I like adventure bikes. In Greece it's what I ride because
roads are sometimes treacherous but always interesting. But at home I have an
antique for my ride. It's a bike I dreamed about when I was much younger and
finally acquired it later in life.
In 1979 Kawasaki engineers produced a bike they'd been
working on for several years. It was to be their first foray into 6 cylinder
motorcycles. Honda stole some of their thunder with the introduction of the CBX
the previous year. The 1978 CBX 1000 was a sport bike with an air cooled 6
cylinder engine that produced over 100 hp and it received rave reviews.
The 1970s were a time of a major energy crises caused by
petroleum shortages. The Middle East oil producers slowed exports and there was
a revolution in Iran. To conserve petroleum the U.S.actually reduced interstate
highway speed limits to 55 mph.
So into this world was born a behemoth of a motorcycle with
a displacement of 1300 cc and 120 hp. It had liquid cooling and a shaft drive
like a car. It also would break the interstate speed limit in first gear. The
motorcycle was heavy at over 700 lbs. It didn't get rave reviews. But it did
raise eyebrows and create a sensation for its complexity and sheer overkill for
the time. One bike magazine dubbed it the
Hulk, another named it King Kong.
I used to read all the cycle mags of the time and I remember
coming across an article about a Finnish guy who'd set a world record for
wheelies. He'd gone 65 miles on a California interstate on his back wheel. He
was riding a KZ1300. He was a stunt rider and his name was Arto Nyquist. I
really craved that bike.
Then someone stole my KZ1000. It wasn't insured for theft
because theft insurance was expensive. I was then paying off a loan for a bike
I didn't have any more. Then I got married. Then I had kids. Afterwards, there
was never enough money for that bike of my dreams.
But in October, 2005 I found it. I came across a 1981 KZ1300
in a customer's backyard and bought it for $1000. It had a fairing and hard
bags and an ugly paint job, but it was a KZ1300. It also needed work to get
running. It was a project I dove into that winter. I tore off the touring junk
to put it back to how it looked originally. I had a friend who owned a bike
shop so I took it to him to tune up the engine and carbs.
Then I had it painted black.
The thing rides like a train. And it's so smooth. There's no
tingle through the grips like every other bike I've owned. Just smooth power
through the gears right up to a theoretical 148 mph. I've cruised along at 100
mph but would never test my luck to find out the real top end. It's a 35 year
old bike but it's an every day rider for me.

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