Z1OwnersClub GB

Hi, I'm Dave, up North in Manchestershire, I bought my first ever Kawasaki (a Z1A project, see elsewhere) yesterday, and joined the Club this morning. I've a couple of friends on here who I know from the SOHC Hodna forum, Ive successfully restored a CB750 and a CL450 with help from that board.

I've had many many bikes since I got my licence in 1974, raced a few, including at the Manx GP, crashed a few, blown up a few, been a BSB team member for Hodna, but I've never owned a Kawasaki.When I was at University in Manchester friends in the bike club there had (and production raced) 500 and 750 triples, and were always keen on passengers on runs and rallies (at a time when my Triumph had blown up, like they do) to defray the not inconsiderable petrol costs. On my bedroom wall I had a colour picture of Yvon Duhamel's H1R, with the fairing removed, at Daytona, a bike I was in awe of (along with Kenny Roberts' TZ750 dirttracker)

Sometime around 1976, a bike club friend in Lancaster, Kinney, bought a brand new Z900 and took me to Windermere on it. That day out, which included stealing a pair of fake breasts (don't ask!) and losing a contact lens on the M6 because my eyes were watering at 130mph, has eventually led me here.

Greetings Chuck....

Plenty of us from up Norf' as well...

You may get asked where Manchestershire is by a few of the Southern ladies here. just tell them it's a little Village near Watford otherwise you'll confuse the poor souls and their bikes might fall off the trailers on the Cobbled bit of the A1 if try and venture too far north.

welcome along

now then Dave. long time no see or whatever. Its been a long time but it wasn't you that left a tyre lever inside the rear tyre was it on your ( i think) xs750. I've had a zed ever since those days in the 70's though unfortunately not the same one.

Welcome from Bolton, got my licence in 74 as well, plenty of us around here.

Welcome from me too Dave, I'll look forward to seeing photos and reports from the 'now' to the finished biked.

I know you said 'don't ask', but someone has to.......tell us more about the fake breasts!

Welcome aboard Dave , looking forward to seeing some pictures and also the answer to the tyre lever question

Hi Dave
welcome to the club!
Some strange stories...stealing fake breasts, leaving tyre lifters in rear tyres,...OK, tell us more about it.
Greetings from Belgium.
Philippe

Thanks for all your welcomes.

I don’t remember leaving a tyre lever in a tyre, but I did have a Yamaha XS500 for a while, and I am originally from Morecambe, so it could well have been me! We were all a bit stoned, and therefore a bit forgetful, in those days, they say if you remember the 1970s you weren’t actually there. I passed the site of the Broadway hotel recently, very sad to see a block of flats where we spent many a happy hour.

A friend in Lancaster, Paddy, realised that he had lost an Allen key after rebuilding a T110 engine. One day it got between the inlet cam and the followers, causing carnage. I helped him strip it (and later bought the bike), when it came to lifting the barrels he suddenly had to go to the shop, and left me to take the first look. He came back to see the wreckage with two ice lollies.

The fake breasts belonged to two bikers we’d bumped into in Bowness, down by the lake side. I think they’d bought them from a novelty shop. We borrowed them and rode around the town taking it in turns to wear them and try to shock the tourists. Bikers weren’t allowed in the Lake District pubs in those days so we were bored! The original owners followed us around on a small Japanese twin, I can’t remember what, but when Kinney suddenly decided to ‘hit it’ and head for home they didn’t stay behind the Z900 for long, I remember us going up Lindale hill at around the ton, and turning round to wave said breasts at the rapidly shrinking bike behind us. Not big, not clever, but funny.

I got Kinney to pull over after my contact lens blew out but there was nothing to be done, it was gone. In those days the hard lenses were tiny and cost about £100 a pair. You wore them until they wore out or you lost them. I did have them insured but after losing a few the insurance company sent back the balance of my premium and told me to do one. Now I have soft lenses that I flush down the loo after 14 days. I remember losing one riding a CB750 down Oxford Road in Manchester, and walking up and down the pavement hoping to see it glinting in the rare Manchester sunlight.

Funny that Davo, I lost a hard lens at Altrincham ice rink in 75, then another riding my bike back from the rink a few weeks later, blinked with bikers dry eye, and bingo off it flew, they were horrible things to wear, so vain then, do owt to get the girls, and often did

I had to do 2 1/2 laps of the TT course without blinking when I had that dry eye, and had to go to hospital to get the lens removed!

I only did the Manx once, I couldn't get in the oversubscribed Classic race so I bought a CBR600 (pink, ex Jim Moodie) and entered the Newcomer's race in 1997. It went like stink, we reckoned it was doing 156 mph at the end of the Sulby Straight, just after the big 30 mph signs!! Never having raced any sort of 'modern bike' I was pretty much last in my class, but I got a finisher's medal, and beat everyone who had fallen off or broken down, and there was a fair few of them. I'd got some grit in one eye, and was blinking a lot because it hurt like hell, however stopping to sort it out was not an option.

Going on to the Cronk Y Voddy straight on the second lap, my eye was watering so much that I was seeing double, not a good idea at well over the ton. I realised I had to either retire, or not blink any more, so I did that. The other day I found a photo of me, still in my leathers after the race, with a pint of Guiness, and a very pink eye. Back at the hotel, I found it wouldn't come out, whatever I did, it was well and truly stuck. In the end I gave up and presented myself at casualty in Noble's Hospital. A very flamboyant doctor with a dickie bow tie showed up, he thought it was very funny, and light relief, obviously on a busy race day they had had a sight worse to deal with - A lady rider had died in my race and an old chap on a classic in one of my practice sessions. The doctor flicked out the lens with a delicate surgical instrument - the edge of his credit card! To be fair he did give it a wipe with a surgical wetwipe first.

@ Floydsz1, wasn't it you who timed a Suzuki kettle so it went backwards, into your Dad's caravan? Me and Paddy turned up to time it the right way round for you.

Welcome,
I'm over the border near Skipton. Give me a shout if need an help.

Welcome aboard.

Virgins are most welcome on here!