RockMoto

The guy on the left with the big wrench is Avery Innis: former racer, big-time technical writer for OEMs, ace mechanic and owner/operator of IRS Media. The guy on the right with the fork leg over the shoulder is me: small-time, wannabe preserver of moto history. It’s a Saturday afternoon in Avery’s oven-like SoCal garage and classic rock is playing on the boom box.
 

The torn-down bike in the foreground is a Kawasaki GPz550, the finest, best-handling middleweight sport bike on the road. Or so said Cycle magazine back in 1982, some 27 years ago. But bikes haven’t changed too much since, have they?

I love way-back machines. I love bikes from the 80s, that transformative decade when specialization took over, when modern-day sport bikes were invented, when the manufacturers were trying all manner of wild new ideas. After years of basic sameness, motorcycling really shook it up and the pace of development was staggering. A street bike from the early 80s could be mistaken for something from the early 70s. A sport bike from the late 80s could be mistaken, by the average onlooker, for something that’s on the market today.

This particular Kawasaki meant something to me. It was among the first mass-produced sport bikes with a single-shock rear suspension. It hadn’t been that long since the single-shock revolution had begun in motocross. I remembered reading that copy of Cycle magazine in 1982 (I still have it) and thinking, wow, the future, she’s a coming. The GPz was a game-changer, from the dawn of modern-day sport bikes.

My bike here is a survivor plucked from the pages of Cycle Trader for $1,500. Just about 12,000 miles on the clock and all the key stock pieces were there. They seemingly just needed resurfacing. The “Firecracker Red” paint had dulled to something more like a “Dud Red.”

Of course, having a vision in your head about what a fixer-upper can be, and what it will take to make that dream a reality, are two very different things. Hey, a lick of lacquer here, a polish there, a few new bits of trim and a tune-up and, viola, let’s take this kitty to Bike Night for some posing.

Right.

Another thousand-plus dollars later, skinned knuckles and a pair of jeans destroyed by oil and grease, the GPz project is underway, but with much more to do, and likely more problems yet to be discovered.

It’s all worth it. I’m of the opinion that all real motorcycle enthusiasts should rescue and preserve at least one old bike that’s worth keeping around. Kind of like how the heroes of Ray Bradbury’s “Fahrenheit 451” would completely memorize and keep alive old books.

And Avery’s there to do the real wrenching, making sure that the bike will run as good as it will look, that it won’t come apart underneath me.

The GPz chronicles will continue.