New on the forum

[Nordrap]

Bonjour

I have followed this forum for a few weeks, and now that I have my KZ I proceed to the usual introduction.
My name is Jean-Marc, 65 years old, living in France near Paris, and a long time biker, mainly on jap bikes, with a few BMW and 2 Triumph Bonneville (which did not left me a wonderful impression).

Presently I own a 2013 CB 1100 Honda, and restoring a 1972 Honda CB 750 K 1.

I have always liked large twin (except HD), I dont despair finding a good Yamaha TX 750, and have been looking for a KZ twin for a long time.
As this bike was not sold in great numbers in France, and the survivors seem to be the favourite of hipsters café racer builders (fat tires, plank seat, heat bands on exhaust, etc, etc) , it is quite a rare bike now. When they appear on the net it is mostly wrecks sold for silly money.

I finally found a 1978 B 3 in Colorado, 2400 genuine miles, 2000 genuine $, on the pictures and video apparently in good condition, except the exhaust rotten .
It arrived 3 weeks ago, the mileage is genuine, the condition is actually good, except a blocked choke plunger, sticky carb float valve, and no airbox.
It was equipped with a large crash bar and a rear rack (by Amco in Hollywood, classy), which I have both taken off.

Here is the EBay link.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Kawasaki-Other- ... otorcycles

I have ordered a pair of Marving exhausts, carb kits, found a second hand airbox which I will open for more air with a K&N filter and slightly larger jets.

I have already found a lot of useful informations on this forum, despite the language difference.

Best regards

[Ralf Wilde]

Hello Jean-Marc,

welcome in the forum.

Your bike is looking in a very good condition, just minimal scratchers or rusty points. And of course very beautiful, and for an interesting price! Congratulation. Perhaps you can rescue the original exhaust.

I wish you much pleasure and nice rides with your Twin. Perhaps, we can see you on one of the next z-Meetings.

Kind regards from cologne,
Ralf

[Michael]

Bonjour Jean-Marc,

welcome to the german Z750Twin Forum !

It is good to know that there are Twin Lovers in France as well ;-)

The bike looks very good for it's age and idle speed is stable.
Good decision to buy this bike !

BTW: The ebay seller states "No international shipping".
How did you manage that and may I ask what the price of shipping was ?

Merci, Michael

[Bruder Lustich]

Hi Jean-Marc,

welcome in the german "Twin-forum", from me also.

You have bought a very nice "Twin". Congratulation.

Keep it in honor, and i wish you, that you are always happy, when you´ll ride with her.

If there are some unexpected problems, don´t worry, only asking. We´ll try to help you.

Cheers

Gerd

[kaptainkwak]

Hi Jean-Marc


Welcome to the German twin forum. I am from the UK. These are a great bunch of guys and very helpful. 


The bike you have bought looks exceptionally good condition and original. I would also say to try and recover the exhausts. If you change them i would be interested in buying the old ones from you.  If i had known you were looking i am aware of a B model twin in Normandy. 


Please also look at our UK website Lonesometwin . We are not as busy as the German website but still welcome new members.


Ride safe


KK

[Werner]

Bonjour Jean-Marc.

from me a big welcome in the Twin-Forum too.
If you have questions we will try to help you.
Nice bike.

[Nordrap]

Thanks to all for your kind welcome.

I'll have a look on the british forum.

Concerning the exhausts, I am afraid they are beyond repair, and I will have to cut them to install the aftermarket ones.

pot gauche.JPG

I imported the bike through a local french company  http://www.vintagebikecompany.com/  who was already in connection with the american dealer.

The bike cost was 2 000 $, but I had to add up the inland transportation from Colorado to the East Coast, ocean freight, import duties, VAT, tax on registration and importer's margin.

The final cost is 3 500 €, not cheap, but acceptable for a quite rare and low mileage bike.

[Michael]

Hi Jean-Marc,

thank you for pointing out the additional cost for shipping, tax, etc.
Not cheap as you said, but it's worth it ;-)

When modifying the exhaust, pay attention not to cut the downtubes to short !
If possible you should keep the connection tube between the downtubes, sitting at the lower back side of the engine / oil pan.

Attached a very small pic that shows (what might be) the ideal position to start cutting the old exhaust off the downtubes:

Auspuff absaegen.jpg

Good luck and keep on posting ;-)

Cheers, Michael

[AtLarge]

Bienvenue Jean-Marc. Félicitations pour le d'acquisition récente!