TOPIC:

My daughter (Mech Eng student @ Colo School of Mines) wants a bike she can work on!! She's 113# dripping wet, but tougher than a cob (already spent a year in Iraq, on an IED search and destroy team) so we've kind of settled on a KZ550 or 650. Not running is good, 'cause she wants to learn "hands-on" about the machine. For the right price (and for my daughter!) I'd be more than willing to drive 500 miles. That means Omaha, St. Louis, Dallas, Cheyenne, you get the picture. Anybody got any leads?

Well... I've got a 550. It's not street legal cause it's been made into a cafe racer, And it would take me a few weeks to get the paper work finished up. (bought it at an impound auction)

It does run and drive, but there's plenty to be done to it. Say around 400? I'm pretty flexible. Have to drive to Tulsa, Or I might could arrange to meet you part way.

Check with Virii, I think he might be able to turn you onto a KZ650... ...see, then everybody and their daughter would have one, except for me !!!

Not sure if it sold already or not, but here's a 650 that was on CL in Fort Collins a little while ago.

fortcollins.craigslist.org/mcy/372387257.html

Denver CL has a couple of 750's, one of them a twin in Longmont. Might be a possibility.

But wait a minute...if she's going to Mines, she'll probably want to cast all the parts from ore and built it from the ground up, huh?

P.S. If you talk to the guy with the 650 and he still has it, I can go a take a look at it for you to see if it's close to the description if you'd like.

Good to hear it, Bruce.

The question is the seat height. Interestingly, even though Kawasaki claimed a low seating position for the 650 SR, my 650B feels lower to me. Looking at them side-by-side doesn't reveal too much different. Perhaps an Ltd or CSR would be lower.

Bad Kaw, I got two 650s!

Here are a couple from CL Manhattan:

'81 CSR 650

'82 Ltd 550

Post edited by: N0NB, at: 2007/08/03 07:22

Bruce that CSR 650 Nate posted looks pretty nice for the price. If you want to make it sit lower for her, a set of shocks from a 500 Vulcan will fit right on and drop it about 2 inches. I have an 81 CSR and it is one of my favorites.

Oh and Bad Kaw I just picked up another 77 650 on Monday so that makes 4 650's for me.

Thanks, everyone! I've pm'd jjdwoodsman about his, 'cause she really is looking for a project she can take all the way down to the frame, and build her own. Chip off the old block!

Here's some pics:

again

yep

sure

last time. note the screwed up triple fork for the conversion. Not very stout, but the forks are hanging in there. Also, the rear wheel that belongs to it is here, just flat. I got tired of airing it up every time the thing was in my way, but too lazy to really fix it.