Greetings from Russia...

...the land of high road taxes, bad petrol and worst roads you can ever imagine =)

A few words on "how the heck did I get there".
My previous ride was a medium Kawasaki Eliminator which i rode for a three years before running short on cash, so last summer I had to sell it in order to pay out some debts. It was a lovely little bike, however, Kawasaki does not support them at the moment and there's a real trouble to get any new parts for them, and the salvage is quite often in the "rather scrapmetal than a part" shape. On the other hand, the little one is barely suitable for a long trips due to its lack of torque (compared to my own weight, of course =) and a bit too harsh suspension which was just too expensive to replace - a pair of Progressive Suspension shocks and a pair of PS's fork springs cost about 40% of the price of the whole bike at a time I sold it.

That way I decided to run ZL1000, but it's nearly impossible to find one in fair condition, so I'm looking for anything that will replace it, capable of fast 1500-2000km trips but still usable in the Moscow's constant traffic jams for everyday use, while cheap enough for me to afford it. Currently I've found '97 VZ800 for sale, which is partly dismantled and incomplete, and it wasn't in use for a last two or three years, so I'll probably need your knowledge base in order to calculate possible investments and make a shakespeare-like decision "to ride or not to ride" this particular bike.

Hope you'll let me join =)
One more thing is that English is not my native. Sorry, guys, I'm trying my best, but still have a lack of grammar and vocabulary. Don't blame me, pls

Welcome and rest assured about your very good English, I doubt anyone else on here can speak Russian.

Alexander,your English grammar seems good,good luck on your investment if you go that way.You should get some good tips and advise from this forum.

Thanks for your kindness =)

At the moment I'm looking for the following:
Aftermarket exhaust applications as the bike comes with badly damaged one, meaning there's nothing left except of the first segments of head pipes. Most catalogues, like Leo Vince, V&H, Cobra or Supertrapp/Jardine offer '99+ model years systems so I'm not sure if they will fit correctly on the '97 VZ.
Intake is not a problem as there are K&N and Dynojet available almost everywhere.
Aftermarket ignition modifications. For example, Dynatek offers performance coils and wiring, but I still cannot find any ignition boxes that are applicable to the particular '97 VZ. Hope there is a way to keep the stock one.

I'm reading the forum anyway, but if you have your own life-proven advice which you want to share - you're utterly welcome

alexander your english and grammer is good, better than some of the people on here...me included.....haha

Welcome

Alexander

Привет Alex!

Warm welcome from Polish neighbour (although living in UK now).

You've found a brilliant forum full of kind people and huge amount of knowledge.

Enjoy!

Your English is excellent

Welcome from one end of the Earth to the other.

Dabro pashalavit Alexander, y udacha

Sorry pledge - you're not quite right there :-)

Hi Alexander

Great to have you on the forum. You're English is excellent, so remember to join in with the chat, ask lots of questions, and maybe post some photos too. We like photos

ChrisS wrote:

Dabro pashalavit Alexander, y udacha

Sorry pledge - you're not quite right there :-)

I only doubted it, but I stand corrected.

Hi Alexander. I love Kawasaki Eliminators, the 1985 ZL900 would be my dream bike if I could have it.

Welcome from the great State of Texas USA.

Bunso Steel wrote:

Hi Alexander. I love Kawasaki Eliminators, the 1985 ZL900 would be my dream bike if I could have it.

900's are quite easy to find or to build of 750 body and GPZ900 engine combined with the original final drive. It seems like I'll take a ZL 1000, as someone have bought the Marauder right before I've managed to call for it. They're not rare, actually, but other listings are way more expensive.

Sorry guys for bothering you. You have the lovely atmosphere here and a lots of tech details that are hard to find anywhere else, anyway. Hope we'll meet again, not today, but some day.

Live fast
Ride safe

Thanks for getting back to us and letting us know, take care.

ride safe Alexander