KZ1000R.com Bike of the Month May 10.

Frank Bosschieter

Hi to all kawasaki and Lawson replica fans out there,

my story or rather about the bike(s) starts with my first bike that i bought back in 1982 a from a local

motorcycle shop,the guys there just started the bussiness a few months earlier,

i dont exactly know how ended up there looking for a bike but they had this beautifull blue silver

stardust '78 Z1000Z1R straight away i fell in love with the bike and i had to have it.

One of the guys of the motorcycle shop had his racing license and started racing in the dutch equivalent

of the superbikes.So on race weekends i was of the Zandvoort circuit to see the guys battle it out on

their old suzuki's gs'shonda bol d'ors and the z1000's.

One of the racers was racing a Lawson replica and was more or less running away with the title,

and my fasination for the green meanie was born,

I had read about Eddie Lawson in the motorcycle magazines and his efforts in the AMA superbikes

but there wasn't much coverage about it really.

So after about three years i traded my Z1R in for a '83 new old stock Z1000R Lawson replica this was in '85.

With Lawson's bike in mind i started to change the bike to look more like the real thing now new parts were

or unobtainable or unpayable so it was always a case of compromising.

After years of changing wheels and brakes and swingarms several times and trading the original engine in for

a used 1135 engine (mistake!!)

i swaped my bike for a more standard Lawson to start afresh, but this one had a rotten frame near the side

stand so another frame or two other frames i should say

(the last one cracked on a trip in Austria) and few pistons later i called it a day and traded my Lawson in for

a low milage crash damaged ZZR 1100

which i rebuild and fitted with a superbike handlebar conversion (its hard to kick the habit).

I liked the ZZR and had it for quite a few years but i always had a "project" on the go this unfinished

bussiness i had with the R was nagging me and

the ZZr was a thirteen in a dozen bike to me.

Then about ten years ago i got the chance to buy this lovely looking green Lawson replica i didn't hasitate

for a moment and i got that old feeling back again

i HAD to have it so i sold my ZZR and bought myself this green beauty all standard except for the shocks

and exhaust which again i changed for a kerker and ohlins,

now over the years i did accumilate alot of parts but i was determent not to change this one any further

i liked it as it was standard.

Then some seven years ago i got in contact with someone who had these S1 parts like the BIG rotors,

ignition and other spares,all the bits i always wanted since

the days i went to see the guys race at Zandvoort and again i went for it,i still had this "project"

sitting in the garage so i was pleased that i could get on with it again,

another step closer to what i had in mind for all those years.

Now at that time i was working and could affort buying the stuff and finance the hobby but as life goes

there's always a twist so in my case by early 2003 the company

i worked for decided to sell off non core bussiness and put half of the workers out of a job,the good thing

was the redundency money i got.

As i was still in contact with the parts guy i knew what else he had and when this bike which is now

featured in our BOTM came up for sale i thought well you got the

money now so i bought it with all the extra parts which i will hav to put in and on later but as this

entry for BOTM was on short notice and i only got it over last week

from a 5 year separation i havn't had the time to do much else than clean her abit and fired her up.

There are for the well trained eye some nice features on this bike some which are original S1 and

some are replica's i hope to have another go for BOTM when the bike

is how i want it to be,but then again is it ever finished.
 
Frank #21
 

Check out the gallery for more pictures.

We will be featuring a different bike each month on kz1000r.com
that we feel is deserving of the title "Bike of The Month."
 
Check back often to see what our pick is.

To nominate or submit your own bike for  "Bike of The Month." 
Send some info on yourself your bike and loads of pic's bigger the better.

PLEASE SEND IN YOUR INFO IF YOU ARE LUCKY ENOUGH TO OWN ONE OF THESE BIKES!

I really want to bring THIS Registry up to date so accurate number's left in circulation can be made available,

this will intern help us get a true market value for insurance purposes.

Please include the chassis number and the month of production printed on the headstock of your bike.

Your name and location. and most importantly a picture's of your bike.

E-mail me at:  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it