Kawasaki-Z-Classik.com

Hello all,

I've been working on a '76 KZ900 for a while and been a member of kzrider during that time and received great support and learned much. I posed the question below there, and one of the members suggest I come over here and see what y'all thought.

A short time ago I was able to purchase a lot of z/kz bikes and parts from an estate in my neighborhood.

Among the lot were two Z's - a '73 and a '75 as well as a KZ900, an early KZ1000 (frame number ending 23xx), and another chopped KZ1000 frame as well as lots of heads, carbs, cases, etc.

None of the bikes are assembled, but I have, what appears to be anyway, most of the parts for these machines, as well as lots of vintage drag racing gear.

With my '76 , (which I bought in crates), I went resto-mod, as I believe the heart of these bikes is the motor, so feel little hesitation in upgrading the brakes and suspension, bracing the frame, whatever. So it now has the front and rear ends from a late-2000's ZX6R, as well as significant mods to the frame (bracing and whole new sub-frame). The frame had already been "chopped" and "de-tabbed", and the exhaust/passenger triangles had been removed, so it was never again gonna be a concours machine, (without a ton of work anyway).

Having said this, I cannot bring myself to do any modding to the '73. While it needs a restoration, it is mostly original, pretty much rust free and well, it's a 73. In my mind, it makes no sense to hack into a '73 when these are so prized by collectors, and well, a KZ900 is really the same machine, (save things like the carbs), and can be had cheaply and are not really prized by collectors.

So here's the dilemma: what to do with the '73...

I am 99% sure it is a 73 Z1 - (frame number 0149xx), with what what appears to be the original engine (engine number is less than 10 digits from frame number). Date stamps on the swingarm, headstock and rear brake arm all match - 5/73. The rear drum also has no wear indicator.

The bike is mostly complete, including the clocks, mirrors, all its lights, grab rail, etc. It's missing the side covers and the tail cowl, (though I did get a tail cowl with it that was painted orange, but after some very careful sanding, appears to be Z1 brown underneath). It's also, crucially, missing the original 4 into 4, and has a 4 into 1 Kerker-style.

It has the original tank, and original paint. The clear coat on the top has peeled, and there appears to be some sun fading, and some very shallow dents on one side, (I've gotten dents this shallow out before without harming the paint - so I reckon, fixable).

Other than that, I think the only original pieces missing are the airbox (have the original carbs with the 17mm bolts in the bottom of the float bowls), and the seat needs recovering, though it does appear to be the right stitching pattern, ie. original.

The bike shows 37k on the clock, and I know for certain is it's been off the road for at least 13 years, likely significantly longer.

The engine is currently out of the bike, with the head and jugs off.

The bike needs a restoration for sure. The paint on the motor is chipped in places, and faded on items like the master cylinder. However, I can find very few parts on the bike that look like they were replaced, and being a Colorado bike, there is almost no rust on it. Even the grips look original, and the little ribbed boot on the MC is still in good shape and I have the little tray with the wiring diagram in the seat, (though no tool kit).

This, it would seem, in my humble opinion, a prime candidate for a "back to the factory" restoration, however, I am not really interested in doing a "back to the factory" restoration - not really my thing.

My question is this: Is it better (more desirable), for a restorer to have the bike in its present shape (partially disassembled), or should I get this thing up and running, or should I just bite the bullet, get out my toothbrushes and my calf-skin gloves, and go for the full restore?

If I were to sell it in it's current condition, what do you guys think it's worth?

Many thanks

Rob K

The 73 (with the "wrong" seat)...
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My shop the night I finished getting all the gear...(took hours just to get things quasi-organized) - the '76 mentioned above is the one on the table - hard to miss with a 180 rear tire.
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Welcome to the site.

I'm looking for a set of fork tubes and a headlight assembly if you are parting out anything.

Still taking inventory, but I can probably sort you out with the fork tubes. Headlight wise, still need to figure out what I need for my upcoming builds and check condition.

Is there a difference in any of the tubes by year? As I think I mentioned, most of the stuff is disassembled.

I don't know the differences (maybe someone can chime in on that) but anything from a 900 or 77 KZ1000, going by the parts diagrams.

For your best price on your Z1 (with minimum work and expense)...... assemble up with held original parts and put on the market...... Someone will snap it up as a resto project and another Z1 machine will stay alive.

There is only a slight difference in fork tubes and that is in their retaining system for the lower damper section. Early Z1 to Z900-A4 have the damper components held in by a circlip, later damper "lower component" are burnished into the tube. The reason for this was that Kawasaki were able to make the non-return valve a little larger.

RegardZ & welcome to the forum.

If you don't plan on keeping the bike, it is best to sell asis.

Most people interested in 1973 Z1's prefer to restore the bike themselves. A perfect restoration is not only expensive, and time consuming, but it also requires knowledge and skills that not everyone has.

A poorly done restoration will not get many potential buyers and will likely only fetch a minimal price.

Depending on the condition of all the parts, a 1973 Z1 basket case can fetch $3,000 and up - how much over $3,000 is really determined by the condition and completeness of all the parts. In some cases you may have parts, but they are not going to be restorable. It's not unusual to see serious 'projects' fetch $4,000-$5,000.

DON'T attempt to clean up parts. I've seen people damage restorable parts by shining them up.

If you do choose to sell the bike, you WILL need to take good pictures of all the parts. Many of the parts on a Z1 are date-coded, so providing that information in an auction or sale listing will minimize questions.

Great point!

RobK...Mcdroid from KZR...glad you found us!

Many thanks for the feedback. This is, in fact, in line with what I was thinking. The motor needs a proper rebuild, and I know that the way I rebuild, anyway, takes a LOT of time to get everything right, clean, fix any issues, replace worn parts (bearings, shafts, seats, seals, gaskets, etc).

I know if I was buying a bike that I knew needed a rebuild, I would rather have it apart as it will need to come apart anyway. However, I also know from selling bikes (and just about anything else), that sometimes buyers lack the imagination to see what is really there. A buyer may be more attracted to an inferior product merely because it is assembled/shiny/has go-faster stripes, whatever. Hence my question.

Good suggestion on the cleaning. I have a pretty light touch with things and have only cleaned what I have so far with warm water and mild soap, and dry off with a soft cloth, so pretty sure nothing getting damaged on my watch. Indeed, "patina" being a sought after characteristic these days, I'm not messing with any finishes, just getting 20 years of dust off.

Again - thank you very much for the feedback. I need to get a title for the beastie (that I know is worth my time), and then I will likely put the ol' girl up for sale the way she is.

Thanks for the suggestion - looks like it is the right place to be for this project. I'm keeping the '75 so will likely stick around here for a spell ;)

Unfortunately that machine was used for drag racing (one of the passenger peg triangles has been hacked off to make way for a "club-foot" swing-arm, and there's been some bracing and other assorted mods). Still have matching cases on that one too, but little else original. My plan for that one is to do a "minimally invasive" custom, which is to say, upgrade the front end, (I have a ZX7 unit that bolts right up), upgrade the carbs perhaps, but leave the frame as intact as it is, and generally move forward only with bolt-on mods, so if a future owner got the restoration bug, it could be brought back to original.