FALLS VILLAGE, CT – Seeing interesting old bikes in the parking lot at Toymakers Cafe here is commonplace, and today’s standouts were two duck-tailed, vintage Kawasakis from the late 1970s.
Wayne McCarrier of Millbrook, NY came aboard his black 1978 Kawasaki LTD 1000, while Mark Schaubhut of Salt Point, NY rode in on an orange 1979 KZ1000.
McCarrier picked up his bike from a seller in Johnstown, PA last summer. It had less than 3,000 miles on the odometer. He’d owned the model previously when serving in the U.S. Air Force between 1981 and 1984. “Rode all over Europe with it,” he recalled. “This one has less mileage on it than the one I had back then. I always thought that it had a throaty exhaust.”
Schaubhut has owned his Kawasaki KZ1000 for 15 years and has worked on it to make it look good, including the paint job. “I had one back in high school and I decided I needed another one,” he said. “It’s just a fun bike to ride. I’m really into vintage stuff.”
It’s always good to see bikes like these out on the roads.
– By Bud Wilkinson