1959 Triumph T120 Bonneville

Ultimamente he estado mirando motos antiguas en el internet, y he hecho unas cuantas imagenes de Inteligencia Artificial con ellas. El problema es que conseguir una de ellas a un precio razonable es practicamente imposible. Los precios se han disparado por las nubes y son bien prohibitivos. Una de las pocas motoras Indian que me gustan, jamas pagaria lo que piden por ellas hoy en dia. Veremos a ver si me pego en la Lotto. Jajaja

Desde La Comodidad De Mi Hogar

El avion llamado Curtiss P-40 Warhawk, es un avion de combate que se utilizo durante la Segunda Guerra Mundial. En los ultimos años he querido visitar Massey Aerodrome Air Museum en Maryland o Mid Atlantic Air Museum en Reading, Pensilvania para tomar fotos del avion junto a mi Kawasaki Ninja ZX14. Por alguna razon u otra no se ha dado la oportunidad. Gracias a la tecnologia de Inteligencia Artificial, anoche logre hacerlo desde la comodidad de mi hogar. 

Ayer tambien logre hacer una foto de la 1974 Kawasaki Z1 900 con mis colores favoritos. Estos son los colores que voy a tratar de utilizar en mi 1978 Kawasaki LTD cuando este viviendo en Puerto Rico. En mi opinion, las dos fotos quedaron espectaculares!

Motorcycles and Photography Has Kept My Sanity Alive

That combination of motorcycles and photography is a powerful, science-backed recipe for mental wellness. Many find that the intense focus required for riding, combined with the creative, observational nature of photography, acts as a "reset" button for the brain, lowering stress and enhancing mental clarity. 

Parte 4: Restauracion de la 1978 Kawasaki KZ 1000

Llegaron los Reyes Magos. Finalmente, tras varios meses de una intensa busqueda de un tanque de gasolina para convertir mi 1978 Kawasaki KZ1000 LTD en una Kawasaki KZ1000 A2 modelo estándar, consegui un tanque de gasolina usado en el estado de Kansas.  No hace apenas un mes que compre el aro de la rueda trasera de 18" pulgadas de la 1978 Kawasaki KZ 1000 A2 en Buffalo, New York.

El tanque de gasolina se encuentra en excelente condicion, y gracias a Dios lo compre a un precio razonable. Lo consegui en uno de los grupos de Facebook y espero tenerlo por correo este proximo fin de semana, a mas tardar al principio de la proxima. La compra se concreto el dia de la vispera de Reyes.

Me imagino que el proximo paso ahora es comprar los emblemas/calcomanias de los colores originales del tanque, y conseguir un buen hojalatero en Mayaguez o en los pueblos limítrofes que pinte la moto completa. Lo mas dificil fue conseguir las piezas de la moto, y gracias a Dios ya las tengo. Ahora a esperar estar viviendo en Puerto Rico, para empezar el proceso de restauracion poco a poco de la moto.

La 1978 Kawasaki KZ 1000 LTD ha estado guardada en un garage sin usarse ni prenderse desde el 2010. Espero entretenerme restaurando este vejestorio de moto. 

Part 2: Restoration of my 1978 Kawasaki KZ1000 LTD

The motorcycle title finally arrived two days ago in the mail. It has been officially transferred to my name. It only took three weeks to come in the mail. This motorcycle has been sitting in storage since 2010. 

The next step is to put the bike together; find a used wooden pallet from my local dealership, and ship it to Puerto Rico. Once the bike restoration is completed, the ugly LTD look will be gone, and it should look very similar to the one shown in the picture. I am really looking forward to getting things started. 

Part 1: Restoration

Throwback Thursday

This is the same model bike I owned when I was 19 years old. My first street bike, my first love, a 1972 Kawasaki 750 triple.

In 1979 I sold my bike for $650 dollars. Selling my old bike is one of my life biggest regrets. Same motorcycle in good running condition now sell for around $15,000 or $20,000 dollars. In hindsight, I wish I've never sold mine. So now everytime I go to a vintage motorcycle show, and I see one of these bikes, I take a photo with it and wish it was mine. 

The first two images were taken in 2014; the third image was taken last year at another vintage motorcycle show. 

Minutiae of My Restoration Project

To be honest, I feel more comfortable building a motorcycle engine than dealing with the intricacies of the motorcycle chassis. When it comes to working on a motorcycle frame, I rather leave it to the experts. A man's got to know his limitations, but I digress.

The Kerker exhaust system arrived from the United Kingdom in less than a week, it is in excellent condition. And I found an original brand new seat on Ebay this week.

Working on this project has been very therapeutic for me. If things go well, my bike should be ready for the next vintage event April of 2020.

It's Been Fun So Far

Went to the garage yesterday to check on the bike and while I was there spent a couple of hours removing the carburetors, the stock exhaust system, replacing the handlebar, and installing both handlebar control switches and the front brake master cylinder.

I am at a crossroads, undecided on retouching, painting the whole frame or have frame powder coated. I am more leaning towards retouching the whole frame, with the expectation to have the bike ready before next vintage motorcycle event April 2020.

In other news, it was a matter of sheer luck or planetary alignment was in the works for me. Last week, I found a Kerker 4-1 exhaust system in excellent shape and reasonably priced advertised in a Facebook vintage group. It's been shipped from the United Kingdom and should be here by the end of next week. Nowadays, these Kerker exhaust systems cost an arm and a leg. I found a real bargain.

So far, it's been a real fun project tinkering with this iconic bike.

Step-By-Step Journey To Rebuild :

1) Let The Restoration Begin

2) Parts Have Been Ordered

3) It's Been Fun So Far

Let The Restoration Begin

After several months browsing the internet looking for a bike to restore, a motorcycle that meets my three requirements : (1) a Kawasaki Z1 900 or a KZ 1000, (2) not far from my location, and (3) at a reasonable price, finally this 1978 Kawasaki KZ 1000 popped up for sale only 5 miles from my house.

Saw the ad last Friday night, finally spoke with the guy on the phone this past Saturday. We made arrangements to see the bike yesterday. Today I rented a U-Haul truck and collected the bike. It was that simple.

For a 41 year old motorcycle, the bike seems to be in excellent shape, only 26,000 miles. That means that this winter, on my free time I would be very busy restoring this classic motorcycle. It was a long time ago I owned one of these bikes, it should be fun to restore. I wouldn't make the mistake of selling it, this time I plan to keep this one.

Let the restoration begin ...