Back to body work, I had a can of Kawasaki 777 Lime green (1979-1984) mixed. Would you believe ther are at least 5 Kawasaki Lime greens available.
Painted a couple of parts in base coat to see if it really is where I want to go. It is the colour from the KR1-KR250.

 

Yoouuuzzzaa. That stuffs GREEN! I never new there were 5 different colors of Kawi Green? Looks good though. I'd go with it.

Jack

 

My local paint shop has 5 versions of Kawasaki 777 Green, all slightly differnt mixes. It changed through the 80's & 90's a few times.
I went with the earliest version they had.
The paint guy said there may not be much difference in the shades, but a keen eye would pick them.

 

 

Looks good! Summer is coming.

Have you seen the video of the Royal Enfield pin striping guys?

 

 

Nice Triumph, I only wish they had the bigger engine when I bought mine. If they were bigger than 790cc back then I might still have mine now.
I bike I really enjoyed riding but it was just way too under powered after 30 years of riding 1100+ cc jap fours

 

Here's a few of the latest I've ridden over the years.

 

I've got a 2013 Moto Guzzi Griso and love it! Also had a 2006 Honda CB600 (599/Hornet) but ended up selling it...that bike was a hooligan!

 

 

Once you have gone green there is no way of going back! Apparently.

 

It's an attention getter for sure. Is that a satin finish, or just not sanded, and buffed yet? I myself 'am not a fan of satin colors, I never even liked satin finish pictures, when that was a thing back in the 70's. It just seems to take away the "Pop" and "Sharpness", to my way of thinking. I'm not trying to knock it? Just not my preference. Damn It's "GREEN" I Love It!

Jack

 

It's just the base coat, still got to put the gloss clear coat on.
Same here, not a fan of satin finish, especially on photos. Makes them look grainy.

 

4th GPZ600 arriving tomorrow. $130 parts bike.
The screen is almost worth that, and the seat is in better condition so it is cheaper than recoving the one I have.

 

I spent some time with an 82 GPZ550 when I worked for a Kawasaki dealer. The bike had been serviced ready for delivery when the deal fell through. They simply set it in the showroom, and forgot about it. I came to work there sometime after the fact. I had liked the bike from the minute I saw it. So when the Boss said he had sold it, I felt a tug at my heart, as I would have liked to have had it. Instead I was told to get it ready. (late 1983) The bike had sat over a year with about 1 gallon of gas in it. I took the cap off, and the varnish smell would have knocked you down from 10 feet away! So after the Boss told me the whole story. I pulled the carbs, and dissected them. They were horribly stuck and one of the brass throttle blades got damaged before it turned loose, and I got it out. I straightened it out, and cleaned the carbs. Once back together, I couldn't get them synchronized, and adjusted correctly. Now since it was a "new" bike. It had to perform like new. After several attempts, I realized I couldn't make it correct. The boss tried to order a new blade, and said the only way to get one was to order the complete carb set. That was how they sold them back then. Boss said to much money, so I took the blade to a machine shop along with one of the other blades and a week later. I had a perfect copy. I installed it adjusted, and synchronized the carbs it ran like it should. So the guy got a new bike at a steep discount. And I got to put a lot of miles on a brand new bike, that I couldn't afford to buy. No matter how bad I wanted to. God I loved working on "Bikes"!!!

Jack

 

Update: Head guy has the head ready to go when the valve stem seals arrive from the UK. He took the bigger valves from one of the heads and machined them down to fit a standard head. Barrels honed and ready for assembly.

I bought a spray gun and taught myself how to spray paint today doing the clear coat., results not perfect but passable for a track bike.

My older brother is a spray painter by trade but been out of the game for 20+ years, I sent him these pics and he was able to tell me what I was doing wrong from that.

 

New addition to the fleet today. 2016 XJR1300

 

Thats a lot slicker, and smoother, then alot, of the Garrish looking bikes over the last decade, or so. Nicely done.

Jack

 

Last of the big bore Japanese naked bikes. Suzuki GSX1400 & Honda CB1300 were culled a few years ago and Yamaha stopped the XJR1300 in 2016.
Due to emission laws in most countries it is not worth their while building a few bikes for small markets like Australia.

I just had to have another one while I could still get one with low mileage (8000 km). The ZRX & XJR are an awesome pair to have in the garage.
Every day is going to be a decision which one to ride.

The only thing I don't like is the 1 on the tank but there was only one colour option in 2016. I can live with that.
I hunted Australia for the newest, lowest mileage one I could get. There was one 2000km away for $500 less with similar mileage or this one in a local dealer.

Last time I bought anything from a dealer was a new 1988 GSXR1100. And this will the last purchase I ever make from a dealer, the bike had been in the showroom for at least 2 months, it had a grease caked swingarm and filthy. It took 3 hours to part with my cash, I nearly walked out mid deal.
It took the salesman 25 minutes to get himself a bike to take on the test ride. Then near an hour to find and do the paper work before he had to take my offer to the boss 3 times. Then off to another person to finalise the paper work before it went to the bussiness manager for approval. Shouldn't be that hard to give away 10k!
Then time to load it on the trailer, oh no. It's in the detail shop now, you can have it in an hour........I told them not to bother, I would clean it when I got home. No go.
And it still needs a proper clean. 4 !@#$ sake, detail the bike before you put it in the showroom and have your paper work ready to fill out.

To top it all off I went to go for a ride this morning and the battery was flat.




Odd collection for a die hard Suzuki guy, but the last GSX1400 was 2008. I wanted the newest I could find.

 

I think someone owes you a battery. I've never had good luck with very many dealers as I know all the tricks, and they don't really appreciate my knowledge. Go figure?
Anyway still looks like a nice score. Are they as fast, as a GSX 1100. Thats the last big bike I can remember riding. As far as the polishing, you'll do a heck of a lot better job then they could ever hope to. Have Fun.

Jack