and a photographer to interview me and picture the bike for the official Kawasaki club annual magazine which resulted in a 5 page spread.
I own bikes that have hugely higher financial values than the 650 but none that have the emotional value this 650 holds for me. It represents those late teenage years when the sun shone continually, beer flowed liberally, the local bobbies understood and accepted youthful exuberance and the world was simpler and easy going.
Of all the bikes I own it would be the 650 that would be the most emotional to see go.

 

Wookie58 wrote:

I would really appreciate some participation from you guys, there are hundreds of great bikes sitting in members garages that deserve to be showcased here. Send me 6-10 pics and a couple of paragraphs with the back story and lets appreciate the work you do 

C'mon guys. Wookie can't keep this post going without your input.

Thanks for this month Wookie 

What a great bike and an even better owner / story !   
 

Congratulations to Warren , and  great pick for BOTM to Wookie.
Dave

Another beautiful example for botm.Great job!

This month we are back to the USA for Scott's (Nerdy) GPZ550 "survivor" a story of long term ownership and on-going plans for continued improvement, this one isn't going anywhere. So over to Scott for the storyIn the early 1990s I was in the Air Force, stationed in Hawai'i. One of my co-workers asked if I would go with him to look at used bikes; we didn't find anything for him but I found a 1981 GPz550. It looked good and sounded amazing and the test ride was fantastic, so I sold my Ninja 250 and bought the GPz for a whopping $1350 (which included a new rear tire). Aside from an unidentified 4-into-1, it appeared to be all stock and original.
One weekend a friend and I were heading out to Hawai'i Raceway Park for their open drag race night and I was taking the GPz. To prepare, I installed a Barnett clutch kit with Kevlar fibre plates and heavy springs. The clutch cover didn't want to come off, so I went to Sears and picked up an impact driver (which I still use); thankfully it didn't care about Philips vs JIS! The best quarter-mile time I could manage was a 13.9, which was a lot of fun despite the bike being more capable than I was. I still have the OEM bikini fairing with my race number written on the windscreen in white shoe polish. After the drag strip trip I installed the clubman bars shown in the pics. They interfered with the upper fairing mount so the fairing stayed off, but I kept the OEM superbike bars as well.
After a couple years I transferred back to the mainland where I injured myself playing soccer (i.e. proper football) and couldn't ride for a while. By the time the leg had healed, the bike's tags had expired so I stored it in my parents' shed. The short version is that the GPz has run very little over the past 25+ years. Eventually I noticed that the rear master cylinder was heavily corroded and had seized: that is a one-year, one-model part, so finding replacements is extremely difficult. After years of searching eBay I found a good used MC and an NOS piston, so the brakes can be reassembled once I get the right braided stainless lines. (There's a good KZR thread about this issue with excellent guidance from loudhvx (RIP) and Scirocco.)
In the early 2000s I started buying 1981 GPz550 parts on eBay: fuel tanks, bodywork, carburetors, etc. Those parts are great, but the real finds happened in 2022: a set of nearly-new Keihin CR26 carburetors (with K&N pods and a large selection of jets) from another KZR member and - unbelievably - an NOS fuel tank. The tank is going on a shelf in the home office but the carbs will go on the bike as soon as I have the time. The bike also still has a Hawai'i title, so I'll need to resolve that as well before getting it back on the road.
What you see is an unrestored survivor - warts and all. Aside from the replacement seat cover - and the already-removed rear brakes - she is just as she was 30 years ago when I was riding around O'ahu. She got a quick bath before the pictures, but there was no detailing or wax or anything. Sharp-eyed readers will notice that the tank and seat are not really installed; they're just sitting in place for photography purposes. Future changes include the aforementioned carbs, actual clip-ons, and having the mystery exhaust ceramic coated.
 

Now there's a bike that has seen some Love.  Looks like it gets out on the road to do what it does best!

Awesome !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I'd ride it