JUST RIGHT
2005 Kawasaki Z750S
Story by Tom Van Beveren
Photos courtesy KawasakiMotors Corp., USA

Say you’re in the market for a new bike. Perhaps you’re returning to motorcycling and don’t know what kind of bike to buy, or, better still, you’re new to motorcycling and want a new bike that’s rider-friendly, easy to ride, gets good fuel economy, and won’t break the bank. Insurance costs must be low, but the fun quotient must be high. Have we got a bike for you!
Kawasaki recently invited us to test one of its latest entries into this country, the Z750S. The Z is a naked bike (you might call it a standard if you’ve been around for a while) that was designed with the commuter or student in mind. Even if you’re not a commuter or a student, we think you’ll like the Z750S. We found it to be one terrific motorcycle and think you’ll agree, no matter what you plan to do with it. With only a few exceptions--like racing the Dakar Rally, for example.
Derived from the European/ Canadian Z that American riders didn’t get in 2004, the Z750S is an amalgamation of parts that work so well together that we wonder why it took the Green Team so long to bring out something like this.
Powered by a liquid-cooled, 748 cc, in-line four-cylinder, this fuel-injected powerhouse is one sweetheart of a motor. It features double overhead cams designed for low-and mid-range power, four valves per cylinder, and intake and exhaust ports along with combustion chambers that are all designed with smooth, seamless power deli-very in mind.
Speaking of fuel injection, Kawasaki is the first company to use it on a middleweight naked bike. The use of 34 mm throttle bodies tied to a 32-bit electronic engine control unit makes the Z750S sort of a “three bears” of power delivery--not too much power, like a modern superbike, and not so little power that you’ll spend all day shifting gears to keep things spinning in the sweet spot of the powerband. If you’ve ridden a modern 600 lately and think they’re a bit hyper, a quick spin on the Z750S will allow you more time to enjoy the ride and less time worrying about shifting gears or avoiding a speeding ticket.

Interview:

A CHICK ON CHOPPERS
Story by Bob Kaufman
Photos courtesy Teri Lang

It was on a cool spring morning about a decade ago that I stood outside a motel just off Interstate 10 in El Paso and watched with envy as a group of touring motorcycles rumbled off in single file toward the border and a ten-day Pancho Villa tour of Mexico.
What made the event special, and something that I still remember, was that the tour group was made up entirely of women. At the time, I had only known of one or two women who actually rode their own motorcycles. An entire dozen of them able to go off on a 2,000-mile adventure was something I could hardly comprehend.
Times have certainly changed, haven’t they? Or maybe I was just slow to find out what was happening. In any case, so many females have gotten into riding lately that I no longer give it a second thought when I see a woman on a bike. But does riding have the same meaning for women as it does for men? Freedom? Independence?
San Francisco-based documentary filmmaker Teri Lang has looked into this, and says it’s a little of both. Women find freedom and independence in riding—and more. According to Lang, some women have actually found their true selves by riding.
Lang is so fascinated with the topic of what women get out of riding motorcycles that it was one of the themes of Motorcycle Prayers, a short film she made last year.
“I was actually interested in the transformation that occurs when a woman goes from riding on the back with her boyfriend or her mate to riding solo. I mean, is there independence that comes along with that and who are the women riders who, you know, have made that leap? And what goes on when you do, and what kind of social stigmas are there when you do?” said Lang. “They’re obviously not as big as they used to be, like back [in 1994] when you caught that band of female riders going to Mexico. It’s probably come quite a long way, but, you know, it’s got such a long way to go, too. There’s so much more room to grow. I think that there are a lot of female riders who haven’t made that leap yet and who want to ride, and who currently ride on the back of their boyfriends’ motorcycles.”

Ask the Sergeant:

Dear Sergeant:

Highway 101 through Thousand Oaks is a fairly fast section of road, and at the same time is patrolled pretty heavily by the CHP. I was told that recently the Commander in the area made the statement that too many warnings were being given, and that all stops must result in tickets. Has my repertoire of excellent excuses met its match?

Jerry Purdy, Camarillo

I receive a large number of letters asking about warnings versus citations, so allow me to expand your question some what and touch on a few other issues.
First of all, I have no personal knowledge relating to the enforcement posture of the Ventura Office of the California Highway Patrol, so I cannot comment on what the Station Commander told his officers. I do, however, have a number of observations and opinions that relate to the general theme of your question.
There is a lot of good-natured ribbing that goes on between county and municipal law enforcement officers and the Highway Patrol. Local law officers are multi-faceted and deal with a number of law enforcement issues. The CHP, on the other hand, is focused solely on traffic safety. We call them “Triple A” with a gun and say that “C-H-P” stands for “Can’t Handle Policework.” They say equally complimentary things about us that, of course, have no basis in fact.
With all joking aside, I can tell you that the CHP is dead serious about its mission and that is to keep our highways as safe as possible for the motoring public. I manage a traffic unit in a municipal police department. Our focus, like that of the CHP, is traffic safety and I like to think that we do as good a job as they do.

Project bike story:

TRES CHIC
Story and Photos by Reid Libby

They do it differently in France. The VeloSolex motorized bicycle proves once again that the French really don’t care how it’s done it in Hamamatsu, or any place else for that matter. It looks the way it does for a reason and if you don’t like it, tough.
Love it or hate it, credit is due because the French may just have gotten this little bugger right. It is transportation at its most basic. Its components consist of a rather European-looking bicycle, made of steel stampings rather than tubes. Easy to produce and assemble. Creature comforts are minimal, especially considering the type of suspension used, or rather, the lack thereof. A sprung saddle does keep things tolerable and there is a small place on the frame to awkwardly rest your feet when not contributing your fair share to forward progress.
Environmentalists will applaud the miserly 49 cc Solex engine, at least until they realize that it is a fiendish, oil-burning two-stroker. Engine, fuel tank and lighting equipment are all contained in a convenient pod that nests above the front wheel, which it drives--just the ticket for traction should you find yourself snowbound in Sweden.
In order to know where one is going, it helps to know where one has been. Regardless of the direction chosen, this is an endeavor that, given the Solex’s laid-back nature, takes a bit of time.
The original VeloSolex appeared in 1946 and proved to be an inexpensive and simple means of getting the war-weary French populace back in motion after the devastation left by World War II. While its timely arrival aided in reconstruction efforts, one can only imagine that, had the versatile little two-wheeler been available in quantity about seven years earlier, it is possible that the whole sorry mess might have been avoided. Just imagine the effect that a battalion or two of Solex-mounted, screaming Frenchmen would have had as they pedaled furiously towards German positions. The invaders, crumpled on the ground and shaking with helpless mirth, could have been dispatched with relative ease. Not exactly cricket perhaps but, then, war is no laughing matter.

Way2go

FRIENDS LIKE THESE --
The Laguna Seca Saga
Story and Photos by John Paul Daly

I confess. I endure a life of shallow self indulgence. I ride motorcycles. That’s all I do. I used to be employed, as a minor functionary in an irrelevant department working for an otiose county official, but that was cutting into the riding so I hadda quit, know what I mean?
A mere year ago I had a dear friend who was not yet a motorcyclist. He lived in hell. Well, Huntington Beach to be precise, in a nice house, but it wasn’t exactly heaven, now was it? I felt compelled to impart the utter joy of riding to this dear friend. I told him how glorious and exhilarating riding a motorcycle could be. I encouraged him to take the MSF beginners’ course and get a license. And he did.
Then, I persuaded my old buddy to come on up and visit, and he did that, too, departing hell and booking passage on a form of public transportation up to San Luis Obispo County. I gave him my newest, easiest, most user-friendly bike, a 2001 Suzuki, VL-800 Volusia, and we started out. With me leading, we headed for the Pozo Saloon.
Riding slowly, I watched the mirrors continuously and made sure that he was able to keep up easily. He did well. Once at the saloon, I pontificated about counter steering. “Push right... go right! Push left... go left!” Then we rode to the Atascadero region and headed back home for the night.
My friend was hyped!
“Let’s ride all the bikes,” he cried.
I have a dozen, from a 650 to a 1500—a turbo-boosted model, to boot. Let’s try some of the riding stuff a little longer before that, sez I, but the very next day we started out by switching bikes. I’d been riding a VT-1100 Honda Shadow and, not more than a mile or so from my house, I was obliged to go back and help my friend across a two-laner that had traffic. Seems he had dropped the Shadow and gronked off various custom pieces. Geez!