I thought the "sissy bars" were the round extensions that protect the legs from side impacts.
I thought the "sissy bars" were the round extensions that protect the legs from side impacts.
KrisZ, a suggestion to strongly consider. That bike is heavy we know this because of the time period it was made, if you drop it you could damage the engine. That would be sad because it is a rare find in such great condition. So consider removing the engine guard and getting it powder-coated satin black. It will almost blend in with the scene and not be so chrome offensive looking. This way you will still have a great looking bike and the engine will be protected!Like NitroM3, I could not wrap my head around a sissy bar protecting knees, but it makes sense in relation to the crash bars. Which I will take off as well at some point, but they don't look as offensive to me as the sissy bar.
A sissy bar is usually some sort of back rest for the passenger. You can see it see in the first set of pics.
Please stop it! You're making too much sense and now my practical side is kicking inKrisZ, a suggestion to strongly consider. That bike is heavy we know this because of the time period it was made, if you drop it you could damage the engine. That would be sad because it is a rare find in such great condition. So consider removing the engine guard and getting it powder-coated satin black. It will almost blend in with the scene and not be so chrome offensive looking. This way you will still have a great looking bike and the engine will be protected!
Oh I love your signature..... we are looking at homes now in the Flower Mond area currenting live in CA.
What ever you decide just PLEASE DONT mount lights or horns on the bar .....Please stop it! You're making too much sense and now my practical side is kicking in
You are absolutely right, these things are useful and powder coating them to match the frame is a great idea.
Now, if I could find something like pictured below, that would be ideal.
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If that was a 750 I'd say "whats this bikes vin?"..lol... a 1977 Kawasaki KZ650
Pretty much all original as far as I can tell, 7600 miles and best of all no cafe racer mods. Once the sissy bar is off it will look just the way I like it.
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Those old steering locks slow down a veteran bike thief but it is only a few second annoyance to get around . A more modern Kryptonite bar one of the better anti theft but still not fool proof will usually cause a would be bike thief to reconsider and look for another bike.I Great little city cruisers and yours looks fantastic, just beware they are very easy to hotwire so keep its steering locked, being young/dumb I didn't do that real often. Peace!
I am not partial to any one style of bike. My current arsenal of bikes.
I think time has caught up with me. I prefer the Magna over the GSXR. Although my Magna's engine is by no means stock nor the suspension and can and does stomp on most sport bikes in its engine class, it is just more comfortable to just do a easy mountain cruise. The GSXR is uncomfortable and after about 30 minutes I am bored and my back hurts. I don't hit triple digits anymore because I don't think I will heal as well if I go down. The last time was @130mph and end up sliding under a truck that pulled right in front of me. I suppose you could say it was my fault. I was challenged to see how fast I could make it from Santa Cruz to Monterey and back. Stupid times. I was hitting speeds over 145 constant on Hwy 1 LOL I got to know what cleaning road rash feel like when they scape the wound with a nylon brush and only a little nitrous to take the edge off the pain. Oh and get this... I was wearing my leather racing jacket gloves and helmet but tennis shoes and levi's'. When I got to the hospital the attending said hey bud your fly is down, but nope what I had done was slid and the tarmac scraped the front zipper flap and zipper right of my pants I must have roll on my back before it went any farther or I might have lost a body part (lol)Nice fleet!
I'm not partial to any style either, but sports bike in particular seem to be overpriced in my area at the moment.
There are other uses for the bar as well.Ok just remember when you are getting off NOT to throw your leg over the seat as you would most all other motorcycles. You might end up very embarrassed picking yourself off the bike and then picking up your new bike .
Engine crash bars make the difference between getting up, cursing your luck and carrying on with your journey, or sitting forlornly waiting for a tow truck, then hunting for nearly unobtainable / very expensive end cases (depending on bike, of course).the crash bars. Which I will take off as well at some point, but they don't look as offensive to me as the sissy bar.
Home made speed governor.I also noticed that the throttle had less twist than I’m normally used to and the bike felt quite underpowered. Well, the bolt securing the carb lineage rod to the throttle mechanism was not original and was hitting the body, preventing full open throttle.
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This is the max throttle opening I could do.
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Hopefully one day I'll be posting pics of my 79 Honda cx500 fixed up. I love the old stuff.... a 1977 Kawasaki KZ650
Pretty much all original as far as I can tell, 7600 miles and best of all no cafe racer mods. Once the sissy bar is off it will look just the way I like it.
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I would love to see the pics. And I agree, old stuff is awesome.Hopefully one day I'll be posting pics of my 79 Honda cx500 fixed up. I love the old stuff.