TOPIC:

I kind of like the older bikes, Hell I have had the 650 for about 24 years now, got stolen once, got it back, .
There are a few cost savings also, insurance is a damn site cheaper on the old bikes, my 1000 gets better milage than a friend does on his Honda Shadow, and I can wax his ass at will.
The best part is I can work on it without having to have a degree in something to figure them out, or taking off a pile of plastic to see the spark plugs

because i have over 16 moving violation tickets on my record and my insurance is through the roof just for liability. these old ujm's have the cheapest insurance! if not for all the old tickets, id probably be on a zrex right now. fug...

i like to have at least one "new" bike every once in awhile, it is just as fun for me to pull a brand new bike out of the box and put it together and to be the only person to ever ride it, as to work on 30 year old stuff.
speaking of which it is about time to upgrade the 05'......

For me I like the looks of our Kawasakis better than any new bike, but the main thing for me is there is no new bikes that I can think of that are anywhere near as functional as a KZ. I can tie on anything I want to take along on the seat behind me. Can you do that on any new bike? Nope, no place to tie on anything. I can sit on a nice flat seat and relax and ride. Can you do that on any new bike? Nope, all are either sloped forward at at 40 degree angle, or sit you into a "V" slot in the seat that is even worse. I can sit my motorcycles on the centerstand to work on them and clean. Do that on any new bike? Nope, centerstands all gone. No function to any new bike and I'll call "new" anything later than about 1983. The Kawasaki Zephrs ect, even fell into new, because they ruined the seat and no provision to tie on luggage. Of course there are exceptions, a new Goldwing has all I want, but I don't need another 1000lb boat just to ride around town. The BMW R1200GS is all I'd dream of, but that seat ruins it as it feels just like a Yamaha FJ1200 in the showroom, and I tried that and found it horrible to say the least. Triumph Bonneville has a nice flat seat, but no way to tie on anything and looks pretty light duty in comparison to a KZ. That big triumph 2300cc thing looks possible too, but another 900lb boat I don't need, and don't need a 240/50 rear tire that's going to cost $299 every time it's replaced. I'll just stay old.

I guess I could have bought a new bike but would it have been worth the hassle of dealing with the wifey? I got mine for free with the full intention of parting it out on e-bay but because of the bulletproofness of those old UJMs I had it fired up and running in just a few minutes. It went from being a "sell on ebay" project to being a "buy stuff on ebay" project with the cough of a motor.
Now that I have it and have it on the road I love it. I love the way my riding group is composed of HD, HD, HD, VTX 1800, HD, HD, and some wierd guy on an old KZ. My friends have finally gotten used to people stopping to look at and talk about my bike instead of their $20,000+ catalog Harleys. Heck some of them can now give the KZ historical speech for me if I'm not standing right there.

I think we would all love to have a new bike but when I ride around on my KZ looking all shiny and purty it's great! I really enjoy the looks and comments I get. The simplicity of these bikes is awesome. A new bike is great but then IMHO your just "another" new bike on the road and people don't even give you a second look. But when I pull up to a light, I catch a LOT of guys checking my bike out. That's why we are all here, for the love of these older bikes. If I had the $$$ for a new bike (and a wife who says get one) would I?, hell yes! Will I ever get rid of my KZ?, HELL NO!!

I know what you're thinking. My wife and I have this discussion atleast once a year. Usually it starts with one of my bikes needing work. Then I get the plan to sell all of the bikes, parts bikes, and spare parts and buy ONE new (or newer) bike. For me, this bike would be a Ducati.
I have always wanted a Ducati.
I have looked at a ba-zillion different ones, of varying models, with bank loan approval or saved cash in hand for the last 8 years and have passed on everyone.
Why do I do this to myself?
I can't imagine not having a KZ. My first bike was a KZ750, I currently own a KZ750 and have had 4 KZ750 in my riding career. I have had a KZ750 motor in my living room over the winter for a top end rebuild when I was in college. I just can't think of all of the wrenching, riding, wrenching, and wrenching that I have done on KZ750s going to waste.
My KZ is clean, cheap to opperate and repair, and fun to ride everyday to work or for a day trip. It keeps getting better and better as I continue to work on the bike.
So, back to my original plan.
Then after a few days, I realize that I can't sell any of my bikes, parts bikes and spares but still really want a Duc.
What do you say honey...
Check avitar.

If my wife said "just buy new", I might trade her in as fast as I could!

My Z1 has always started and runs great- kick starts easier than it electric starts- second kick and off! Just not a very good two up bike for not small folks such as myself!

But I love it anyway- had it since around 82ish ( I still can't quite nail down which year I got it- wierd huh? )- so it is like an old, aging friend, but he is cool.

But most likely, a Triumph Tiger and a Ducati 1098 or the new Buell 1125R is in my future as well.

i was raised around z1s starting in 75 and got my 1st in 79.ive had a hotrodded zx-11 years ago,a gs1100 suzuki we even had a poked/stroked stretched/lowered busa with two stages of nitrous pass through the family.but in the end they all came and left without me losing much sleep over them,but the zs tend to stick around hell ive still got the key from my 1st z1 from back in 79 on my key chain! heres ol wireboy/plummen from back in 79 on the a2 ive still got in my dads basement,long live the kz the 55 chevy of motorcycles.

I never thought much about this before because my '77 KZ650C1 IS my new bike! I bought it new (April 1977). My old bike was a '63 BSA (bought used in 1965 and owned until '77). I've driven numerous newer machines belonging to friends, but they just don't do it for me. Along with plenty of performance, I still love the looks of my bike and the looks it gets. No, it's not as fast as today's big boys, but I still surprise a few riders on newer bikes my size who don't know how well the KZ650s can run. My bike is 99% stock, but it still is a real hobby keeping it looking and running as close to new as is practical. I find riding and maintaining it therapeutic. After riding my "new" bike for 30 years it would be unthinkable to trade it in for a newer one. Ed

I'm cheap, I like to take things apart and fix them, and the KZ-1000 is my favorite bike of all time.
I have less than $1500.00 in my bike and it gets allot of attention. It's not perfect, but I dont require it to be I have enough spare parts to rebuild it twice over. Oh yeah, I find modern sport bikes very uncomfortable to ride and I hate harleys.

Ron