Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

w ~ 0 :5 CJ W ...l U >u "- e 0 '" 0 u u a: ~ ~ CD 00 O'l 0 z ~ ,.....; :I: U a: ~ C'J ...l => z ,.....; • .-l :I: .... 0 .., 0. ,>- < lD en 0 ~ 0 ... :I: (Above) Look closely; they're Kawasaki Voyager Xlls, out in the hinterlands. (Below) Style doesn't count for much when it's 34 0 and counting. Voyager XII engines are completely assembled when they arrive at Kawasaki's Lincoln, Nebraska factory; frames and many other components are U.S.-built. The Voyager assembly line was actually shut down, a parade of partially-built machines hanging from the overhead line; Kawasaki uses the "just in time" system of delivering parts to the assembly line as needed. The system is the latest thing in manufacturing, reducing inventory co ts and space needed. But this time, some parts from a supplier in Japan didn't arrive when needed; what looked to be a couple of hundred Voyagers were partially assembled and parked around the factory and in an adjacent warehouse before the assembly line finally halted. When it's running, the factory can build 63 Voyager Xlls a day; production of the larger, heavier, six-cylinder original Voyager, which nevercaugbt on, is down to a few machines a day and has been relegated to corner of the factory, where one machine at a time is pushed from station to station on a wheeled stand. Kawasaki's Lincoln factory was built II years ago, and started out building KZ400s. The facility (includ- Riding Im,-ression: Kawasaki's Voyager XII on the open road By John Ulrich There are times when nothing can beat an · f h d . b' k A mencan-sty Ie sh' IP-O -t e-roa tounng 1 e. Like when you're pulling out of Kawasaki's Lincoln, Nebraska factory on February 28, headed for Los Angeles under a light snowfall. Full-dress . . tourers ar.e as Amencan as dIft track racmg; only a country , .8 with America's wide open spaces and Interstate highway system would come up with the need a dresser fills. And the only thing that can challenge a tourer's ability to haul and protect rider and gear over long distances through inclement or cold weather is a car. The full-dress tourer in question here is the 1986 Kawasaki Voyager ,, , Xll, the company's new, four-cylinder open-road mor;t~ter. In this partiCl;1lar case, KawasakI s idea of a good time was flying in a contingent of magazine (and newspaper) guys to Lincoin, handing over the keys to new Voyagers, and telling them to haveat it; 1600 miles separates Lincoln and Los Angeles. The week before, recordbreaking storms had buried much of midwest; there were still patches of snow on the ground, and a dust of a small snowflakes drifted out of the skies as a factory tour dragged on and on. $10 million worth of Chrysler seat frames built under contract; about 45 employees build the seat frames. ••••• United Air Lines had lost luggage - containing riding gear - belonging to most of the group of editors who flew into Lincoln on February 27. My gear made it, and so did Cycle Guide Associate Editor Marc Cook's gear. So while the rest of the party returned to the Lincoln Airport following the factory tour on February 28, Cook and I bundled up and hit the road, hoping to get far enough south, fast enough, that we wouldn't have problems with ice or snow. The route would be weston 1-80, south on Route 54 towards Wichita. The sun broke through a short distance outside Lincoln, but the temperature stuck at 34°. . I'd ridden in cold weather before, enough to know I hated the very idea and to believe that no amount of clothing can keep a man warm on a long winter day in the saddle, full fairing or no full fairing. The coldest I ever vived the hard times imposed by the industry recession earlier this decade and was revitalized by Kawasaki's decision to beat the imposed-in-1983 tariffs on over-700cc motorcycles by transferring big-bike production for the U.S. market to Lincoln. Now, 500 workers build 80,000 units a year for Kawasaki Motors, Manufacturing, USA; about 30% of those units are motorcycles, with the rest of th.e production split between Jet Skis and ATVs. Annual sales of the factory's· products total between $150 million and $160 million; that includes about RE-5 Rotary, with the ambient ternperature at 17° on the first day of a 13-day, Los-Angeles-to-Washingtonand-back cross-country test. It made a good story, and I was young enough at the time to not know any better, but I swore I'd never do it a~in. In the 12 years since, electrlcriding gear has become common, complete with a thermostat like an electric blanket's. Electric clothing comes with leads that attach to the bike's battery and plug into leads from the clothing. I wore a set of quilted nylon, electric vest and chaps from ~~~g,~~?:~~~f~;=e~~~o~~:~~ • •cllfililQr.jil?.~Ii~iJILIJililir.~id.'.'.'.t.I.l.'.' • • • Th~~~:~nh~~~i;!~~ ~~r:nnati;~;u~ ii.iii••Iii~~~.i.:.i.i.i.i.;':'~':':~·-~-~-~~~"~":':';·:;:;:;:':'·:':":·:··:·~~·~·!~.:.!.:.!!·!!!!~!~·~j

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