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I bought my A1 new in September 1979 did 237000km then took it of the road in 2002 because it needed rings and primary chains. It was love at first sight after seeing one in a magazine as they were released in US before in Australia, I ordered it and paid a healthy deposit before I had seen one in the flesh and I got the first Z13 to be sold in Queensland.
The two big bugbears were Carbs and Coils. the coil problem was solved by finding some discarded Honda CB900 coils when working for Honda and that problem was solved. Biggest disappointment with it was that I couldn't run effective driving lights without frying the stator and I did a lot of touring at night because here in Oz the summers can get very hot so the cooler hours are good to ride but wildlife is a big problem and I did have a few near misses with those furry grasshoppers. Did 2 trips right round Australia on it
Traded an original J model GT750 Suzuki that did almost 100000km without trouble.
I liked the Z13 so much that even working for Honda Australia for 8 years I was never tempted to accept some very generous offers to get me onto a Goldwing or at least a Honda as they didn't like an employee riding an oppositions brand. Also at that time I was also drag racing a Z900/1400 with great success and Honda had nothing to compare with it for the purpose. It's the one in my avatar with the #1 plate and holding onto that #1 for 3 consecutive years was one hell of an achievement.

Kind of relevant because of all the wonderful stories here authors seem to be older than a 20 somethings. I am 53 and soon 54. I think one of the appeals of this bike is the 'old' muscle bike engine that you can see. To me a bike is about the engine. Not like these days, all kinds of enclosed in rounded soap dish type plastic shapes. They all look to me like scooters and it is just not my kind of look. My idea of a bike is riding the engine. The KZ13 fits this. Anyone agree?

I didn't buy a KZ1300 new. I was far too young to be able to afford a new anything, let alone a KZ1300. I was only 17 when they stopped making them.

I got my first bike when i was about 12, an old DT250. Since that day I have always had one bike or another. I first came across a KZ1300 when I met a navy guy out riding in the early 90s. I fell in LOVE with the sound of it. When he got deployed he asked me to look after it while he was gone and gave me permission to ride it. When he came back he bought a brand new Hurricane 600 and sold me his 79 KZ. I kept that bike for about a decade but stupidly sold it a year or so after I bought my ZX12R in 2001. I figured I didn't have the space or time for it. Regretted it for years.

Fast forward to about two years ago. I was randomly searching Kijiji for vintage Kawis, actually looking for a KZ900 or 1000 that I wanted to pick up and outfit like Goose's bike in Mad Max. Didn't find a 900 or 1000 but found the 81 KZ1300 instead. Bought it running for $1000. A few months later I found the 79 for $1200 and here I am.

In all the years I have known of them, I have never seen another one on the road. As far as I know I am probably the only person in my province with one. If others have them they must be hangar queens which is a damn shame. What are the odds of me finding two running KZ1300 bikes within 50 KMs of my house within 6 months pf each other?

I bought one new in 79. Just seemed like the thing to do so I sold my 78 KZ1000 and bought the 13. I loved that bike and road it to the west coast twice but it had problems. Coolant leaked so I had to replace a head gasket (after warranty of course). It had an electrical problem that would blow fuses if the under seat power switch was used. Kawasaki even sent Engineers to look at the problem but nobody could figure it out. It regularly died in hot weather riding - never knew why but I think it was probably the, now well known, vapour lock problem. It burned oil from day one - I thought the oil consumption would go down after break-in but it never did. After babying it for several year, I blew a main bearing and bent the crank (lucky to be alive after that episode). (I think crank problems were not uncommon and is the reason, or one of the reasons, why Kawi make the sump bigger on later models. I tried to fix it but the crankcases were hooped. Bought a newer model engine from a wrecker but sold the bike shortly afterwards to finance my education. In spite of the problems I always liked riding that bike and wanted another one. It's been many years but I recently picked up an 86 Voyager. Not quite the naked beast that I was used to, but it has it's own comforts.

Agreed !

I think one of the appeals of this bike is the 'old' muscle bike engine that you can see. To me a bike is about the engine. Not like these days, all kinds of enclosed in rounded soap dish type plastic shapes. They all look to me like scooters and it is just not my kind of look. My idea of a bike is riding the engine. The KZ13 fits this. Anyone agree?

Absolutely Agree ! All the "Crotch-Rockets" look alike ! You hit the nail right on the head as far as "appeal". "Soap-Dish plastics" ! Great analogy, Stan !