For the motorbike enthusiasts out there...

[punkypossum]

Some lovely person wheeled a motorbike into our cul-de-sac last night and set it on fire parked in the middle of the road. Just what you need at 2am in the morning. When it first exploded, you could see that it was a pretty big cruiser/chopper style bike, but no idea what make etc. as you couldn't get near it...

The fire brigade have left it at the side of the road and all you can tell is that it's a Kawasaki, it says something about 16 valve. I'm just being nosy and this is a bit pointless, but I'm just wondering if based on that anybody would know what kind of bike it might have been and what it looked like when it was still alive? Just curious...

 

[papercorn2000]

Teach the ****er to carve me up...

 

[very-near]

Some lovely person wheeled a motorbike into our cul-de-sac last night and set it on fire parked in the middle of the road. Just what you need at 2am in the morning. When it first exploded, you could see that it was a pretty big cruiser/chopper style bike, but no idea what make etc. as you couldn't get near it...

The fire brigade have left it at the side of the road and all you can tell is that it's a Kawasaki, it says something about 16 valve. I'm just being nosy and this is a bit pointless, but I'm just wondering if based on that anybody would know what kind of bike it might have been and what it looked like when it was still alive? Just curious...

Stolen and burned out by the sounds. If it were a cruiser, it would likely be a VN900, VN1700, or VN2000, but they are V twins and only 8 valves.

It was more likely a Z1000 if that was stamped on the engine

 

[Black Sheep]

just a quick google of kawasaki 16V and spotting the cruiser bikes in there, it could have been this:

most cruiser bikes look similar tho

 

[punkypossum]

It was more likely a Z1000 if that was stamped on the engine

Actually that Z1000 looks pretty close (looks like I got my cruiser thing wrong , but the exhaust pipes were curving up like that and it looks to be a similar size, etc.

 

[very-near]

Actually that Z1000 looks pretty close (looks like I got my cruiser thing wrong , but the exhaust pipes were curving up like that and it looks to be a similar size, etc.

The standard pipes on this bike are 2 into 4 which does make it stand out from the others

 

[punkypossum]

Well, as you can tell, I'm fairly clueless when it comes to bikes, so here is some pics... Not sure if anybody can work it out from there:

 

[tdr1nka]

Wot a bloody waste!

 

[very-near]

Looks to me like one of these.

GTR1000. Quite an old bike by comparison. A bit of a waste, but an old bike and obviously someones pride and joy .

 

[punkypossum]

It did have those bag things at the side, so that sounds right...

Police have just been round, apparently nobody has reported a bike stolen in Preston yesterday and they can't even trace it as the identification number has apparently disappeared. Somebody must be missing it somewhere surely...!

 

[very-near]

It did have those bag things at the side, so that sounds right...

Police have just been round, apparently nobody has reported a bike stolen in Preston yesterday and the can't even trace it as the identification number has apparently disappeared. Somebody must be missing it somewhere surely...!

A lot of people don't ride through the winter as the salt makes a mess of the bikes metalwork.

Chances are that it was sat under a cover in a lockup somewhere and the owner is not aware it has gone.

 

[Night Train]

It could be an insurance scam by the owner - worth more as a fire and theft claim then it costs to get through the MOT.

I've known people, via work in the past, who offered to organise that sort of thing.

 

[punkypossum]

But surely he would have reported it stolen then?

 

[Black Sheep]

guess it looks more realistic if theres a time gap between the two

 

[Globalti]

If you look carefully at the pics the unburnt rear end of the bike is in a pretty unloved and neglected condition; the exhaust and the rear wheel and hub are filthy and covered in salt oxidation so I'd say it belonged either to somebody who didn't want it any more or somebody who had downgraded it to the role of daily commuter, unlikely for such a big fast touring bike.