Kawasaki Z716

This my first and bar by far my favourite Z650.

I purchased the bike in 1981 from Bikewise in Leigh-on-Sea Essex for £795 and part exchanged a Suzuki X7 as part of the deal. It was a 1979 model Z650B2, registration BMG 646T.

Up until this point I had only ever owned 2-stroke bikes, so this was my first venture into the world of 4-strokes of this size. I remember riding off from the dealership going about 200m to a set oof traffic light and was shocked at how much engine breaking it had compared to 2-strokes.

When I originally got the bike, it was low mileage and was pretty much in standard trim excepting a 4-1 and a K&Q seat but it would become significantly reworked over the time I had it.

The bike had many modifications and additions over the years;

Tried several different exhausts like Alfa, Yoshimura & the Harris pipe in the picture above

Lester Alloy wheels fitted with twin discs fitted up front

After trying various shocks I settled on a set of Mazzochis.

Engine was bored out with Yoshimura 716cc piston kit and matching Stage 2 Cams fitted. Head was ported & springs changed.

Electronic ignition  was added to make setup easier.

Fitted a braced swing-arm made as a one off by Saxon Racing.

Original carbs swapped out for a modified 28mm set off Z1000, but eventually swapped those out for a new set of 29mm Smooth-bores. Airbox removed and just used K&N filters.

Paintwork was a one-off done by someone I knew at the time.

I also had a contact who could chrome alloy at a reasonable price, so the outer engine covers and cam cover were done.

Z650s in standard trim were great bikes for the time even straight out of the crate. In standard trim they were not as fast as its Z1000 or Z900 stablemates, but having considered the larger machines and then taking those out for test drives then it was clear the Z650 was noticeably smaller and more nimble. As I wasn't planning on lots of motorway journeys then the 650 was to route to go.

I was very happy with the bike, it was used almost every day to commute & socialise plus many camping weekends and even taking the bike fully loaded abroad.

Then in 1983 the bike was nicked. After about a month and the police being able to trace it (if they even looked!), I needed a bike so got a cheap Suzuki GT750 off a mate which had just had the engine rebuilt but a fair a bit of work and money spent on it. As I was due to get and insurance payout then the plan was to use that money to do it up. Then almost 9 weeks later I got a call to tell me the bike had been found and it was parked in a Hospital car park about 15 mile from where I lived. Apparently the Hospital staff had noticed it after someone had done some damage to it while it was on-site and contacted the Police who then took their time to tell me about it.

Went to pick the bike up and it had only done 8 miles since it had been nicked which is exactly the distance to the hospital from where it had been taken so it must have been there all the time. Damage was limited; dented tank, broken filler cap, steering lock and ignition switches beyond repair and various other odds and sods, including battery, which would need work or replacement after the bike had been standing out in all weathers for over the two winter months it had been missing. Wasn't worth claiming on the insurance as the increase in premium would have been more than I'd have got from the claim, so cancelled it.

Long story short, decided to sell the Suzuki in bits to fund the work on the 650. Was lucky enough to get a lot more than I expected and recouped the £300 I'd paid for the GT almost 4 times over. That meant I could not only fix the 650, but had extra money to start to upgrade things.

A picture of the now returned Z650 with the GT750 in front and my old GT380 up the back. 

All 3 needing work at the time!

Picture below if of the bike when I first got it.

Bike ran great  and did everything I wanted of it.  The K&Q seat was comfortable on journeys, especially longer ones, but wanted a more of a sporty feel for my local trips so got a 2/4 Seat. The rest remained largely untouched until the bike was stolen and then recovered. 

The next change was the wheels. I liked the look of Lester Ally Wheels and managed to get a new set from a dealer just over the water in Erith Kent.

The tank was damaged from the theft and there were a few scratches on the panels and tail from luggage  and weekends away. Got a tank cover and sprayed spare set of panels in black as a temporary measure while I had the bike lined up for other changes and didn't want to risk a good paint set which would was going to be taken on and off a lot over coming months. 

The bike went through various iterations as I fitted new and fettled with existing bits.

The modifications made to the top end and the larger carbs meant it was much faster than a standard 650. On several occasion proved to be quicker than the larger capacity Zs around at the time. It handled better than it did when I first got it and stopped quicker, so the mods to the suspension and the braced arm at the back all worked well. It also had a damper fitted for a while just until I was happy the bike wasn't going to head-shake.

The engine work was done by someone I knew at the time who had the knowledge and experience to fit the mods, also did the porting, reset the valves, new springs and got the bores taken out. The Yoshi kit needed to be properly dialed in etc..

For many months, while the bike was being modified, it had fairly scruffy paintwork as it was coming off and on almost daily so was prone to getting knocked. At traffic lights you'd regularly have a nice shiny bike pull alongside thinking something like 'that's a scruffy mess'! Well maybe so, but when the lights went green they soon discovered it was much quicker than they were expecting.

Great bike! I had lots of fun with it over many happy years and it had been very reliable. That is until 1986, when while out the #1 cylinder made a noise and clearly had done something to the big end. Bike still managed to get me home, but later in the garage it was clear the problem was an engine out job.

Timing for this was bad as I had a lot going on with the house, work was busy, had several social trips coming up as well as several bike events and meets planned.

So went some local-ish dealers to see what they had and did a deal on an new RG500.

The 650 sat at the back of the garage, alongside a long term Z650 project, for some time before I got round to doing anything with it. As the 'project' bike had recently had all the bits powder coated and the engine was a runner, then it seemed easier to take the bits on my main Z and transfer them to the project bike. So BMG 646T became XMB 890S. The Modified engine, including the Yoshi pistons and cams and the larger carbs etc. were not fitted to the second engine, nor was the Braced swingarm, but everything else was. I did occasionally ride the bike but my focus had changed with the RG500, also 350LC and then GSXR750 and a FZR1000 taking up my time.

A mate had spotted the bike in the garage for several years and often asked was it for sale and I'd declined, but one day realised it was wasted just sitting there so agreed to sell it, so off it went.

The remnants of BMG 646T, which by then was effectively a full bike with a an engine needing work and mostly standard bits & bobs, some of which were in various boxes, remained until I needed to sell quickly prior to a house move in 1988 so sold for peanuts.

The last time I looked at the DVLA records, BMG 646T is still recorded, but nothing has been updated since the V5C was transferred in 1988, so looks like it buried somewhere :-(. The other bike, XMB 890S sold to a mate back in the day, is also still recorded with DVLA. When I looked it was on SORN and the last V5C transfer was in 2012 so looks like it's still around!

I've always like the Z650s, so many years later I did get others, but none were quite like my original bike.