Just who was it designing those Kawasaki’s anyway?

In 1976 I started working at Kawasaki Country in Yakima Washington. I have always said there are 3 types of motorcycle shops. Those that make it happen…those that watch it happen….and those that wonder what happened.

Prior to this shop I worked in the latter type of shop, but this was a make it happen place. Don, the owner, was all for being creative and using your imagination. If anything, he had some of the wildest ideas. I will talk about some of the promotions we did another time; but this time I would like to reflect on some of the bikes we created.

In this time period, there was not a demand for the specialized bikes we find today. There were no sportbikes, no cruisers like we see now, and very few touring bikes. Today we see a lot of ‘builders’ around, but in my mind they are mostly assemblers - as all they do is take existing parts off the shelf and assemble a bike (with modifications to it). A real builder starts from scratch and makes his own frame and usually everything but the motor. We made customs.

The first one we did was with a stock KZ400. We found a place that made handlebar mounted fairings and some nice small bags that matched and made what could be called a mini touring bike. This combination sold very well because it looked nice and was very reasonably priced. The regional manager for Kawasaki came by and took pictures.  Then Kawasaki released the KZ400 Deluxe, which cost hundreds more than ours and did not sell.

Next I wanted to build a ‘Café Racer’ so I took a 1976 KZ900 ordered Lester Mag wheels, a BMW R90S fairing, 4 into 1 pipe, better shocks and an additional disc brake and more. We had it custom painted a blue silver with blue stripes. The Kawasaki came in again armed with a camera.  Again, they took pictures.  Sure enough, in 1978 they introduced the Z1R.

I rode a KZ900 for a year but did not like the weight so when the KZ650 came out, I bought a 1977 KZ650C with the mags. I put a 720cc kit in it, smoothbore carbs, Koni shocks, drilled the disc, BMW fairing again and a KZ750 twin tail section.  I tell you, history continues to repeat itself.  Kawasaki Rep comes out, takes pictures, leaves.  Then Kawasaki introduces the GPZ 750.

At about the same time I had a customer who was a former H2 owner buy a KZ650 but it wasn’t fast enough.  So we turbo charged it – which was unusual in the mid 70’s. Can you say GPZ 750 turbo? I sold the 650 and rode a KZ1000 MKII (J model).

I do remember asking the rep if it was possible to get any of the Eddie Lawson race parts from Racing as I wanted to make a replica.

It was at this time the shop was purchased by the local Harley dealer and we got a new Kawasaki regional rep.

Maybe I should have applied at Kawasaki headquarters for a job. 

Reflections of Harley Davidson during the AMF ownership days. . .

There was a time I worked in a Kawasaki shop that had been purchased by two guys who owned the local Harley-Davidson dealership.  They ended up putting the two dealerships together. The absentee owners put the fellow who had almost bankrupted the HD shop in charge. Yes this was a formula for disaster, and it eventually went under, but it was interesting for a time.

When I first started to work at the shop, I had a good look at the bikes.  My immediate reaction was ‘agricultural’; but Harley has changed a lot since then. Combining the parts departments of the two into the new building was a little eye opening for me. 

First, there really are no obsolete HD parts.  When I started to put overstock parts on an empty shelf in the back, the ‘man in charge’ had a fit. He said it was his shelf and he was going to need it. ‘What for?’ I asked. He said for ‘recall parts’.  He said every year they had a recall and this  was going to be for the replacement parts. That year there were two recalls. One was for the ignition switch on twin tank models – which would burst into flames; and the second was for brake rotors that would break and bind up in the calipers. Scary stuff!

But it was the customers that made it interesting. This was before all the yuppies got into the ownership game, so it was all ‘hard core’ people. Once a couple (in their twenties) came in and he was looking at the bikes and she was looking at the stuff in the glass display case. This attractive young lady had me dragging out all the HD branded stuff. At that time you had to practically give away anything that said Kawasaki on it, so I figured it would not sell either.  I was dead wrong.  I need to mention this was mid-week and they were the only customers in the shop. She calls her boyfriend over and there is a little private conversation and he tells me that if I will give her the HD panties, she will put them on right here in the parts department. Thanks but no thanks. 

Then there was the mid 30’s couple that can in.  He had this big bushy mustache and looked like a linebacker. She was a pretty long haired blonde about half his size.  Her choice of clothing was a T-shirt that said “Professional Mustache Rider”.

It’s good to know that while some things change, some never do.  I’ll let you figure out which is which!

Daytona Stories - Skip Van Leeuwen

This little antidote comes via my sister and her ex- husband who was a racer. I knew of Skip because of the TT expert he was in his racing days, but I never got to know him personally until he was a distributor of Marushin helmets (back in the mid 80’s).

Skip Van Leeuwen

While I was visiting my sister, who lives near Solvang, California, I knew that Skip and a friend would be in the area, so we all arranged to have dinner together.

During dinner my sister related an event that happened to Skip during Daytona ‘back in the day’. 

The story goes that they were all at a night club which was full of racers and college kids on spring break. My sister mentions there was a ‘veteran’ racer who was an excellent ballroom dancer; it turns out to be Everett Brashear (AMA hall of famer).  Then she starts telling how Skip was flirting with a college girl and the girls’ boyfriend was not too happy about it.  It turned physical and a brawl ensued of bikers versus college kids.

Everett Brashear

Up until now Skip did not remember the incident; but he then chimed in with many colorful details. It sounded like one of the brawls you saw in a cartoon because Skip crawled out the bottom of the pile to hide under my sister’s cloth covered table. While he was under the table, they gave him Everett’s coat and tie (yes, people used to wear sport coats and ties to clubs) and he sat down at the table. By then bouncers were throwing people out and they came up to Skip and start accusing him of starting the whole thing.  Of course he insisted it wasn't him as he had been sitting at the table the entire time. He never did get thrown out.

Skip Van Leeuwen

Daytona hasn’t changed much over the years.  If you have gone, or know of someone that has been during Bike Week (or during the old days before it was known as Bike Week), there’s stories aplenty!

Riding Home from Laguna Seca - The Hawk Story

As I mentioned, I often ride to Laguna Seca for the MotoGP from Seattle. I think it is about 1,000 miles if you take the freeway, but the way I go it takes me 3 days or more, and it is about 1,500 miles.

Northern California has some great roads between Highway 101 and Highway 1 that are fun to explore. One year, while on my return trip, I was riding my modified Triumph Daytona and after looking at the map found some nice little county roads in the Sacramento valley that paralleled Interstate 5. (I hate riding down the freeway). It is a nice day; the sun is shining, its 80 degrees, and no wind. The road surface is not great (which is typical for California) and there a lot of rodents out, chipmunks and the like. I felt kind of bad because at this point I had actually run over two who had poor timing while trying to cross the road. 

My Modified 1997 Triumph 955 - It's for Sale Too!

The road is not too tight and most of the corners are fast sweepers and I was cruising along enjoying the day thinking how much I like ‘work days’ like these. As I came out of a wooded area onto a straight stretch, I glance down at the gauges to see if all is OK. I noticed I was motoring along at 80mph, not accelerating for the straights, just a nice pace considering there is no traffic on the road at all.

At the end of the straight was a hawk eating some road kill on the left shoulder.  I was confident by the time I got there that he will have taken off. Without backing off the throttle I start getting closer, watching him all the way. First he turns to the left and crouches down like he is going to take off. I’m thinking great, no problem. At the last minute he turns right and takes off right in front of me. OMG! I try to tuck in behind the fairing as much as possible but he hits me in the head (gotta love a full face helmet).  As I looked up for the corner I started seeing stars and had a little tunnel vision that was short lived.

I glanced in the mirror to check on my feathered friend and he is ‘spread hawk’ on the road, not moving. His wingspan appeared to be about 4 feet and I was thinking he could’ve knocked me out or off the bike. I never stopped as I figured there was nothing I could do for him and there was probably someone from the Sierra Club or Park Service hiding in the bushes that would want to pursue criminal charges.

The helmet only had some feather dust on it so it was a shame to throw it away – but I know I had collapsed the liner some. This is not the only bird I have killed on my bike. Once in Eastern Oregon with the ‘molar rollers’ I was going through a fast (100mph?) right hand sweeper and a blackbird came out the bushes and I got him with my right knee. I think I will start painting animals on my fairing like they did on WWII airplanes.

Riding to World Superbike, Seattle to Laguna

Let me start by saying that I am not a fast rider. I can do okay, but I am not a retired racer, nor have I ever taken ’track lessons’.

I used to ride with a bunch of dentists who called themselves the ‘molar rollers’ and there were some fast guys in this group!  Most of these guys rode Ducatis or 1000cc sportbikes.  David Edwards (ex Cycle World editor) called Wiley the ‘world’s fasted dentist’.  I’m not sure so about that, but he is fast on the street. I am not as talented as some of the doctors are, but when would keep them in sight when they are ‘on it’, I was a happy camper.

One year we all decided to ride from Seattle down to the World Superbike race at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, in Monterey. I started to have charging system problems with my CBR600F2 and stopped at the Honda shop in Eureka, California to see what the problem was.  I told the guys to keep on and that I would catch up with them later. I don’t know if you have ever ridden Hwy 1 from Liggett to Ft Bragg, but this road is a “10” in my book.  It has great pavement, beautiful scenery if you look, and very TIGHT corners that work their way through the coastal range.

Once I left the Honda shop, I found myself cruising along at the speed limit +10 or +15 with a big smile, in and out of the sunlight; the world was perfect. As I came through a straight stretch of the big redwoods 5 riders were pulling on to the road and tucked in behind me.  I think “Great, someone to ride with.”  I look in the mirror and these guys are right on my tail. Okay, so they want to go a little faster – I can do that. The 15-20mph corners are behind us and now the 30mph corners are ahead – which you can do at another 10-15mph safely. When the pace picked up, I checked the mirrors again and there are only two with me - the others have dropped back.

Again I got the feeling they want to up the ante so as Emeril Lagasse would say “let’s kick it up a notch”. Now we were on it to where the tires were starting to be the deciding speed factor and I checked the mirror again – now there is only one guy back there. One more glance to see if he is thinking about passing and I notice he was crossing the line in some of the corners. At this point, I do not want to be part of something that could get ugly, so when I came up behind a truck, I timed it so I could get around, but he couldn’t.  I backed it off a little and pulled into the first gas station I see in Ft Bragg –where the molar rollers are having an ice cream.

Several of them come over as I am filling up.  .  Now let’s sidetrack for a second.  During this story I was in my late 40’s and the Molar Rollers are 5-10 years my senior.  As we‘re chatting, the 5 ‘fast’ guys pull into the station.  One of them, the last guy behind me (who’s maybe 20), walks over and says to two of my friends and myself “It is nice to see some of you ‘old guys’ riding sportbikes”.  We’re just smiling as we all say “Thanks.”  Even though in my mind I was thinking “didn’t I just show you how it’s done?  You should ride with these guys because I’m not the fast one here.

The moral of the story.  Don’t judge a rider’s ability by his age.  

Are you the Real Kevin Schwantz?

Are you the real Kevin Schwantz?

Years ago, as I was riding with a sales rep in Houston, a Ducati 916 passed us on the freeway and was picking off the slower cars. The rider had on a replica Arai Schwantz helmet and the Dainese replica jacket with ‘Schwantz’ across the back. I said to Lewis (the rep) “There goes Kevin!”  He said “You do realize you are in Texas, and it just might be!”

I guess that’s the trouble when you travel a lot; you forget where you are. We then stopped at a Honda shop and the lo and behold, the bike is sitting outside!  Since it was towards the end of the day, everyone was standing around as they closed up.  “Kevin” was hanging around because happened to be buddies with the parts manager. We start talking and he told me he was an attorney.  I kidded him about his “Kevin” gear and he says:

Let me tell you about the time I was in Austin. I was on a case and had a few extra days so I took my bike to ride in the hill country. As I am riding along, not too fast, when a sheriff passes me, makes a big U-turn with his lights flashing and then pulls me over. He jumps out of his car then tackles me to the ground. I am screaming the entire time ‘I am an officer of the court let me go’. After he takes the hand cuffs off he explains he was out here two days earlier and chased me all over but I got away. He was 

convinced it was me because I had Schwantz all over my helmet and jacket.

We all had a laugh because we knew it was probably the real Kevin.

Several months later I ran into the real Kevin Schwantz at a show and told him the story. He got a big smile on his face and said “Could have been”.

Dave Leach, Four Time Isle of Mann TT Winner

Dave Leach with the famous Yellow with Red Polka Dot Helmet!

  

On my first trip to the Isle of Man in 1990, I met Dave Leach, a racer riding for FM Yamaha and shod with Avon tires.  He was a three time TT winner, with his first race win in 1988 on a Padgetts FZ1000 0W01. In 1990 he was riding a FZR400 RRSP, which is kind of a baby 0W01.

Standing at the starting line I was talking to Dave and told him we did not have that Yamaha in the States. He said to me “You can buy this one in about an hour and a half”. So during the entire race I was thinking “do I really want to buy this thing?” I didn’t think I could get a license for it in the States; I don’t race and I cannot afford to buy it and just put it in my garage. After the race, which Dave had won (his Fourth win); he asked if I wanted it.  I said no.  I guess some guy from Japan bought it and had them crate it up, with the bugs still all over the front of it and send it to Japan.  Dave also took a 3^rd in the Senior Class, a 5^th in Formula 1, and 10^th in the Junior Race.  Unfortunately his bike broke down while leading the Supersport 600 race.  But that’s just racing!

Later he asked if I wanted to go to the awards banquet, and since I had a ticket and he had won I thought it might be cool. We show up and Dave says we should sit in the back.  In my mind I’m thinking ‘you’re one of the heroes, we should be up front’.  After we sat down they start by saying “Finishing 20^th in the 125cc class is…” With that we left and snuck down to the bar for about an hour, and then came back to get his trophy. 

IOM TT Trophy

I might add they are one of the classiest trophies around.

The next year Dave came to us to race a 750 at the Daytona 200.  It’s my turn to show him around.  I took him to the short track races, to which he thoroughly enjoyed. While we were at the stadium we ran into some of the staff from the Speedway.  They invited us up to the top level, where the announcer sits.  They interview Dave during one of the breaks and asked him if he liked dirt track to which he responded that he would give it a go if they had it in the UK, as it looked like fun!  Then they asked him about racing at the Speedway. He said “It is a little scary going 170mph right next to the wall.”  Now I am thinking to myself, here is a guy that rides 100 mph on very narrow country roads with light poles, houses, and stone walls everywhere, and he thinks Daytona is “a little scary”. 

The terrible part of this story is in 1992 Dave was racing at an Irish road race and crashed in the rain.  He came off the bike and ended up straddling a tree at probably 60mph (ouch!). It almost killed him.  But it did shorten him by I think he said a little over a ½ inch. Two years later he was at Daytona getting around with two canes and informed me all the ‘important parts’ worked fine.  

In 1995 he made a return to racing the Isle of Mann TT, which at the end of the 1997 season (after sitting out 1996) he hung up his leathers for good.  Here’s a video link of Dave in Practice in Ireland in 1995 (watch for that helmet!!)  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PuDMYUUqB0s

I guess scary is a relative term.  

Dave Leach at IOM Parade of Champions