It’s the weekend and it’s sunny. Big Fat Gay Al arrived on his Bandit, which meant it was time to get out on the Kawasaki Z750 B1 twin.
Where would we ride?
How would it run?
Find out all about the latest rideout at http://z750twinproject.info/ride-outs/sunny-days-are-made-for-rideouts-and-barbecues/
I have for a long while owned the domain http://www.z750twinproject.info and always had it forwarding to this site. While this works, and has been the main web address I usually give out, it’s not ideal for the site to find new visitors as it doesn’t appear in search engines.
The upshot is this site will from now on just contain a snippet of the latest post which will be posted at http://z750twinproject.info directly, and will have a link to the full article at the new site. So update your bookmarks, and favourites to the new address to keep up with all things Z750 Twin.
Another weekend, but this time the sun is shining and preparations have already been made for a ride out. Early in the morning my wife got the first text from Emma (the female version of James Toseland ) asking what time we intended to get out on the bikes, as usual we were waiting for Big Gay Al to arrive. Even when he did arrive we needed a fuelling stop before any serious riding could take place, so me and Al headed to the Super Sausage for a late breakfast 
When we got back to my house, an impatient Emma had already been around the block several times and was itching to get going. Emmas Yamaha R1 was still warm outside the front of my house and she was in full leathers raring to get out there among all the other bikes, which could be heard on the roads around our part of Milton Keynes, including the A5 dual carriageway which runs along the back of where we live.
We chatted for ten minutes but still had no idea where to go to, and the others tried to palm off the job of route planning to me as soon as we mounted the bikes. As we left the top of my road it was like a “who can ride slowest” competition as they all tried to be behind someone else, mainly me. As the owner of a Z750 I was bound to come off best in this event, and this left Alan on his (bum) Bandit 1200 to take the lead.
Big Gay Al led us along one of the only two roads he knows in MK which took us eventually towards the A509. The two newer machines had left me behind along a stretch of dual carriageway and sat waiting in a layby as I went by, to have to lead them again and devise a route for us to take. I took a back road I’d never been down before which took us to a place I hadn’t been to before but eventually took us back to Newport Pagnall and back to MK’s roundabouts and dual carriageways. So I took the V11 south, cut across to the V10 past Willen Lake which is a nice place to view as you pass at a sensible speed.
The two speed demons were evidently itching to get going at a less sedate speed, but I kept them following around some of Milton Keynes smaller roads. I had a plan to get around to the bottom of the A5D dual carriageway and let them stretch the legs of the Suzuki and Yamaha machines, and neither of them really knew where I was heading until we got there. As we pulled on the A5 slip road I waved them by and settled in for my leisurely ride as I watched them disappear in the distance.
The Z750 twin is happy at about 70, and so am I, it’s fun, smooth and being a naked bike much faster means hanging on against the wind especially with my less than aerodynamic bulk catching the air. A few miles of this speed and I was at the end of the dual carriageway with no sign of Al or Emma, so I headed home. There they were at the side of the road waiting for me. I told them I’d been around twice but they made me out a liar.
A few minutes at home, and Emma went back to her home across the block, and Big Gay Al headed back for the M1 to go back to Maidenhead. I decided to visit an old mate a few miles away, before I went my wife took some pics of me and the bike and even posed on the Z750 herself.
<—-This is the long suffering wife astride the Z750 twin looking every inch the biker chick 
And below this is me next to the Z750 before going to see my mates GSX750 F
The following short video is of me leaving home on the Z750
So I went to see my mate, by the time I got back the Z750 had clocked up over 60 miles in the course of the days riding. All in all a beautiful day, great ride out and some good friends made it a perfect Saturday, thanks Al and Emma hope you enjoyed it as much as I did.
Shall I ?
Shan’t I?
It was one of those weekends as far as getting the Kawasaki out. Saturday had been forecast as showery for the morning, and less so for the afternoon, and Sunday was supposed to be showery all day.
I watched out the window Saturday and no showers all day until the afternoon, should’ve gone out on the Z750. Sunday was showery in the morning then brightened a bit. Cue hairdresser Emma and my long suffering wife pushing for me to get out there for a quick spin on the bike. I relented and got dressed for the occasion.
Emma appeared on her R1 just after her husband on his Suzuki GSX600 and we were ready to go. 2 kicks and the 750 twin burst into a fast idle, slowly off choke and we were off. Along the smaller roads to Towcester through Old Stratford, and all was looking good.
Just onto the A5 about 3 or 4 miles and the heavens opened, and nature threw her bathwater out all over us, and all the other bikers along that stretch of road. We all pulled over, and decided to brave it out and go through Towcester and see how it looked.
How it looked was the complete opposite of sunny warm and dry, and discretion overcame valour as we turned around and headed for home. I got the feeling Emma and Simon weren’t too eager to be hanging around for me and getting caught in another of natures cleansing fits. But bless them they did wait for me, and luckily we didn’t get caught by the rain again.
We covered around 10 miles, got cold and wet, but the old Kawasaki just worked as it should. It’s still got it where it counts. The only problem with it now is having got wet it’ll take ages to clean all the shiny parts again. Oh wait, I’ll do it the way I usually do, and just put the cover back on, no dirt in site now. Life is good.
A little off topic, but a company I affiliate with has announced a new range of Classic motorcycle manuals and literature in their product line up. As they include a lot of Japanese manuals for classic Jap bikes (kawasakis are well catered for) I thought I’d post a little about it, and it’s been quiet here anyway right
So here’s their blurb from their site at www.classic-motorcycles.co.uk/
[quote]NEW classic motorcycle manuals & instruction books.
We are proud to announce our NEW range of classic motorcycle workshop manuals.
Our classic motorcycle manuals have been reproduced from the original factory information, therefore they are very detailed and informative and include many technical photos and illustrations to help guide you. Because they have been reproduced from the original factory publications they are of a very high quality.
Included in the original factory publications are workshop manuals, parts manuals and instruction books for most classic motorcycle models. We have over a thousand manuals to choose from. [end quote] 
Click here to go to the site then follow the link to the motorcycle manuals with this picture beside it —->
Take a look around at their other products too, they have high quality tee-shirts I know they are good quality cos I bought one for my dad with the Ariel logo on it.
In the April 2008 issue of Classic Motorcycle Mechanics magazine there is a familiar looking bike in the “Readers Bikes” section.
Yep at long last we have made it into print with a picture of the Z750 twin at the local Wolverton show last year and even got in a link to this blog too woohoo.
And that’s it really. Nothing else has been done with the Kawasaki since the last post, not even started it up. My excuse is that the weather has been crap. I’m sticking with that too, I refuse to ride in this Easter snow flurries and hailstones which the my part of England is experiencing and that’s that.
Did I say that was it, not quite. I also volunteered to help put together a new Z750 twin site with forums and a photo gallery. You can see my handiwork (I set up the site, and modified a web template to suit the theme) at http://www.LonesomeTwin.com as well as find other Z750 twin owners, and read about their bikes too.
A planned ride
After a phone call from Big Fat Gay Al, it was decided we would be going out for a ride on Saturday. My brother Dazza was invited to ride up with Big Al and our neighbour Emma and her husband were also coming along.
I got up to cold damp roads in MK, went and filled the Z750 to the brim with fuel, and went and see some guys I know on the way home. Just 3 short miles, and I was already cold, and the roads had proven to be a little slick. I phoned ahead and warned Al and Dazza, as that kind of riding is for hardened hairy arsed bikers, not me. So we didn’t go anywhere, still the Z750 got a short run out for fuel before it was put away.
Today I decided it was time the poor old Kawasaki’s engine had some fresh oil. It was last changed when I first bought the bike and it has done some work since then, and the oil was only going to be in for the initial start up, and a few miles before it got changed to kind of flush the lubrication system out.
The oil change has been on the agenda for a while, but today I finally got out the washing up bowl (don’t tell the wife) to drain the oil into and got underneath with the spanner and let out the old lubricant. It wasn’t in bad condition really, but it’s gone now to be recycled, and the new oil is in.
I just couldn’t be arsed to change the oil filter though as that meant removing footrests, gear levers, engine side covers and more faffing around. That’s a job for the next Z750 twins next oil change, when it may also get some other new parts, but at least the oil is good for a few more miles of engine protection duties.
The Cafe Run
Following a call from big gay Al telling me he had changed the exhaust on his (bum) Bandit we arranged for him to come up to show me how loud the new zorst was. So late Saturday morning saw my whole neighbourhoods peace shattered as the 1200cc Bandit struggled to drag Al’s ample carcass along.
After a spell of catching up we decided to go up the A5 to the Super Sausage, to give the Z750 twin a little warm up, and limbering up. Following several attempts on the starter, and a few kicks the Z750’s twin cylinders came to life ready for the short run.
I took the lead, as I wanted to be able to hear myself think above the roar of Als new empty exhaust pipe. Yes the Bandits new exhaust is a little on the loud side. Luckily it’s only a short ride to the Super Sausage and mainly through sparsely populated areas with few cemetaries, so the exhaust note of the Suzuki didn’t waken too many corpses along the way.
The Z750 twin was its usual well behaved self, running sweetly there and back, not at all bad for something over 30 years old. I still find the steering a little light with the taper bearings, but a few miles soon settles it down. At least this ride was a bit tamer than the recent outing with the Yamaha R1 ridden by Emma.
On our return to home though I found something even louder than the Bandits empty exhaust, and that was its owners complaints about his cold fingers. I guess its all well and good having expensive if somewhat empty exhaust cans, but some blood pumping into your extremities can make for a much more enjoyable ride.
Lets Make Some Noise
My neighbour, and wifes hairdresser, Emma suggested riding out on the motorbikes this weekend if the weather was ok. As it turned out Saturday was very sunny if a little cold and damp on the roads still. So it was after some cajoling I was persuaded to get the Z750 out and start it up for a ride out.
Emma came around on her Yamaha R1 and I fired up the beast and got on my jeans, jacket and boots. The first stop was the garage for fuel, and then Emma led the way, following a route along the A5 towards Towcester. It was at this point I realised that Emmas Idea of a slow and steady ride differed by about 20 miles per hour from mine.
As soon as we hit the dual carriageway from Milton Keynes north towards Towcester the R1 was in the outside lane, and I was trying to follow on a 30 year old Kawasaki twin. I watched the road, glancing at the speedo from time to time to see it hit around 90 mph at which point I decided to back off a little and pull back in among the cars. The R1 ridden by Emma also pulled back in and settled to a steady 80 as I passed another car to get behind her again.
Single carriageways were not so bad up to Towcester as long as I could coax the Z750 twin to a speed to pass the cars to keep up with Emma. At least she waited after I fell a few cars behind. And it was nice and gentle through Towcester itself, before we turned towards Silverstone on the A43 dual carriageway, at which point I was holding up the R1 again, at my slow and steady 75-80 meaning Emma had to slow the R1 and wait for me again.
As we passed Silverstone racing circuit and out into the damp twisty lanes of the villages around it, I found myself needing a bit more bottle to keep up with the R1 or at least to hold a bit more speed in the corners but as the Z750 refused to turn in on a couple of the bumpier bends, I decided better to let discretion take over. Kindly Emma reigned in the R1 again.
As we came out of Buckingham onto a slightly larger road back towards home, I was holding a steady 60-70 through the bends, and still watching the Yamaha disappearing.
Still I got home having had a fun ride out on the Z750 which performed as well as ever. Hopefully Emma wasn’t too pissed off at waiting for me along the way, I look forward to more rideouts, but next time I think I’ll choose a slower riding partner, like James Toseland or Jamie Witham.