BIKE OF THE MONTH


November 2019 Bike of the Month
Bike of the Month Ken Deagle and his 1980 Kawasaki KZ1000 Turbo

Make: Kawasaki
Model: KZ1000 Turbo
Year: 1980
Country of Origin: Japan
Engine: 1075cc Inline Four
Transmission: 5 speed
Owner: Ken Deagle
City: Huntington Beach

1980 Kawasaki KZ1000 Turbo

Congratulations to Ken Deagle of Huntington Beach for winning Bike of the Month with his 1980 Kawasaki KZ1000 Turbo. Ken won a plaque provided by Russ Brown Motorcycle Attorneys.

Ken has a great history, he was an AMA Dragbike Champion and worked for Russ Collins back in the 1980's when he raced a Turbo KZ1000 from 1985 - 1988. His fastest quarter mile was 8.1 seconds at 168 MPH.

This bike is a culmination of a 20 year vision which started in 1998 to set out to build the perfect KZ. He actually started collecting the parts in 2008 when he purchased the 1980 KZ1000 LTD donor bike. The motor is out of a 1976 Kawasaki Z1 900, but it's bored to 1075cc. He collected parts, and two years ago started putting the bike together.

Ken told me that his goal was to bring a winning bike to Vintage Bike OC. Today he met his goal.

The bike is packed with special bits. Starting with an American Turbo Pack (ATP) Turbo, a Mallory Sprint magnito, Grimeca brakes, Sun Rims and 1973 paint scheme body work from Webike that looks better than factory.

Ken told me that the conversion to a magnito is because "turbos love magnitos".

Thank you Ken for bringing your Kawasaki out for all of us to see. See all the photos in our November Gallery.

The Bike of the Month contest is held monthly at the Vintage Bike OC meet. Qualifying motorcycles must be 30 years old or older. Former Bike of the Month winning bikes are not eligible to win again. Anyone attending the meet is eligible to enter a qualifying bike in the contest and vote for their favorite bike. The winning bike is chosen by a popular vote and is featured on the Home page for one month and in this feature article. The Bike of the Month articles are permanent content on the site.

Bike of the Month Gallery
Photo gallery of all the Bike of the Month winners.
previous Archive next
November 2019
1980 Kawasaki KZ1000 Turbo
October 2019
1951 BMW R25/2
September 2019
1975 Yamaha RD200
August 2019
1968 BMW R60/2
July 2019
1975 Kreidler RS Florett
June 2019
1980 Honda CBX
May 2019
1975 Norton 850 Commando Mark III
April 2019
1936 Husqvarna 40SV
March 2019
1916 Harley Davidson JD
February 2019
1950 Norton ES2
January 2019
1974 Ducati 750 Super Sport
December 2018
1974 Rickman Metisse
November 2018
1988 Laverda SFC 1000
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