I had the privilege of meeting Mr. McBride at his parents store in Okeechobee Fl. Back in the mid 80s. He was very gracious. I just purchased a 1979 KZ1000. It was a barn find. And it looks beautiful. But she needs to gone over. Can't wait. Thank you Cycle Drag for a great show.
I was fortunate enough to inherit 2 1977 KZ1000's from my dear Uncle. One has a 1045 kit, the other is stock and has some accident damage (gauges, side covers, gas tank, and mirrors. The first company I contacted was Z1 Enterprizes. Very friendly, price competitive, and offer tips on performance and restoration. Great to see a perfectionist at work. First thing I noticed was Larry didn't use Kawasaki's expensive (and not available) piston ring compressor. He makes it look easy. I am also a perfectionist but I take a lot longer to get things done (part of being 70 years young). Like your other videos, this was very informative and well done.
I love that KZ. "Old guy mode now" . My first real street bike was a 79 KZ 650 I bought while in the Navy back in 83 while stationed on a ship in Pensacola. Mine was Blue and setup just like your 1000. I had a blast ripping around the Gulf Coast on that bike. I sure miss it but won't ever forget the good times I had in mine! Take care if that gem!
I’ve been learning about older bikes When I was a kid all I saw were old school slab sides and KZ and GS bikes at the drag strip It’s great to see this content!
Kawasaki was the last Japanese company to get in the motorcycle game and they shock the world with some iconic motorcycles. great video beautiful bike.
Wow that's impressive ,you're very lucky to have Larry to do this. because of this video I now have the project I've needed, I have a 1979 1000 LTD Kawasaki to get running ,the guy I use in Denver is outstanding,
omg , what a beautiful bike ! so nice to see a vintage 1977 kz 1000 restored ! hats off to The Spiderman Team and everybody else , that helped ! and thanks for the awesome sponsors you mentioned too ! i did not know those , so so cool thaaanks again for sharing this awesome video ! from Texas
@@cycledrag oil cooled suzuki gsxr1100. Ive owned for 25years. You have seen it many years ago at the creek. I used to rin in the mirock series. Coming baxk this season with it on the xda. See you this summer jack.
Awesome looking kz! Had a kz 1000 ltd 1979 in the early 90's loved that bike! Motor blew up and sat over 15yrs, sold it for scrap to a junkyard, kick myself in the ass now for doing that!
Wow!...what an honor Jack!...you must feel amazing after that experience. I believe good things happen to good people, and I just watched a good dude get his bike polished up by a legend!....awesome!.....love your channel Jack...cant wait to see a ride video now man!....
Mike from Jersey... thanks Jack for the great video always enjoy the Spiderman... planning on restoring my 78 KZ 1000 after sitting in the garage for 29 years. 🏍🏍🏍
that was a great rebuild, makes you wonder how many old bikes were sold that needed some basic TLC due to not having knowledgeable mechanics. I had a 700 Yamaha Maxim that would bog down when you accelerated hard, either carbs were out of sync or jets were dirty/bad. Couldn’t find a mechanic in CO that could fix it. Thanks for making this video. Be safe riding that beast.
My dad had this same bike .use kids would go out to the garage when mom and dad were at work.we would start it up and rev it up and dream of riding..great memories
My man with '77 KZ1000, I love your bike, it resembles my '75 Z-1 900B, that has a '78 Z-1R motor in the frame!!! That was one tough machine to ride, everything had to be right or get bucked off, lol!!! Kawasaki made the the best motorcycles ever!!!
I would really like to restore my '75 Z-1 900B back to original down to the original 903cc motor, exhaust, and factory paint!!! Also my '76 KZ900 LTD, could use a little spiffin' up too!!! Kawasaki let the good times roll!!!👍👍👍
Great job looked good before now looks & runs fabulous, your video did motivate me, now I want to dig out my old cow. Bought new 78 sr 650 sold & moved to Pa. in 81, then bought 79 KZ 1000, then in 85 traded it & little cash for my till now 75 Z1 900, with 1180cc kit. One day eng. stalled, then had no compression, so parked since late 80's. Would like to do resto. the way you did, live near Larry's shop. Thanks enjoy that hotrod its a beauty ! Subscribed
What a beautiful bike! I was 13 when it was new and loved them. 56 now, had to sell my '05 Wide Glide a few years ago and got a 1987 Honda 1100 Shadow with only 15,000 kms. Nowhere near as clean as this one.
I have a friend who has one for sale... It was purchased New... IN the shipping Crate. And was not even assembled for over 3 years. The guy did finally put it together.. (He WAS a Certified Kawi Mechanic!)... but only rode it approx. 7,000 miles TOTAL.. and lost his vision to a point where he could no longer ride nor drive. He says it still cranks and runs smooth... and would like to sell it, and a couple of other "Low-Mileage" Kawi's... I do not know what would be a fair and honest price, nor what I might have to do to get them "Right to Ride" again. But it sure is a beautiful piece of history. It is blue, just like this one. My Brother had a New '76.. in '76... and now has one of the 2018 Retro-bikes in the same metallic brown...
Oil leaks suck! Copper base gaskets are notorious for seeping/leaking. Factory base gasket installed dry will seal up nicely. I keep Sunoco 112 octane race fuel in my turbo bike and my classic cars since they sit a lot, stuff keeps for years instead of months. APE's shop used to be about 2 minutes from my house when I lived in Burbank, CA. They are now in Rosamond area near Willow Springs racetrack......and Jay is da man to go to there!
@@cycledrag 1979 Honda CBX, turbocharged with an old ATP kit in 1993 and has run reliably with a stock bottom end and careful/proper tuning since then. I've mentioned it in here before. My experience with copper gaskets was on an earlier CBX engine I'd built, sleeved to 1270cc in a stock cylinder block w/Carrillo rods, head sealed nicely with stainless wire o-rings but was rough keeping oil seepage at the cam chain area sealed up, and the copper base gasket had the same issues. This engine had good usable power from 3500-12000+ RPM and would pull power wheelies easily. Engine was bulletproof, but oil seepage was always annoying on a long ride.
Very nice bike now, and a great bunch of guys working on it! My neighbor across the street from me did a bunch of burnouts my first time to see one. I was eight or nine or about 47 years ago still love those bikes!!! Great video!
Makes me REALLY miss my old KZ1000. It looked like hell, but my god that thing would RUN!!!!! It was a torque monster. I went through probably 3 chains every two months!
Esta está na minha lista das motos mais lindas já fabricadas !! É realmente uma máquina maravilhosa !! O ronco do motor é perfeito !! A restauração ficou ótima, parabéns
@@GPz84 yes exactly, the burned valve bucket was a shock. The previous owner ran the kz1000 without proper maintenance. Valve adjustments are so easy on the kz1000.
@@thinkingimpaired5663 To be honest always found shim under bucket to be a pain in the ass! My Concours having screw and locknut adjustment is the bees knees! I know these guys are hung up on APE, which is great stuff, but I ran Kreiger cam chain tensioners on my GPz's and KZ 550 and never had an issue. Either way, far superior to that crap wedge tensioner or even the ratchet tensioner that replaced it. Safe riding buds.
Wow ! What an education ! You learned what was wrong with that bike ! Thank God , you got a Pro like Larry to show you ! DON'T SELL THAT BIKE ! she's a keeper.
@@cycledrag Mine is black with blue in the center,and has a purple pinstripe.Painted like a custom 73 z1. It is completely redone old school dragbike style with a built 1075 motor.
I had a '77 KZ650B that I pulled out of a brushpile, and we pulled it behind my truck to get it unseized, put a Kerker on it, new Points/Condenser, painted the frame, fixed the seat and rode that bike around for 5 Summers before I finally sold it....that was a pretty reliable bike considering where I found it...
Looks and sounds beautiful. Congrats. Remember doing some of that work on my 81 GPz550 D1. Took all summer on a broke budget back in 92ish. Redone a few years ago professionally. Cyclider case personally bored by Jay at APE to fit Wiseco 615 kit. Great guy.
Back in the day, the 70's I drooled over Russ Collin's catalog of R.C.Engineering. Put together a few of those early SOHC CB 750's. Big bore, big cams. I remember he has Kawi and Suzuki parts as well as Yamaha later on.
I bought a new 1978 Red Kawasaki 1000 LTD, then years later I bought a 1980 Black and Silver LTD 1000...last year for the duck bill tail. Both bikes were great.
Cool I ran across this this morning. My Dad has KZ 1300 and we were just discussing getting it back to full life again 2 nights ago. It was one mean machine in its day. Pull the front wheel off the ground with a full faring even loaded with gear. Note : Not recommended 😑 Thanks for sharing.
Unbelievable...beautiful restoration BUT was extremely disappointed not to see the bike run on the road or track after it was done! I really wanted to see what the bike would do wide open.
Your bike turned out really nice. Larry did a great job.....we have a Larry 'clone' where I live in West Aust - Neil at 'ProFlow' motorcycles, he is also an expert with the Z1's and a wealth of knowledge, helped me out heaps.
While flickin thru YT mainly lookin for "Wormin yer Alsation " Came across this site .... Mmmm ...THOUGHT Lets have a look see....j'sus man what an insight into "Yer Man " Larry Mac what a top Bloke ,a set up cleaner more surgical ,Pro,puts my Heart Surgeons place to shame Although didnt spot a Kettle or T-bags .Work carried out on that Zed ...Envious to say , but attention to detail ,advise ..Priceless .I say this with regards to my Zed ,few yr back while renovating a House in Sheffield UK the house owner being a Biker /Hoarder ,over weeks got talking everything Bikes , toward the end of Job ,showed me one shed with stack of bikes in But this certain Zed lay under rolls of carpet at the back .Pulled everything out to reveal a '77 Z1r TC yep a TC in Molly colours .Years sat under wraps with leaking roof But all there looks Gen. Turbo etc in sorry state 10k would quite easily disappear on a resto as J. rightly says But to do the Big Zed justice she needs putting back were she belongs -The Road , just need to source a Yorkshire Larry & Co lol Cycle Drag well impressed -Thumbs up and SUBSCRIBED ....Ride fast ride safe
Great video, great bike!!! For the 40 that gave it thumbs down take a hike and get a real life! I had an 84 GPZ 1100 & loved that bike, now I have the Kawasaki C14 & loving it.
You need to tell where these people are located like Tim's paint shop the guy that done the seat I am in Virginia myself it's hard to find people that can do that good quality work
