Motorcycles

Anyone have an opinion on if an unrestored Kawasaki Z1 would be a good investment/hold its value?

In the past I've mainly owned unrestored 60s/70s muscle cars and never lost money on them and sometimes made a profit. In Japan I don't want to own a car but a bike might be handy so I'm thinking of going in the same direction as with my cars.

I could buy a cheapish newish modern bike but it would lose value immediately. So I'm thinking about someting like an old Honda 750 4 or the Kwaka. At the moment the Kwaka is at the top of the list, such a beautiful and historic bike. In Japan you can pick up pretty good ones around $8000~$12000, primo ones around $15000 and fully restored $18000 ~$infinity for concourse standard.

I'm pretty confident that I could wrench an old bike, I did all the work on my cars (except things that required lathes or presses etc).

Took the bike in to work today -- only happens a couple of times a year.

I got the replacement diaphragms, finished cleaning my carbs, and tossed them back into the bike.

At first. it didn't want to start...when I was about to give up on trying things and go resort to google, it made a little sputter on the final turn. I gave it a little more effort and soon it started right up better than ever before. I think it may have just had trouble getting gas into the bowls (the petcock is vacuum based so maybe it wasn't flowing well even in prime mode).

the diaphragms made a huge differance. At 65mph the bike still has a ton more left in it. I wasn't on a road where I could really take it past 75-80 but even that is a huge improvement over the shredded rubber bits.

Still lusting over a cafe CB550



Oski said:

Still lusting over a cafe CB550

Click to expand...

geettttt one. they're really easy to work on, if you're remotely mechanically inclined.



brokencycle said:

I really don't want to spend $500 on a jacket alone though. The textiles are better at $180, but is the protection that much worse? What makes Speed & Strength stuff so expensive, is it a brand name thing or are they legitimately a lot better quality than the $2-300 leather jackets?
Thanks for the help.

Click to expand...

Try a few on, I went in with the idea that they are all the same rar rar rar, picked up a few cheap ones (250$AUD) to try out then tried one that was $600AUD, and had to get it. It fit alot nicer, the leather was alot softer, the armour in the elbows and shoulder fitted me better. Didn't regret that at all So try a few on, after a certain point it gets ridiculous and you're just paying for titanium sliders which is great... if you plan on stacking it in front of a camera



Oh and to your point about leather VS textile, its a personal preference thing but good leathers should last for your riding career. Textiles start getting grubby fast. Leather is also much better when it comes to sliding down the road on (not tested by me!) and it is all about fit too. A great fitting textile will protect better (won't move around as much) than a loose fitting leather jacket (which can slide up if you slide). And don't forget your legs. Read somwhere (and beleive) that you're legs are in more danger of being injured in a stack. I crashed a scooter on holidays in thongs... I'll NEVER ride in thongs EVER again.

Some boots that have a reinforced toe (for shifting gears) a reinfored sole and a slight heel will make riding more enjoyable, some armoured jeans / leather pants to protect your skin / knee caps, and a good quality good fit leather jacket with a built in back protector / buy a stand alone one as well as some quality leather gloves should see a few years of casual use at least.

Got a helmet? read up on DOT and SNELL (if you use DOT over there) and decide if you want one that is DOT or DOT and SNELL, then decide if you want plastic or fibreglass then get one that fits just right



Oski said:

Still lusting over a cafe CB550

Click to expand...

Check out this video of a CB500.

[VIDEO][/VIDEO]



Paulio said:

Try a few on, I went in with the idea that they are all the same rar rar rar, picked up a few cheap ones (250$AUD) to try out then tried one that was $600AUD, and had to get it. It fit alot nicer, the leather was alot softer, the armour in the elbows and shoulder fitted me better. Didn't regret that at all So try a few on, after a certain point it gets ridiculous and you're just paying for titanium sliders which is great... if you plan on stacking it in front of a camera
Oh and to your point about leather VS textile, its a personal preference thing but good leathers should last for your riding career. Textiles start getting grubby fast. Leather is also much better when it comes to sliding down the road on (not tested by me!) and it is all about fit too. A great fitting textile will protect better (won't move around as much) than a loose fitting leather jacket (which can slide up if you slide). And don't forget your legs. Read somwhere (and beleive) that you're legs are in more danger of being injured in a stack. I crashed a scooter on holidays in thongs... I'll NEVER ride in thongs EVER again.
Some boots that have a reinforced toe (for shifting gears) a reinfored sole and a slight heel will make riding more enjoyable, some armoured jeans / leather pants to protect your skin / knee caps, and a good quality good fit leather jacket with a built in back protector / buy a stand alone one as well as some quality leather gloves should see a few years of casual use at least.
Got a helmet? read up on DOT and SNELL (if you use DOT over there) and decide if you want one that is DOT or DOT and SNELL, then decide if you want plastic or fibreglass then get one that fits just right

Click to expand...

Thanks for the advise. I wound up going with a textile jacket that is reinforced with kevlar same with the pants, so we'll see how it goes. I have boots. Still looking for a helmet that is comfortable and I can wear my sunglasses with. I don't really like the helmets that have an interior tinted visor, and I don't want to mess around with swapping out visors.

I'll believe you about the legs. I was in an accident at a slow speed (probably about 10 MPH), and that shredded through my jeans easily.

I was most concerned about if the textile would provide enough abrasion resistance, but from what I read they should.

Took Columbus Day off and spent the long weekend in the mountains with my Forty-Eight and FatBoy. Beautiful weather, upper 70s and not a cloud in the sky. Damn, Smokies were crowded though, and almost got hit by a kid in a parking lot as he was doing 30 mph and turned sharply around a row of cars, cutting into my lane of traffic.


Racked up 800 or 900 miles, so in all, a great weekend. Hopefully a few more of these left until winter hits..



brokencycle said:

Thanks for the advise. I wound up going with a textile jacket that is reinforced with kevlar same with the pants, so we'll see how it goes. I have boots. Still looking for a helmet that is comfortable and I can wear my sunglasses with. I don't really like the helmets that have an interior tinted visor, and I don't want to mess around with swapping out visors.
I'll believe you about the legs. I was in an accident at a slow speed (probably about 10 MPH), and that shredded through my jeans easily.
I was most concerned about if the textile would provide enough abrasion resistance, but from what I read they should.

Click to expand...

Rather than shopping for a helmet to fit the sunnies, why not get some sunnies that fit helmets. http://www.fuglies.com.au/ and a review http://www.netrider.net.au/forums/archive/index.php/t-64592.html I don't have a pair. I have 2 helmets, one with tinted and clear, one with only clear. I use the tinted one if im going on a day ride and the clear one at night. I didn't buy both for this purpose but since I have the two and also cant be bothered swapping visors it works

hit up zennioptical.com and get some sunglasses. Even if you don't need prescription glasses, you can just order with 0 prescription and get a much wider variety of frames for much less money than at a store (I buy prescription glasses..but I have friends who always offer to split the shipping with me when I make an order since you can pick up some cool random frames that are higher quality than the junk at urban outfitters)

I've handled many of their frames and the worst was was comparable to $15 target sunglasses except it only cost like $7 plus a few more bucks for the tint...many of the other pairs have been very high quality (across several price points).

Look for something not too wide where you can trim the bent part off the arms. This will make it super easy to insert it inside your helmet.
If you took this random example:
http://www.zennioptical.com/750711-stainless-steel-half-rim-frame-with-plastic-temples.html
Its not the cheapest, but still only $34 with 80% tint and AR coating. Lenses look like a reasonable size without much to block your view. Cut the temples off leaving just a little bit of the bend and sand them smooth--then you can stick them in your helmet with ease (the helmet padding will hold them in place just fine).

Or you could do something like this with tint only for $12 total http://www.zennioptical.com/416311-metal-alloy-full-rim-frame-with-spring-hinge.html
You could also try their polarized or photochromatic lens options (but I don't know that this works inside a visor since they may have some UV protection already)



TRINI said:

That's definitely one of my main concerns as I'm not mechanically inclined. I'm also considering scooters as well since I'll be doing mostly city riding.

Click to expand...

Had an offer accepted on a used one of these:



Gonna go take a look at it on Tuesday, finalize paperwork during the week if I like it, and then put it away until next year. (or do laps in my underground parking garage)

Wow. Just hot.



TRINI said:

Had an offer accepted on a used one of these:

Gonna go take a look at it on Tuesday, finalize paperwork during the week if I like it, and then put it away until next year. (or do laps in my underground parking garage)

Click to expand...

Ahh the ********* of bikes. Fun to ride but you wouldn't want your friends to find out about it.

I've gotta say, I am just not a fan of the scooter at all. I know I will get pounded for this, but I only ever really see girls on scooters in my neck of the woods.. Sorry dude, had to get that off my chest..

The Royal Enfield just didn't grab you?