Kawasaki KZ650SR

Years produced: 1978-1981
Claimed power: 62hp @ 8,000rpm
Top speed: 115mph
Engine type: 652cc double-overhead cam, air-cooled inline four
Transmission: Five-speed  
Weight (dry): 493lb (224kg)
MPG: 40-50 (period test)
Price then: $2,395 (1978)
Price now: $1,000-$2,000

Call it the semi-chopper, or maybe the almost-custom. No matter how you slice it, Kawasaki’s KZ650SR was, in many respects, little more than a mildly-altered KZ650. And, believe it or not, that’s what made it great.

By the time 1980 rolled around, “factory specials” were all the rage. They were the perfect motorcycles for riders who wanted something with style and panache, yet weren’t mechanically inclined enough to build their own custom ride.

Like the factory customs offered by a variety of other manufacturers, Kawasaki created the SR by taking a bike they were already building (the KZ650) and dressing it up a bit to turn it into a boulevard cruiser. It was hardly an original idea, and in fact, Kawasaki had already applied the same recipe in 1976 with the KZ900 LTD. But most of these factory specials turned out to be lousy bikes in some regards. They often had uncomfortable seats that were stepped in the wrong spot or that swooped at some unfathomable angle. Most had handlebars that made the bike hard to push around corners, and pint-sized gas tanks that, while shapely, didn’t hold much fuel. Combine these “features” and you were often left with a bike that wasn’t good for riding very fast or very long. But somehow, by some great stroke of luck (or, possibly, real engineering) the SR came away as something stylish and fully rideable. In fact, some of the modifications made in turning the KZ into the SR actually made the bike better.

In converting the KZ to the SR, Kawasaki gave it cast wheels, dual-disc front brakes, a single-disc rear brake, a 4-into-2 exhaust system, a 16in rear wheel (instead of the 18in wheel on the KZ), fatter front and rear tires, a longer, deeper seat, higher handlebars, a smaller, almost coffin-shaped fuel tank, chrome covers for the tachometer and speedometer, a chrome chain guard, and painted fenders instead of chrome. It also received 22mm carbs, down from 24mm.