nostalgic feelings being stirred

Message

kff30 · #1 Post by **kff30** » Wed Apr 17, 2013 8:14 pm

3 weeks ago i picked up my new bike a 2001 falco as soon as i had that first ride i remembered how much i love riding, now i have always had bikes ever since i was about 6 years old when my dad got me my first off road bike, as i grew up i got bigger bikes and then when i was old enough i got my first road bike which moved on to doing my test and getting my first big bike a 1980 kwakwa Z440 C1

over the next few years i moved up and up and had every thing from ZXR's to duke's, then being a grown up got in the way and i had to sell my bikes and buy a sensible diversion 600 for getting to work and back i cant fault the divi it never let me down once but i never loved the bike like i did my previous bikes.

aged thirty the inevitable divorce comes along and i end up having to sell the divi, few years pass by with no bike and eventually i manage to scrape up a few hundred quid and buy a old and i do mean old GSX600F again like the divi it was a good reliable bike but i didn't love it.

then at xmas i moved house and joy of joys i now have a garage again, this was the driving force in me buying the falco, now i have some where to keep a decent bike and work on it i could buy one.

as i said since getting her i have remembered how much i love riding and how much i have missed having a nice bike,but it started me thinking about all the bikes i have had in the past and then i remembered that about 13 years ago i stripped down my very first ever big bike my Z440.

riding the falco and thinking about my old Z has made me a little bit nostalgic, so i have spent the last few nights putting a work bench and power in the garage and have decided to go visit my mum and dig out my old Z from the back of her garage and start rebuilding my old bike.

hopefully in a year or two i will have my first and my latest bike sitting side by side in the garage giving the hard choice of which one to ride

Aladinsaneuk · #2 Post by **Aladinsaneuk** » Wed Apr 17, 2013 9:14 pm

What a great memory

Most of us have similar reasons for our love of bikes and falcos

Trust us - the more you ride it....

HisNibbs · #3 Post by **HisNibbs** » Wed Apr 17, 2013 10:19 pm

Nostalgic ahem, rings a bell. I'll soon have more BMW bits collecting in the garage than I had in the 70's and early 80's. Good job its a big garage. Even thought about an MZ the other day so I shan't criticize you too much for thinking a Z440 worthy of restoration..

#4 Post by **Kwackerz** » Wed Apr 17, 2013 10:28 pm

Which Z440? is that the teardrop custom style one?

My first bike was a Z440H (Mini Zed Thou style) Loved it.. Bought it in germany.. Killed it on the M25 bombing it round to Renegade one weekend.

Wish I'd kept it..

kff30 · #5 Post by **kff30** » Thu Apr 18, 2013 3:51 am

Kwackerz wrote:Which Z440? is that the teardrop custom style one?

My first bike was a Z440H (Mini Zed Thou style) Loved it.. Bought it in germany.. Killed it on the M25 bombing it round to Renegade one weekend.

Wish I'd kept it..

the custom looking one was called a Z440LTD which i never liked mine was made up of the engine from the LTD and the frame and running gear from a Z650

was a great first bike and very rare now

blinkey501 · #6 Post by **blinkey501** » Thu Apr 18, 2013 3:59 am

I had a kwak Z250. Nice relaxed riding position. Only thing was it was not good at starting!!!. I quite like the look of the Z650 and the 1000.
I have noticed over the last couple of years with the older generation looking for these retro machines prices are creeping up.

DavShill · #7 Post by **DavShill** » Thu Apr 18, 2013 2:38 pm

Well done that man - let's have regular progress updates and pics please

Willopotomas · #8 Post by **Willopotomas** » Thu Apr 18, 2013 5:01 pm

HisNibbs wrote:Even thought about an MZ the other day

Like one of these Keith?

Three of those. I think I need a clear out..lol

kff30 · #9 Post by **kff30** » Thu Apr 18, 2013 5:24 pm

well tonight i cleared out the garage of all the rubbish, car is now loaded up for a trip to the tip tomorrow, will be picking the bike up on saturday will take several hours to go through all the bits to see what is still usable.

with any luck i will be able to get it back to this

fatboy · #10 Post by **fatboy** » Thu Apr 18, 2013 6:14 pm

Good luck with it fella !
Thats when Jap bikes still had charecter

kff30 · #11 Post by **kff30** » Thu Apr 18, 2013 6:30 pm

just done a search on howmanyleft.co.uk there are none left in the uk of this model there are a few of the Z440H and Z440A but zero Z440C's so if i get it back on the road it will be the only one of its kind lol

and just out of curiosity i did the falco ther is 323 on the road at the moment and 72 sorn so less then 400 of them left better look after them now lol

#12 Post by **Kwackerz** » Thu Apr 18, 2013 6:32 pm

kff30 wrote:
Kwackerz wrote:Which Z440? is that the teardrop custom style one?

My first bike was a Z440H (Mini Zed Thou style) Loved it.. Bought it in germany.. Killed it on the M25 bombing it round to Renegade one weekend.

Wish I'd kept it..
the custom looking one was called a Z440LTD which i never liked mine was made up of the engine from the LTD and the frame and running gear from a Z650

was a great first bike and very rare now

Aye.. the Custom looking ones were horrid. Mine looked the same as yours without the rear cowl behind the seat.. Until it got Rene'd with twin hilevel zorsts.. and cafe racer bars

blinkey501 · #13 Post by **blinkey501** » Thu Apr 18, 2013 7:10 pm

kff30 wrote:just done a search on howmanyleft.co.uk there are none left in the uk of this model there are a few of the Z440H and Z440A but zero Z440C's so if i get it back on the road it will be the only one of its kind lol

and just out of curiosity i did the falco ther is 323 on the road at the moment and 72 sorn so less then 400 of them left better look after them now lol

400? I might buy another

D-Rider · #14 Post by **D-Rider** » Thu Apr 18, 2013 8:38 pm

If I remember, *how many left" give quarterly stats for those taxed and sorned in that quarter - so there may be more

kff30 · #15 Post by **kff30** » Sat Apr 27, 2013 8:25 pm

well i picked up the Z440 today, as i opened my mums garage door i didnt know what would be waiting for me on the other side, a pile of rust and dust or a salvageable bike.

joy of joys its in really good condition considering it has been in bits and i do mean bits and stored in a leaky damp garage for the last 13 years so far the only thing i can see is missing is the exhaust which i am not really bothered about as it was a god awful motad 2 in to 1 system that never suited the bike.

the engine which i had completely stripped down but stored in a bin bag inside a 15 tog duvet (thought a 15 tog would protect it better lol) and inside another sealed bin bag looks exactly the same as the day i sealed it up.

the forks, wheels, tank and side panels are all fine just a bit dirty and very dusty, the frame is rusty but only surface rust and it needed a respray any way. a lot of the fixings are a bit rusty but nothing a bit of elbow grease wont sort out.

all in all i am quite a happy chappy with it all, its far better then what i was expecting