Capable Classic

Scoop reckons the Kawasaki Z650 may just be the best 1970s all-round classic out there.

- Steve Cooper

What exactly is it you want from a classic motorcycle? It’s a question that has a myriad of potential answers.

First off it has to be reliable, otherwise it’s pretty much pointless owning one. And of course the machine in question should be both comfortable and accessible. And finally aren’t good looks important too? No matter how efficient the bike is, how well it handles or how fast it accelerates, if it looks naff then you’re unlikely to bond with it.

If it has reliability plus drop dead gorgeous looks and it’s easy to use, wouldn’t we all be queuing up to buy one? Common sense would say yes but as is often the way that’s an attribute remarkably rare even in our day to day lives let alone the perverse world of classic motorcycles. Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls allow me to introduce the bike everyone should have the opportunity to enjoy; Kawasaki’s consummate Z650 – aka the classic Japanese four everyone overlooks!

It must be something to do with the British psyche; the fact that we are so obsessed with the fastest, the largest, the quickest motorcycles. As a nation we’ve swallowed the superbike concept hook line and sinker for decades. And in our classic world we salivate like Pavlov’s dog at the sight of a period Kawasaki H2, a mint Suzuki Kettle or an immaculate Yamaha LC350. The press-created, faux reputations of these high-end bikes fuel our collective lust for the supposedly-best machines, the must-haves, the ‘your-life-won’t-be-complete-until’ bolides. Anything else is somehow a lesser entity, a lower form of life… what an utter, stupid, load of old tosh!