A Japanese Bike - My first in over 30 years !

So - to recap, there I was working from home but with two big bikes (the GP800 and the K75) sitting on the drive.  Parlaying those into one bike seemed like a sensible move which explains how they were replaced with the K1100LT.

Fast forward 2 months and I found myself with a new job – and a commute into Central London on a comprehensively unsuitable machine and a true appreciation of the fact that every single ex-K75 owner has uttered the phrase "I wish I still had the K75". Hence the unfolding story of the last few posts in seeking a replacement for the LT.

With a “warm” buyer for the K1100LT during the Summer, I’d already been looking at suitable replacement commuter bikes – and a couple of mid-sized Kawasaki’s had been in the frame – a GPZ500S and an ER-5.  However the circumstances changed and economy was suddenly the watchword when I need a replacement bike before selling the LT.

There are £500 bikes around – but anything decent is usually snapped up very quickly and there were a few missed gems (a nice looking 400 Burgman and a cosmetically tatty but very sound “Divy” to name but 2).  Eventually a Kawasaki KLE500 turned up – apparently sound, not pretty but cheap enough to join the fleet before the BMW was sold/broken.

My first Japanese bike for over 30 years and my first Kawasaki since around 1979 !

I’m going to write much more about the KLE500. It has much to commend it – yet a myriad of problems, some small, some big but all eminently “fixable” although I do need to start thinking about issues of maintenance and repair that I haven’t had to consider in many years.

Importantly for a man with a desperate need to avoid the rigours of public transport, it came with enough tax and MOT to keep me on the road while I identified and sorted its issues.