1985 Kawasaki Voyager 'Sport Edition'

[Lucasind]

The "BEAST" has a new home , it falls into ranks at the end of this row from the stable.

So I ended up getting the "beast" for $1450.and am finding it to be a great bike at a great price. The "helix-dunstall", exhaust breathes out a very sweet sounding exhaust tone !The tires are brand new Kenda brand , and after setting them to proper inflation, am finding no negative issues with them either My son says he is riding it to next years rally, and so far, I don't see why that could'nt happen. A little over 220 miles on her so far and all is great.......................tony
photobucket problems , more pics later.

[Lucasind]

This one is a keeper

[Scott-(Altoona, PA)]

See that little string of guys waving at you Tony? I'm the last one on the left, green with envy! Congrats again.

[cushman eagle]

That's a great looking hot rod ,Tony.I was wondering if that rear tire will last until the 2015 rally?

[chevyman1]

since it turned out to be a good buy and the wife's not mad

All I have to say is:

Your welcome

[Bruce in OK]

How is the condition of the digital display? If I recall correctly, they tended to go out after time. That's a nice looking bike.

[Scott-(Altoona, PA)]

Tony you missed a perfect photo-op yesterday with the media since they were filming the implosion of two of the three smoke stacks in Toledo.
That would have been awesome to see your new stallion on the national news!!!!

[Lucasind]

Good point Scott, Many times, I've wondered over the years.... one of my accounts is the "port of toledo" where Ive gone each morning, before the sun is up watching the demolition of this former coal burning edison plant, ....why they meticulously take everything else down to the ground, but leave the smokestacks that our yesteryear craftsman so diligently erected, to last forever !
(as if they were going to use them again) Then this ! Nothing new here in the
"rustbelt" as we are soo getting used to the destruction of yesteryear
Word has it that the Chinese has obtained this property, and ordered it's demolition. Oh well....what are ya gonna do about it ! !

On a better note of today, here is a shot of the exhaust that makes that SWEET
sounding tone,behind a fuel injected six cylinder engine

[Lucasind]

Hello, cushman eagle !! what a great time we had at the rally together !
(wish there was not so many miles ,between us )...anyway... you're wondering about the life expectancy of the rear (kenda) tire.... It still has the ticklers in place ! I think as I am the only "pilot" of this machine......things look good ! But I have been letting everyone around here take her out for a SPIN... It is getting tough to turn down the many offers I'm gettin on her ! N. F. S. !!

I think Brad is already claiming her as his ! it started to rain here the second day from returning from the rally..... and he ran outside to PUSH her into the garage !!!
Let me tell you.......that does'nt happen ...so I have to ride this bike awhile..., and see what ,,,if anything happens (heck, I haven't even had her on the airlift, for disassembly/inspection) SO FAR , SO GOOD !......tony

[Lucasind]

How is the condition of the digital display? If I recall correctly, they tended to go out after time. That's a nice looking bike.

Hello Bruce ! ....As far as the digital display, every single thing on this one works as good as new ! I am so pleased ! the only thing that needs to be done is, I am going to install my own rubber mounting ,dampening system of all things on the dash. ....I remember back in the days when I worked for a Kawasaki dealer .... I never liked the amount of pounding / movement that is present when the front end hits a bump in the road. I believe that this may have caused premature failure of the components. There IS alot of dash component movement present here in this bike ,that drives me nuts ! ( please , give me a minute, I just got it) The P.O. told me this bike sat idle in the cellar of someone's house for decades.Perhaps this is why this one is all good. This is a 30 year old bike /w/20k on the clock !! as you know from me, reports(good or bad)...and pictures will follow !.......................................tony

[Bruce in OK]

[Lucasind]

......I put some miles on the "beast' over the weekend. A fair amount of squeeking going on in the rear of bike, I am going to put the bike up on the airlift after work one nite this week,to investigate, the swing arm ,shocks and all pivoting points. Another issue to address is the previous owners installation of the aftermarket pipes that I dont like. The pipes should have been installed with a 180 degree twist so that the bracketry and mounting points are on the inside ,hidden from view.



This will require fabricating a special bracket for both sides, that will be very different than the one's shown here ,that came with the pipes.I realize that the p.o.,was probably in a hurry to get the pipes installed to hear them sing
but I don't like the way this looks ,like someone that did'nt know what they were doing ,put the pipes on backwards. Perhaps a bit A.R. ,I know .... but what are ya gonna do ?





It's gonna take a bit of doing to make these two brackets ,so they are tucked out of the way and not interfere with the travel of the swingarm, and at the same time.... make them look good ! more pics to follow as work progresses.................................................tony

[Me Again]

How do those JCWhitney specials sound.

[Lucasind]

....Unique ! (in a good way).

[trikebldr]

That reminds me of my first 1300.
Wife saw it at a local dealers on Wednesday.When I got off work she dragged me over to see it (I wanted to wait until we got back from vacation).Took it for a ride (boy was it heavy) filled out the paper work and waited for the bank.
Picked it up on Friday after work,rode it home and put it in the garage.
Left on a 2 week vacation Saturday morning in the cage, didn't get to even see it for the next 2 weeks .

Wow! De-ja-vous, with just a couple of twists!

I saw an '83 ZN1300 at my local dealer when I was picking up some of that gold paint that they use on the wheels. It was truly loaded with all the radio gear offered, including the CB and 2 helmets with speakers and mics. I drooled over it for a while, but just sighed and walked out. Took the wife in to see it when were having dinner right next door. She brought it up a few times in the next few weeks. I was almost on my death-bed with the flu when she came home a bit late one evening. "Get dressed, we're going out!" was all she would say. It did no good to say "NO!", so I crawled out to the car and off we went to dinner. But, she parked in the dealer's lot! She said she wanted to look at the bike again and told me to see how I liked the feel sitting on it. Then she climbed on behind me. As we sat there dreaming the salesman came up and handed me the keys and said "Enjoy your new bike, sir!", then handed her the bundle of papers. They even had installed a nice flip-forward seat back for the rider and gave me a heavy duty cover for it. She had stopped by on the way home to do all the paperwork! Needless to say I was in no shape to drive the beast home that night! A week later we picked it up.

Had the bike longer than that wife! Turns out she had ulterior motives for letting "me" buy it! After all, I already had a Gold Wing. When we split, the payments came with the bike, of course!

200k miles later I was t-boned on it, ending a long run of fun with that bike. I sold it to a guy who had another one, but with a blown engine. He put my motor in his bike and kept right on going. Between the insurance payoff (and, they let me keep it!!) and what I sold it for, I made money over what I paid for it, new! Miles and miles of basically free fun!

I haven't had a bike since then! Now I have an '85 ZN1300. Gonna find my lost youth and have some more fun miles.

[Lucasind]

....Now, that don't happen everyday ...great story ,thanks for sharing that !

[Lucasind]

Late night session in the shop after work(again )but I had to do something about the P.O backwards exhaust install bothered me since I first saw it, from arriving home from the rally.
the beast was delivered to my home ,while I was gone, you all saw the previous pics of the mounting of the bracketry facing outward.....well tonight, that had to change ! 3.5 hours later..I happy with the results of tonight's efforts

I went thru one of my cabinets of stuff and selected a worthy candidate of stock for fabrication.
After looking at it, measuring,heating,bending,cutting,,,,,and then repeating this process repeatedly,
I came up with these desired results.....layed out on the table for, rattle can crinkle coating



...So after cutting all fasteners to size, and a drop of loc-tite on them..... everything is assembled to a acceptable arrangement of parts




Objective reached ! The swing arm can reach full travel, and the exhaust mountings are where they should be .... on the backside .....now to start removal of all things,air ride suspension....
and the progressives that I ordered, should be here soon,for the next step of the transition.
I even finished the night ,trying "EZ riders" suggestion of aluminum foil chrome clean-up

Here's a look at the way the nights efforts turned out



...It's darn near midnight, I'm going to bed !.......................tony

[ekap1200]

Its about time, I know those pipes were on your mind , from the first time you saw them. great rpr. It's looking better every pic you post. Gene.

[kjsett]

Its about time, I know those pipes were on your mind , from the first time you saw them. great rpr. It's looking better every pic you post. Gene.

Just curious, does the replacement of stock to the JC Whitney pipes require rejeting of the carbs?
Really enjoy my "quiet" bike (ZG1200-B17 2003) most of the time, but I get alot of ribbing from the better half on her v-twin vulcan 800 with the loud pipes.
Probably not worth the over $200 for the pipes and then fab'ing better mounts (can you make me a set if I go this way??).
I am probably just talking as that money will probably go for a vitamix blender for my wife's Christmas tree.
Thanks for listn',
Ken

[trikebldr]

Ken, the ZN1300's are fuel injected, so no jets to worry about. The controller monitors enough stuff to know how much to compensate for.

Tony, have you ever pulled those aftermarket mufflers off and run the engine? Was wondering how much muffling is done in those big stock "tanks" under the engine before reaching the final mufflers. Or, do they do anything at all?

I'm a big fan of 180 degree exhaust systems for better top end. Very difficult to fabricate and fit into a lot of spaces, but when done correctly they can make a V8 sound like a V16 and a six sound like a V12 Ferrari. You make me wish I had a second 1300 to play games with like you are!