CUSTOM REPORTS

KAWASAKI KZ550C2 LTD

A real middleweight dream 18

HONDA CX500C CUSTOM

Unique design for a unique ride 24

THE CUSTOM FILES

TRACKSTAR!

A dirttrack racer takes to the streets 54

AFTER MIDNIGHT

Yamaha’s XS Eleven Special goes high-perf 56

MAN & MACHINE

COMPENSATOR CRUISE CONTROL

A unit worth getting your hands off 30

PAINTING_______________

SO YOU WANT TO BE A PAINTER

Custom techniques for the neophyte 58

Speed: Kawasaki KZ100

Suzuki GX550

HOW-TO

LACING WHEELS

Almost as easy as tying your shoes 62

DEPARTMENTS

FEATURE INDEX 4

CUSTOM Q& A 6

MOTOMART 13

CUSTOM PROFILES 65

THE LAW 66

TRICKS 68

IN THE CONFERENCE ROOMS of Ka-

wasaki late in 1972 it was referred

Io by select company insiders (origin

nally only the Japanese) as the ‘‘New

York Steak.” No, that wasn’t hallway

chatter about the menu in the corpo-

rate lunchroom, it was the term used

back in late 1972. to refer to the as-yet-

unannounced 90.3cc Z-l, a machine so

important to the company’s future that

it was given that code name so that no

one would inadvertently let any infor-

mation- not even small grizzle like dis-

placement size-slip into the hands of

the competition or the press.

Once the Z-l was shown to the motor-

cycling world, though, the word “fast”

was redefined. The big new Kawasaki

was labeled The King, Zee-Fastest and

other nicknames indicating that it was

at the top of the high-performance

heap. For years there was nothing on

the street, two-or four-wheeled, that

could accelerate as viciously as a good

old Kaw Z-l.

Since its inception the Zee has been...