My father Larry Koup with my Grandfather Ralph Koup opened Koup's Cycle Shop 1957. Since then the store has grown from a specialty shop to one of the largest multi-line dealers in the Harrisburg,PA area. Koup's Cycle Shop prides itself on its customer service - we know how important it is to be taken care of and to have someone you can trust. Our Parts and Service Departments are staffed by experienced professionals that want to make sure you get the right part/service at the right time and at a fair price. Not only can our team answer your questions intelligently, they will help you find the parts you need.
You will find here videos of our current products as well as videos from our long history in the motorcycle industry. Please feel free to contact me at anytime with questions or comments.
David Koup dkoup@koups.com www.koups.com Harrisburg,PA USA 717-939-7182
Hardly can believe we're coming up on 50 years since this video was made. My family would rent these in the late 70's and 80's up at Prineville Reservoir, Prineville Oregon. Just picked up a couple of 1994 Seadoos that were rode a couple times and put away. They look brand new. Learning about some servicing, and plan to get them running and my old ass on them soon!
I had a 750 in 1974, I was 19 and it was very fast. Any trip longer than 2 hours would put your but to sleep and it didn't handle hard braking from over 100. Sold it before it killed me.
I bought a brown 76 KZ900 of the showroom floor for $2609.00 OTD, and would give anything to have it back! They were great bikes, but the 900 frame had a tendency to flex and get a little squirrely at higher speeds (above 105). At least that was my experience. ☮✌
I love watching videos of classic motorcycle commercial. Lots of great bikes. Thanks to Koups Cycle Shop for posting this 12 years ago. They are still doing a great business today. I have done business with them for many years. Stop by and say "Hi" to Dave. I'm sure he would love to know that people are still enjoying this video in 2024.
Can you remember when 100 cc was a decent size bike and a 250 cc or 350 cc was more than enough? hard to believe, when only a few years alter, it seemed everyone had a 750 cc and many pushed for 1000 cc. Today, 1200, 1300, 1500, or more is the way to go. Maybe it is just because the bikes got huge. This is a great set of commercials.
I've owned and driven both the Z-1 and KZ1000J. I sold the "J" a couple years ago to a guy in Japan. After 40 years it's back where it came from. Although it was leaps and bounds ahead of the Z-1, both in terms of power and handling, out of the two, I kept the Z-1. In my opinion, two of the best bikes ever built!
1980 Daytona sx …8..warren Reid…19..Jeff ward..27..Larry wosick…rocket Rex won on yam.his only career sx win in America. Rex was fantastic and a crowd favorite.he could ride.he contested the ama national mx series from 1972 through 1990.he also won the mx Championship of South Africa.
1978 with V&H open pipe and open velocity stacks, dyna ignition. mid to high 12 second bike. thousands of 1/4 mile passes over 10 years and never a hiccup. until moving on to GS1100
Kawasaki 100 was also one of the best selling business bikes in the Philippines back then to be used as motorized tricycles, Kawasaki went third since Yamaha was the best selling business bike that time, Honda was just second back then.
The 750 H2c last production year was 1975 and the bikes shown were 1976 models. Sadly the KH 500 was only available for 1976 then replaced by the z650.
I had a 1975 KZ 400 in the mid 80’s. I was nice and drove in in Iowa ,Missouri, Oklahoma and Arkansas. Dependable for the most part except the charging system. It left me stranded twice. I also had a 1980 KZ 440 LTD belt drive and was a lot more dependable but very cold blooded.
I had ‘75 KZ 400, ‘80 KZ440 LTD belt drive and ‘81 KZ550. Also had a Kawasaki KL250 on/off road bike. I got a ‘81 KZ440 LTD from my brother after he was killed on it. The 80 440 LTD he rode up to 44000 miles before it quit running and got the ‘81 so I took the engine out of the ‘81 plus all the wiring because it was different like electric ignition, self canceling turn signals and the like. The sold it. This was back in 1990.
Man the good old days as a teen my first bike was a 1980 KX80 my friends had RM80s YZ80s CR80s as a 13 year old i am proud to say i got to have kenny Roberts himself give me red and black leathers a kidney belt red and blue scott boots and he tuned my KX 80 in the summer of 1980 he showed me how to breathe when riding and to pay attention when racing i spent a lot of time at Malcolm Smith Enterprises in High Grove California i raced my KX80 for 4 years straight my dad being a hot rod gear head did head work on it and carb work other kids had a new dirt biki every year and they laughed at me for an out date kawasaki but when i out ran them i had the last laugh ill never forget what kenny Roberts taught me
I had a chance to buy a 1978 650 in 1988 and also a 1981 KZ 550. I rode both and the 650 was alright but the 550 had a high performance cam and a super trapp 4 into 1 exhaust. I bought the 550 because it was more fun to ride. Also the electronic ignition helped.
Not Kawasaki invention nor development, that was Clayton Jacobson but producing and distributing he could not and therefore got paid peanuts in equation to the profits it brought Kawasaki.
In 1986 I rescued a 1978 KZ650B2A from beneath a tarp in a back yard. I had earned my MC endorsement the previous year on a Honda CL450. A little elbow grease and TLC restored life to the KZ and it was a quantum leap above the CL. Four-cylinder power; halogen headlamp, 5 gallon tank vs. 2.5, comfortable seat, hydraulic front disc brake vs. cable-actuated drum. It was a well-rounded machine worthy of the Universal Japanese Motorcycle label.
