Bike of the Month May 2011.

Owner: Tony Pearson  KZ1000R #12, (AKA: Ono) Ca, USA.

Our featured bike is owned by Tony Pearson, who writes the "Fix it Again, Tony" technical Q & A

column in Hemmings Sports & Exotic Car. Tony's bike is a KZ1000R 1982 model,

with just 3,500 miles on the odometer, which he purchased in 1997, just as they started becoming

true collectibles. Pearson notes that he's seen rough Eddie Lawson replicas sell in the range of

$6,000, but a low-mileage, unrestored original would run closer to $15,000. Since most of the

good ones went to Japan in the 80s, nice ones are destined be worth their weight in gold.

Here are some photos of the bike and a little story of how I came about owning it.

Your site looks great and thank you for taking the time to keep it going.

In 1982 I saw my first ELR at Champion Cycles in Southern California.

I had a '78 Z1-R at the time and the dealer wanted $6k for the bike.

That was twice as much as I paid for the Z1-R four years earlier.

Fast forward to 1997 and an ad in AutoWeek for an original owner 1982 ELR.

The price was so cheap I figured it was gone before the ad came out.

About a month later I was talking with a friend and told him about the bike.

I told him where the bike was located, (Detroit), and that it was probably gone.

He told me he thought he knew the seller and called him right there.

It was him and shockingly, he still had the bike! We made a deal on the phone and

two weeks later it was delivered to my house.

In 1982 the seller lived in Los Angeles and bought the bike.

Six months later he was transferred to Detroit and the bike went with him.

This meant his riding season was only a few months a year.

The bike had just over 3,200 miles and was completely original down to the Dunlop K300s.

I couldn't have found a better example if I tried.

It's number 12 which is the exact opposite of Eddie's number.

I rebuilt the leaking front forks and put on new tires and it's been very reliable.

It currently has just over 3,900 miles and recently I had Eddie sign the tail section.

I currently have 15 bikes and this is one of my favorites.

Compared to modern machinery it's heavy, slow steering,

and when you push it in the corners,

feels like there's a u-joint between the seat and gas tank.

The experience serves to remind me how far modern motorcycles have come and

I marvel at the guys who could ride them at 10/10ths.

I write a column in Hemmings Sport & Exotic Car magazine where the bike has been featured.
http://www.hemmings.com
When it comes time to thin the herd, I'm going to have a hard time selling this one.   

Tony Pearson.

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 email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.