How many here rode motorcycles first

[sjackson]

Yes,all those KAW's were scary beasts,very 'nonlinear' throttle response.The 3cyl 750 was beyond scary for me,more like borderline lethal,so I chickened out with a 550.That one was bad enough.The trouble is that everything else seems dull&tame.There was no 3 cyl 900 BTW.Their nimble little Ninja 250 is quite potent and really fun to ride.Not that expensive either 3kB I think.

There was a reason that the 750 earned the nickname "widow maker" back in the day. I don't think going with a 550 was chickening out... just a sane choice.

 

[duivendyk]

There was a KAW 900 Z1,but that was a 4cyl DOC 4 stroke,not a 3cyl 2 stroke.Never rode one.Prejudiced against them.Prob. quite powerfull too,but more docile.Doubt if it could outrun the 750 though.As far as that 750 is concerned,the handling was just not commensurate with the power it had.I think it still holds a few world records.

 

[eastwoodo4]

I sold mine about three years ago when the starter clutch went out.I drove it for 2 years rain or shine.It was a 83 kaw ltd kz750 shaft drive.Pain in the as s to change the starter clutch on those.But it was a reliable bike.my brother had a magna 750 at the time.We were heading out west on a trip when catrina was heading for new orleans.We got to pensecola and couldnt go no farther.during the trip inbetween tallahasse and pensacola the morning after catrina hit we were being blown sideways on or bikes and their were emergency convoys passing us.They must of thought we were nuts.When we got to pensacola we couldnt go no farter because I 10 was closed going out.But there was a lot of people in pensacola that were coming from new orleans.They started having gas shorteges and we were real lucky on getting gas.people were following gas trucks and waiting for them to put it in the tanks and that went on for a week.me and my brother were working out of a temp service which ive done all over the country while traveling but thats a whole nother story.We went to work cleaning up this motel on pensacola beach that got messed up in another hurricane the year before.Man this is bringing back a lot of memeries as i type.I remeber we were camping at this rest area right out side of pensacola but it was allowed at that time because of catrina and there were a lot of people camping out there.I met this 80 year old man.He was telling me his shop was destroyed but it was good because now he had nothing to worry about.I know he liked talking to me and my brother.He said when he was real young he had this indian motorcycle and he used to have these steal plates on his shoes he would drag around corners and he said when he would drive it hed cover his face and everything and no one knew who it was and he felt really cool(he told the story a lot better).Then he started talking about his fighting days and he started to show me some moves.He went to pick me up and i was like wowe man.he was getting a little into his conversation i think.

I could keep going but i wont.It was a **** of an experience that ill never forget.

 

[duivendyk]

I rode around sometimes on my brother's early thirties Indian Scout,a 750 cc sidevalve V twin.He had unearthed it in a barn somewhere,had been sitting there for ten years or more.Some things had disappeared like the headlight &speedo&the tires were shot of course,but the guts were pretty much OK and with the help of a well-heeled uncle in the States got it on the road again !.A far,far cry from my itty-bitty little DKW buzzfly.Serious low-end torque.It was a substantial piece of hardware that attracted a lot of attention with that weird leafspring fork,It had a hand gearshift on the right,and seemed indestructible.He sold it eventually,it was still going strong. It was one tough piece of machinery.

 

[Turtle Tedd]

Yea I think that old Kaw 3cylinder was a 750..would have bought that but didnt have any money when younger..I used to ride over to Barneys motorcycle every couple of weekends on my Honda cb350..If you rode in on one they would let you test drive one..I would pic out a big bad bike , making like I wanted to buy it and blast it across the Howard Franklyn Bridge as fast as it would go...This worked for almost a year until I ran through all the salesmen and they got wise ...That Kawasiki was the best adrenalin rush Ive had on a bike...major acceleration.do not remember what the top end was because by then I couldnt see anything anyway....

 

[duivendyk]

May have been be just as well you didn't have the dough.It was the only 3 cyl.one (and the 550).The problem was not to slam into someone, when in traffic even with the 550.The 750 looked deceptively innocentlike,not like an intimidating kick-a*s big engine roadwarrior-machine such as the 900 Z.That Honda CB350 was not one of their better efforts,I'd have to say.

 

[Turtle Tedd]

That Honda was fun ...One day I decided to do an Evil Kneval and jump this salt water stream, it had a nice dirt pile build up on the take off side...sailed right over it good landing...two weeks later went back to do it again...built up some good speed on approach, hit the little hill, up on the pegs, and then-to late it was high tide that day i guess..now we have big wide streem...landed right in the middle....water was up to the bottom of the tank..that was the end of that honda

 

[duivendyk]

Look before you leap!,I once ended up in a canal in Holland,(not intentionally). It was in November, on my early MB (JLO 80cc) rack mount creation,on my way to school.Was drafting behind truck&tried to avoid block of wood on road.Lost control&plunged at 50km/hr into deep canal.Quite Unnerving,freezing cold &hard to get out of the water.Managed to swim to houseboat,people flabbergasted but helpful.Bike still there at bottom of canal I guess.

 

[Happy Valley]

There was a KAW 900 Z1,but that was a 4cyl DOC 4 stroke

In '78 while in the military I purchased a new Z1R-TC, 1000cc in line four with a turbocharger package. It was the advent of big engine cafe style bikes in the US. Wasn't long before they were made illegal.

 

[eastwoodo4]

I seen a guy at the store not long ago and he was riding a kaw kz 1000 ltd.I think it was early 80`s but he said an old lady sold it to him for 400 bucks.The f ing thing was fuel injected!that had to be rare.