Since I don't have access to a Kawasaki dealership locally that carries 30 year old parts, I am forced to look elsewhere for parts and accessories for my project.Now, thankfully for the Internet, everyone is just an arms reach away.
Utilizing Craigslist is my favorite way of shopping for these things. I am in Eastern Iowa and there aren't always the things I need really close by but when they are, I can drive a few miles and get that really cool part that I found that day.
Such an occurance just happened for me. SADDLE BAGS - GRAIGLIST.ORG I found a posting from 3 days ago on a set of KAWASAKI saddlebags listed in Dubuque. I actually didn't find the posting, Kody Wisner of Wisner Cycles found it. I have been working on my bike in his shop with his guidance. (This doesn't happen for everyone so don't expect it.) Kody was looking for some parts for one of his bikes when he stumbled upon these bags.
All it took was a phone call and an email and I had connected with this guy Thomas Z. I'll call him Tommy Z for now.
All it took was a phone call and an email and I had connected with this guy Thomas Z. I'll call him Tommy Z for now.
Tommy had gotten these bags in an estate sale when he purchased a really cool 1979 Honda Twinstar that was in about mint condition. Well, they were Kawasaki bags, they won't work on the Twinstar so he was putting them up for sale.
What is really nice about Graiglist.org is that you can actually meet and talk to the seller, go and see the product before you actually purchase it. I got to meet Tommy Z. and his son last night after work. What a great couple of guys.
Tom has an affinity for Mopeds, and no I don't mean the Honda Express from yesteryear, I mean cool stuff like the SACHS from Germany, Bridgestones, PUCH from Czech and such. These are really cool mopeds. He even has 3 completely restored Honda 125's. He did them all in his basement. Way cool.
From the way he tells it, he got one a few years ago, restored it and started riding it and he caught the bug. The restoration bug. Now he has done about 8-10 mopeds since he started and is having fun with it. I hope he starts a blog on his projects.
Anyway, back to the resources. By meeting this guy, I could get the whole story behind these bags, I got the chance to look at the bags and check tem over well before I even had to buy them. That is how I would prefer to buy things.
Now that I have them, I got them back only to discover that they don't fit exactly. No big deal, they are close enough that all I need to do is drill a hole in the lower leg of the bracket and put an extenstion on the frame to come out to the top forward mounting point.
I'll keep this updated as I go along as well.
What is really nice about Graiglist.org is that you can actually meet and talk to the seller, go and see the product before you actually purchase it. I got to meet Tommy Z. and his son last night after work. What a great couple of guys.
Tom has an affinity for Mopeds, and no I don't mean the Honda Express from yesteryear, I mean cool stuff like the SACHS from Germany, Bridgestones, PUCH from Czech and such. These are really cool mopeds. He even has 3 completely restored Honda 125's. He did them all in his basement. Way cool.
From the way he tells it, he got one a few years ago, restored it and started riding it and he caught the bug. The restoration bug. Now he has done about 8-10 mopeds since he started and is having fun with it. I hope he starts a blog on his projects.
Anyway, back to the resources. By meeting this guy, I could get the whole story behind these bags, I got the chance to look at the bags and check tem over well before I even had to buy them. That is how I would prefer to buy things.
Now that I have them, I got them back only to discover that they don't fit exactly. No big deal, they are close enough that all I need to do is drill a hole in the lower leg of the bracket and put an extenstion on the frame to come out to the top forward mounting point.
I'll keep this updated as I go along as well.
As for the bags themselves, they are great. 2 maroon bags with Chrome crash guards and nearly spotless mounting brackets. Someone at some point had started to sand the bags but I'll get better pics of that tonight. These bags also have the Amber turn signals built into the bag. I think that is great.I'll do some more research on these bags and figure out exactly how I am going to mount them and then I'll get that posted.
Until then, keep checking back to see the progress as the next thing to do is the Valve cover, clean it, blast it and paint it.
One last thing to say, I think I have made a new Friend in Tommy Z.
You can get some great stuff on Craigslist!
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