TOPIC:

Just thought I'd bring this old thread to the fore to see if any newer members care to add to it.

Some interesting stories. I continue to ride a 2002 BMWR1100 RT purchased third hand with 40,000km on the clock,so a heavy bike was not a distraction for the next 130,000km of touring.
After retiring I took on some other interests which I enjoyed and then I decided to look at bikes from the 80's on era. Big and powerful with great visual appeal . I looked around on the web for a year or so talking to "older" riders and eventually settled on the KZ1300. It took a while for a reasonable bike to come on the market in Australia that was not a recent imported by a dealer. It was in good overall condition, ran without smoke but had a slight backfire on higher revs. It had been fully restored about 13 years ago and not ridden since!!! I have been working on it from tail to head and just completed a valve check which were all OK. There are a couple of parts that I am chasing and after checking the air/fuel mix with the colortune and then a balance we should be up and away. Really looking forward to the day. I must say I am completely taken with the challenge of working with it and every day that I go down to my small workshop I feel a great sense of satisfaction with my choice.

Thanks for your reply, CWB. It will be nice to see photos of your bikes. I envy you for having a workshop. - my bike , bought as a restoration project, is still awaiting the day I find somewhere to work on it.
Has your BMW needed much to keep it going?
I wonder if Kawasaki was happy with the reaction to and subsequent sales of the 1300. It certainly enjoyed a long production span.

Glad you dug this thread up! I hadn't read it previously so it was good to see some of the comments from everyone.

So here's my story. I had a Honda CB 750 back in 1980 when I started working for Vetter Fairing Company.. One of the VP's for Vetter Fairing had a 1979 Kz1300 at their San Luis Obispo plant. It was fully loaded with Vetter products including a Terraplane sidecar. I fell in love with the bike and got to drive it around SLO for a couple of weeks while I was there on business. Absolutely had a blast with it.

I bought that Kz from Vetter later that same year and have owned it ever since. It's had a number of issues over the years, and it went into storage back in 1996. A few years later I bought my second Kz1300 with only 8k miles on it. I have been using it off and on ever since. I took my first Kz out of mothballs last summer and have it 'sorta' running. Still needs tons of work since it's been sitting for so long, but I've got the time now to try and get it back up and running as well. I'm sure I'll be visiting this sight a lot more this summer while I try to get the Kz back to a well running beast.

Thanks for your story, giorgi. You must be really fond of the 1300 to own two of them!
I’ve always thought the Vetter touring equipment looks good in this bike . That sidecar looks fabulous. Have you tried it as a passenger? Some photos would be nice!