Once upon a time I was gonna cut its tail off

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23 Jul 2021 02:08 - 23 Jul 2021 02:23 #852329 by TheForumTroll
Once upon a time I was gonna cut its tail off was created by TheForumTroll
Reading 577Nitro's topic "to mod or not to mod" I was brought back to when I just found my KZ. Some very knowledgeable and rather irritated people (even a bit angry maybe?), like dear ed650, answered my first post on here about a project bike I was looking at. Back then I had no idea what I had found. I was gonna make something really nice, a café racer maybe? Little did I know that approximately 7 years later I was testing some new bikes (Yamaha MT-07 for example) only to get a revelation:

Oh boy such power (relatively), such willingness to turn, what a sound it makes, etc. but it just didn't have the, dare I say it... soul? After testing those new bikes I drove home on my (as I now know) rather rare (especially around here) US version of the KZ750L4, the KZ700A1, that somehow made it all the way to Denmark. I have only seen one other A1 around here and I had to search for it in a bike forum (and it wasn't original anymore). And I was gonna chop its tail off or something crazy

I wonder what it is these old cult bikes got that, for some, just make them so much more fun driving? The only regret I have is that I didn't fix the rust properly I found behind the emblem as I'm now likely to be forced to remove the old original paint on the tank..

Anyways, thanks for all the advice I have found in here through the years. I have mostly been lurking but sure have found a lot of knowledge (and almost got a spanking)

Edit: Forgot a photo. Here it is, not original looking anymore but it now is as I want it and nothing has been cut or thrown out.
 

-[ KZ700-A1 '84 ]-
Last edit: 23 Jul 2021 02:23 by TheForumTroll.
The following user(s) said Thank You: loudhvx, howardhb, Stereordinary

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23 Jul 2021 04:51 #852333 by Move0ver
Replied by Move0ver on topic Once upon a time I was gonna cut its tail off
Remember the guy here a few years ago who chopped up an Eddie Lawson KZ1000 to make a "cafe racer"?

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23 Jul 2021 06:17 #852338 by Rick H.
Replied by Rick H. on topic Once upon a time I was gonna cut its tail off
It's too bad about your rust problem, but fixable for sure.  I applaud the fact you didn't slash and burn items off your bike.  It looks much better as it came from the Mothership.

Rick H. 

Rick H.

1977 Kawasaki KZ-1000A1

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23 Jul 2021 08:38 #852348 by loudhvx
Replied by loudhvx on topic Once upon a time I was gonna cut its tail off
There is something so appealing about the Kz's with the orange/red on black color scheme.  And it really does work best with all of the body parts intact.  As much as I like the red gpz scheme, the orange/red on black is still my favorite.

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23 Jul 2021 08:55 #852352 by Stereordinary
Replied by Stereordinary on topic Once upon a time I was gonna cut its tail off
Oh boy, I know exactly what you’re talking about. I went through something like that with my previous bike, a Ninja 500. Got it in my head that I was gonna do a cafe racer conversion, and even though I made some progress I ultimately just ruined a perfectly good bike. Should have left it alone and just used it to learn to ride. 

I sold that one and bought my Zephyr, and I will never chop it. I could see picking up a bike that’s already been mistreated or wrecked and doing a cafe racer thing to that, but so many bikes get needlessly chopped, and so often look worse than when they started. 

A breeze from the west.
‘90 ZR550 Zephyr

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