Same Bike, Different Rider

In 1980 I bought a new Kawasaki KZ 550.  I loved that bike and kept it for 24 years and rode it 126,000 miles.  Here is a picture taken of me with the bike shortly after I bought it:

And here is me with the same bike shortly before I sold it in 2004. 

The bike looks pretty good; me......not so much.  The reason the bike looks so good is because I did a partial restoration on it at 100,000 miles, with a new paint job and a new top end from a doner bike; a later model KZ 550 that a friend from work had crashed.  I've had a few partial restorations myself, but none quite so successful.

I think the year after I bought it Carolyn and I rode it from Riverside up to Vancouver Island, B.C., and we camped most of the time.  Here is a picture that shows a thirty-something Carolyn and a good idea of how the bike was loaded (or maybe overloaded).  Note the high-tech trash bag water proofing on our sleeping bags. 

Not sure what mountain this is in the background.......maybe Rainier.  This trip started our desire to move to the Northwest. 

1080's Tourmaster riding jacket (no armor) and stylish leg-warmers with cowboy boots.  



I sure can't remember the story behind that stain on the road.  That was not a water-cooled bike, so it can't be radiator fluid, and I never blew the engine or lost the drain plug either.  Maybe we just went through a puddle or a creek crossing.  It's a good shot of our luggage arrangement, though.