Featured Listing: 1983 Kawasaki KZ1000R ELR

This Featured Listing is part of the The Bob Benyo Collection. Thank you for supporting the site, Bob! -dc Kawasaki won the AMA Superbike championship in 1981 and again in 1982, thanks in part to a young rider known as Eddie Lawson. To celebrate the championship and build better brand awareness, Kawasaki built a lime…

Ride and cherish: 1983 Kawasaki KZ1000R ELR

The 1983 Kawasaki KZ1000R ELR is the ultimate expression of streetbike muscle from the era when racebikes actually were just tricked out street bikes with hot engine kits, big brakes and slicks. Without someone like Pops Yoshimura in your rolodex, you still weren’t gonna get close to Eddie Lawson’s horsepower numbers, but with a couple…

Kentucky Bourbon: 1985 Yamaha RZ500RN

How is this for international intrigue? Take a smoking two stroke iconic super bike built in Japan. Export said bike outside of the home market into Europe, the Pacific Rim or Canada. Later years on, that bike finds its way into the US and now lives in the state of Jim Beam, Maker’s Mark and…

Big Green Monster: 1983 Kawasaki KZ1000R ELR

Used to be factories could build race replicas by throwing on a garland sticker, some reservoir shocks, a rorty pipe and a loud paintjob. Just basic mods and some raucous pigments got you looking a lot like Eddie Lawson back in 1983, though getting near his lap times still required a pile of special parts,…