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Sun was shining today, so I met up with some mates: 100 trouble free and enjoyable miles on my 13



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Sorry about quality of pics (camera was playing up) but check out the H2 - looks so much better in the flesh

Great photos. Where in England do you live, if you don't mind me asking? I notice your 1300 is a KZ with a Z type large fuel tank. Did you fit that? And the other 1300 is a fuel injected model. Have you compared the running characteristics and performance of the two?
Lastly, the 2015 Kawasaki H2 - what opinion does the lucky owner have of this machine? There was some speculation that the bike would not be very impressive, having "only" 200HP. But reading the great test of the H2 in Motor Cycle News a few weeks ago should dispel any doubts. I am utterly in awe of that bike, and admire Kawasaki Japan so much for making it. An amazing engineering achievement. Sorry to stray off the subject of this forum, Bill!
By the way, Tonto, I do have a 1300 - a KZ A4. Bought it to restore, but have nowhere to work on it, so it is in storage. I live in the Harrogate district of Yorkshire.

biltonjim wrote: Great photos. Where in England do you live, if you don't mind me asking? I notice your 1300 is a KZ with a Z type large fuel tank. Did you fit that? And the other 1300 is a fuel injected model. Have you compared the running characteristics and performance of the two?
Lastly, the 2015 Kawasaki H2 - what opinion does the lucky owner have of this machine? There was some speculation that the bike would not be very impressive, having "only" 200HP. But reading the great test of the H2 in Motor Cycle News a few weeks ago should dispel any doubts. I am utterly in awe of that bike, and admire Kawasaki Japan so much for making it. An amazing engineering achievement. Sorry to stray off the subject of this forum, Bill!
By the way, Tonto, I do have a 1300 - a KZ A4. Bought it to restore, but have nowhere to work on it, so it is in storage. I live in the Harrogate district of Yorkshire.

Hi Jim,
This place is about a community that shares an interest in a machine. We wouldn't make much of a community if each of us lived for and about 1300s exclusively. I'd like to read the answers to each of your questions.
How about it Tim?
Bill

Jim, Bill
I really thought I had lost interest in ever owning another "Race Rep" but Stans's H2 (whilst IMO not as pretty as a Ducati Panigale) is a stunning piece of engineering and looks like sculpted metal in the flesh: the finish is absolutely gorgeous. The guy who owns it is in his 50's and has other proper "fast" bikes, he has put 1700 miles on it in a month, and apart from eating a rear tyre in 900 miles (and thats during running it in), simply says you should believe the hype re power delivery; its an absolutely relentless wave of torque.

Re the 13's: there appears little difference in real road pereformnce when ridden side by side: both achieve low 40's MPG to a UK gallon: which is pretty good all things considered I know the DFI models produced 10bhp more, but there seems little difference on pick up and general performance: but that said we dont ride / thrash them as you would have when they were new bikes. Its nice though to hear them both powering through a tunnel, or under a tree canopy on some of the country roads around where I live in and around Lincolnshire. Usually gets a double take when two 13's park up together

My bike is a 1979 early production run A1, but imported into Germany in the mid 80's when the then owner swapped her paint set from A1 Luminous Starlight Blue colour scheme to the then current ebony finish, chrome airbox covers etc.

Cheers Tim

Thanks for the interesting reply, Tim. And thanks for your comment, Bill.
On the run - up to the launch of the H2, Kawasaki released a series of videos showing the technology going into the bikes's development. These short films are well worth viewing, and are now on Kawasaki's youtube channel.
Nice to see you have retained the standard look of your bike, Tim. I do like the original design mufflers, for example. But each to their own.