I'm proudly riding my ZZR 1100 (ZX11) D7 for more than 20 years now. Heads still turn, performance and handling are still high against modern competition. ZZR 1100 is one of the bikers's wet dreams. Thank you Kawasaki!
Same as buddy. 18 years on my zzr. I still never get bored of some young studd rocking up on a BMW something or other thinking look at that old dude on his museum peice. Then I just leave them for dead. Pull up at end of road. Light up a smoke and wait for them to eventually turn up.
I had a 750 triple back in 1975 that I had the engine built professionally. Punched out to over 800cc with the transfer ports reshaped and the piston skirts cut. Added smooth bore 38mm Mikuni carbs and custom built expansion chambers, with all that it idled at about 1800 RPM and the power band started around 5500 RPM. Never had it dyno tested but the shop that built it claimed it added about 45-50 HP. Ended up putting it in a drag frame after all that as it was too radical to ride easily on the street. It would run about 144 mph in the quarter running an 8 inch drag slick, if everything was good but the trouble was with the thinner bores if the mixture was a little too lean because it was a hot day you could melt a piston and score the cylinder in a heart beat. The next year we switched to the 900Z. Much more reliable and forgiving when setup properly.
It's a sloppy corporate promo.LOL. "almost the last to start manufacturing motorcycles." What does that even mean? How about: " not the last" . or maybe "Not the last, but not in the middle because there's only 4". or maybe: "nearer the last, but not the first or second out of 4". LOL. or just say "the third". WHOA!!!
The "good days" are what you make it and nothing to do with machines of the era. I firmly believe that motorcycles have never been so good as they are now. Take off the rose tinted specs and go for a new ride.
Very good show!!! My first bike I bought at Palm Bch Kawasaki in Feb 1973 was an Orange 100 Enduro, it cost 429 bucks. I'm 63 now and this past June I bought a 2019 Kawasaki Z900RS. Its without a doubt the best bike I've ever owned. I've owned over 20 bikes thru the years with most being Kawasaki. I've never ever been disappointed with any of them!! LET THE GOOD TIMES ROLL!!!
My older brother owned a 500cc 2 stroke back in the day.man that thing was quick. His was orange with white stripes. The front wheel was off the ground most of the time.lol
Just turned 72k on my 1981 KZ750 LTD. It has always performed exceptionally well. If I had longer legs and were younger (I'm 68 / 30" pants) would probably have kz1000. After driving this bike hard for 3 years you can understand why I stashed away 7 of these bikes & total of 10 engines. When they build this bike in Japan they must have been thinking of me. I've had Triumph, Honda, Ducati & Yamaha bikes. I know what I have in this KZ which will be my Last bike.....due to my age. (can still pick up the kz750 engine from the ground and put it in my van.) Thanks Kawasaki for letting me ride into my sunset years on just a fantastic machine that has gotten hundreds of complements.
I know exactly what you mean. My '83 550 LTD was my favorite bike of all time, 6 speed, shaft drive....never had a problem with the bike except for that tricky throttle that somehow wouldn't let me let go of it.....got a lot of tickets on that thing. My last try with a Yamaha VStar 1100 didn't work out so good...beautiful to loo at all black and chrome, easy to ride...worst clutch for parades and competition riding, and something called a "one way starter clutch" that was expensive, prone to breaking and required a complete engine teardown to get to...and after you fix it, it could happen again the next day or the very next start. It was designed to not let the engine rotate backwards which a twin will do if you shut if off and it's between strokes and there's still compression, it's kind of natural. The starter wheel was always "engaged" not like a starter with a bendix, it was stupid You had to pull the damn exhaust and floorboards to change the oil filter...I still put 52K on it in two years before it gave up. ( I ride a lot when I can) My '68 rolla of 30 years (so far) will be my first and last car though. I bought it for $300 to get by when my 550 got stolen and the dang thing just keeps going. I have to work on stuff but it's got over 1.2 million miles on it...800,000 or so put on by me. Hahahah....and with head and stuff off of it I can still pick up the 1200 cc 4 banger I have in it. When I was younger I could lift the entire engine out of the car by myself.( I like to go through it at least every 250K miles and change the rings and bearings, timing chain, check things out..)
Looks like Kawasaki made the automated inventory system work well for them. I worked for GE for many years, and we used a similar system. But we were constantly running out of parts we needed to build the units coming down the line. So we would go over to an adjoining line that used the same parts we needed and grab some of theirs. This caused all kinds of problems as production sort of lurched forward only to stall while people ran around searching for parts. I don't know if GE ever got this down right. I retired a few years ago. Considering how GE is fairing atm, I have no faith they know how to do anything.
It was never designed to be an automated inventory system. It was designed to expose problems to be solved. When they started it 7 decades ago their lines lurched like yours. The response however is what was different. Every employee was engaged in solving the thousands of problems stopping is from flowing. Meanwhile in the west that was left to a handful of engineers. It was like adults vs. Children and still is in many cases…
I had a 1975 750 H2 triple. it came with a steering damping valve.I was so fast i put velocity stacks on her and it sounded like it roared . the front wheel would wheelie whenever you got on it. Great Bike
My first bike was a 1974 kawasaki kv75,and boy did i have a blast on that bike.I was very fortunate as a kid to have it.I loved that it beat every honda 50 in the neighborhood.
Kawaaaki started it's east coast sales effort in ~1967 ..and I was there along side of them as a dealer's specialist. I worked the booth at their NYC auto show debut of the product line and went on to be a tech and service manager for two dealerships until ~1980. They did make a few 'clunkers' and they had areas they were more crude than the other Japanese makes but they had the might of a huge industrial background to keep refining and getting better. The Z-1 was awesome,: Big, comfortable, powerful, super reliable, and surprisingly light to handle. Hallmark days leading into the wave of great motorcycle improvements across the board during the 1970s.
My first motorcycle was a 1969 Kawasaki Bushmaster with a 90cc 2-stroke. I rode that thing for all it was worth for a decade on the road, and off road with & without trails, when I was a kid growing up in the middle of nowhere in Alaska. That was a great little bike.
They were a decent little machine....as long as you didn't ride them fast on a long highway,. they were prone to piston seizure then. It evolved from an 85cc machine earlier in the '60s, I recall with a pressed frame. They improved that basic engine when they went to the KE 100 model which had a different piston and cylinder design that seemed to eliminate the seizure problems. I least respected the F-2 175cc, F-5 350cc, F-6 125cc, and F-8 250cc.
I cut my mechanic's teeth on that little motorcycle though, thankfully, never had a piston seize, but I am a 3rd generation mechanic and have turned wrenches since I was knee high to a grasshopper and, by age 10, I was in charge of the family vehicles' maintenance & repairs (3 cars and a pickup truck, motorcycle, 3 snowmobiles), and loved tearing into the bike when it needed work. (I still do all of the maintenance & repairs for my bike, and the wife's car) :-)
Ore..O.T.W., Some story there all unto itself..! 2nd gen. mechanic here. I guess once we learn the principles, goes into other areas, did for me, quite varied experiences over the years.
At 65, I remember my '76 Kwacker Z1 900 and the many nights I spent desert riding lonesome roads at 110+mph, Thanks for letting me relive that for a few minutes.
been restoring an old ZX-7 ninja, thought with the rich history with that model it would have been included. there was a scene with a 1991 j model in the picture but no mention. those ZX-7 pioneered a lot of tech.
That 900 was an incredible bike. I recall trying to keep up with my bro on my Suzuki and having no luck. Topped out and he was still pulling. Imagine our surprise to find out it was running only on 2 cylinders.
nearly 40 years ago, i got off a BSA 350 single and onto a v early kawasaki 500 triple , that must have been 1 of the biggest shocks off my young life! WHAT A BIKE,/LIKE LIGHTNING AT THAT TIME
I`ve got 2 zzr`s,both 600`s.1 is a stock `98 model and the other is based on a `93 frame with a `98 motor and 1100 front end. I`ve been 3 years building the `93....nearly done. :)Lancer Nismo
Great documentary, I enjoyed it very much. I have two Kawasaki motorcycles and believe without question they are the finest machines of any type I've ever owned. For the record that includes Hondas, Harley-Davidsons and even Mercedes Benz automobiles.
My first and only bike was a '68 Kawasaki 350 Avenger SS. What a delightful machine. Great for tooling around Santa Barbara, both beach and mountains. Three years later I gave it to my brother who still has it today.
I can remember when they brought out the Mach III. Surface gap spark plugs and all. Later I had an opportunity to ride the first model. It was the most difficult bike to ride well that I have ever driven. A power band narrower than a good knife. Brakes and handling? Who needs those anyway. It was always a good idea to have some spare underwear when you took one out in traffic.
The Mach III H1 was my very first bike. I was 18 and I got a ticket almost every time I rode it. The previous owner had built it up for drag racing. that thing was God Damn, crazy fast. Wish I still had it.
Skodaman2 Yes. It had a tendency to get really unstable, really quickly, especially at high speed. I was doing close to 120 on the highway and it damn near threw me off. Then I blew past the motor cop and got yet one more ticket. Took him two and half miles to catch me though. ( =
I had a triple 250 Kwaka and it's handling too was interesting to say the least.The middle cylinder also had a tendency to gradually seize up should you continuously thrash it!
I had one in 1970! OMG, that bike was a crack pipe. I ate threw rear sprockets like crazy. Many bikes later, now I'm 63 and riding either my bmw 1600GTL or my 1999 bmw r1200c :)
I’m 63 years old and back in the day I owned a 500cc two stroke that I slightly modified, it was a terror on the street. The only bikes that could keep up with me were the 750cc two stroke and the 900cc four stroke. And it was the most beautiful green. LET THE GOOD TIMES ROLL
@john thonig my was 70, black with stainless fenders , brake hubs . I drove it from jeresy- NC and back over the weekend, man that was ruff, I was 17 though
In 1985, I was radar'd by a state trooper doing 152mph on my Ninja 600r, and still had 1500rpm to go. (was an empty highway in Alaska) He went super easy on me since I actually pulled over and stopped & waited for him after he flipped on his lights, instead of merely keeping my speed and disappearing (there were only two State Troopers patrolling that little 150-mile stretch of the highway) and he wrote the ticket for 97mph so I'd be able to keep my license and not go to jail right then & there. Plus, he was a motorcycle rider, and was stoked to actually see a Ninja 600r in person, as there were only two in Alaska in 1985. Heck, there were six Lamborghini Countach S cars in Alaska, and only two Ninja 600r bikes. :-)
Man you were lucky you got Mr. Nice Trooper instead of Officer Dickhead..... It's a judgement call and if you decide to evade, you damn sure better make sure you evade. The consequences of failing is quite harsh.
My dad brought home a pair of 120cc street bikes in the mid 70's, me and lil brother rode them to death, he got a 125cc enduro, we have been a kawi fan ever since. bought my first one new in 84, LTD 440, #2 97 vulcan 1500, put 40,000 miles on that one, Just got an 08 vulcan 2000 LTclassic, ready for spring, Let The Good times Roll!!
The Z1 did not produce 100hp, it was about 83hp, the Z1000J coming out in 1981 was the first of that series to exceed 100hp at 102hp, I owned one in 1982. Currently I have a 78 KZ1000A2 which I love for it's Z1 type looks. The classic air cooled 4 cylinder Kawasaki's were wonderful bikes, fast, reliable and over engineered so they could do huge mileages before wearing out.
For those of us that ran those 750 triples.We were kings of light to light running. Until those damn Honda 1000 Intercepters in 84 and those never, ever ,to be forgotten forgotten suzuki 500 square 4 500 GAMMA'S . I had a lot of different kawi triples. My 73 H2 was my fave, the gold paint killed that original BLUE MEANIE paint. But true that, the 72 had better bottom end crank porting. RINGGG DINGGG DINGGG
Thanks for that - very informative. I think it was a mistake for the makers of the documentary to omit any mention of the brand's excellent off-road bikes though.
First saw live 500 Mach III's in Wawa, Ontario, Canada in about 1970. There must have been a dealership nearby or something. Remember hearing the distinctive wail of several of them and decided I just had to have one. Finally did buy a used one in 1975. It had expansion chambers and velocity stacks. It actually ran it's fastest when the engine was cold. Once it warmed up it lost some of it's power. Wish I still had it.
That 750 Triple in ‘74 was affectionately known as the “Widow Maker”. I had a little bitty orange 350 triple in ‘75 that I absolutely loved riding. I’m age 65 now and I really enjoyed watching this video. Preserve your memories!!
I had an H2 750 3 cylinder. That was one fast bike. I recall cracking the throttle and looked at blue sky, many times. I wanted to see how quick this baby was, I twisted her hard, and was at 110 MPH in third gear had 2 more gears to go. I had no doubt it would have twisted the speedo past the 140 MPH line. I sold it because the pad was so horrible, I would only be out for an hour and my back was killing me. I still miss The Widowmaker, as it was known!
Thanks to the team for making this and for posting over the years got to ride many of there bikes even took Kawasaki 175 when young and redid it from a custom metal flake paint job from a back yard shop on my paper rough to the new emblems for the fuel tank to me that cost a tidy some to a kid riding a bike and tossing papers before and after school The paint job cost 20 or 29.00 dollars the amount my mom said was way too high when the nation know paint shop would do all most any car for just 29.99 in those days. Riding bikes with the wind in your face makes you fill life
I had an 2009 ZX14 Orange and black In 1969 that 500 triple 2 stroke was the fastest thing on the road, it would blow the doors off my hopped up Harley. Some of these early Kawasaki's had high speed stability problems, if I remember right they were using plastic bushings in the swing arm pivot. There was an after market kit that fixed this problem...
I don't know who was ridin' those 900's, but you're nuts. I own and have owned all those bikes- and ain't no GPz550 can TOUCH a properly ridden Z1! I call Bullshit!
Nothing beats the snap, crackle, and pop of the triple two stroke. Just the sound and smell of a smoker bring back some very happy moments from long ago. Didn't Kawasaki build a rocket hot two stroke twin about 1967 -68? The Avenger- maybe the A2? About 250 or 350 cc
Gpz900R Ninja came out in 1983 if I recall. I bought an A2 in 1984. Great power, combined with a first for any Japanese bike of the era of great handling
I finally bought a Kawasaki, so I've now had a bike from all 4 of the Japanese manufacturers. The 900 Vulcan is likely the last motorcycle I'll ever want.
The interesting thing is the reason why the Japanese became so dominant in motorcycle design and forced all the other companies - American, German, British, Italian, etc. - to lift their game or go extinct. The engineering in motorcycle design has many similarities to aircraft design. When a bike leans to go around a corner the frame has to bend and flex to keep the bike stable, and many of the same engineering principles as wing design apply. After World War II the Japanese were not permitted to design new aircraft, so many of the Japanese who wanted to be aeronautical engineers ended up working on motorcycles instead. Given that the Japanese are the second best engineers in the world - behind only the Germans - it wasn't long before they dominated motorcycle design...
they built Zeros,remember?during the war,wondering what happened if we lost the war,because,when it come to either electronics,and stuff with motor,that country from the rising ,are second to none !Sony,Honda,etc.
Traded a van for a lowered Vulcan 800 Classic with custom exhaust, seat, and jetted carbs. I look forward to riding it. Seems very reliable. Getting too lazy for a sport bike. I was surprised to see carbs on a 2003. Haven’t used a manual choke in a long time. First high school bike was a KZ400. Was always reliable. Then a Honda 750SS. Then a BMW 650R. Then nothing for 22 years. Now back to Kawasaki. First Cruiser style and I like it. Feels great to have my endorsement again.
I ride a Vulcan 500 which is a parallel twin based off the Ninja 500s of the era... Essentially everything wrist pins & down in the engine is the same as the Ninjas. This is pretty darn cool to watch, I bet my bike rolled off that assembly line years ago.
I am 62 years old and own a Kawasaki EN500 LTD 1996 till today. Love the bike and will never trade it or sell it for another bike. It runs like a watch smooth ride. Lovely bike to have.
In 1972 a saw a grabber blue Kawasaki 750 triple (H2) in the showroom and bought it immediately. OMG was that thing fast - scary fast. Even today, an H2’s styling draws attention.
Kawasaki bikes are cool! used to ride a ZX11 D,so fast and Quick ,miss it dearly,sold it cheap,but still have a 1987 Vfr700f2,gathering dust though,cars sucks,especially on traffic.....
Here in the 21st century, Kawasaki makes reliable and wicked-fast motos that handle and stop well. Best bike that I've ever owned in terms of hole-shot, cruising and top-end speed.
The first bike I remember as a child was my dad's 73 z1. I thought that bike was the fastest thing on the road. I would show all my friends the 160mph speedo (in the 80's there was no speedometer reading that came close). My dad also had 75 h1. In the early 90's he nervously allowed me to drive it in the backyard. Sadly he sold it before I got my motorcycle endorsement. I would have loved to see what that two stroke could do when opened up. After I graduated high school ,and got a job I went out and bought my first Kaw. It was at the time a 4 years used 94 zx11 d. I was 20 yo ,and that machine was frightening fast. A year later my dad bought a brand new 99 Concourse. Me and my old man would go on and travel all over America. On a 1 week trip we logged 5500 miles traveling from Ohio to Glacier national park. Then through a few other rocky mountain states. On other trips just me and him would travel from Nova Scotia to Key West. And many, many more trips together. When my father's health became a issue and was forced to give up his passion of riding I could see how it crushed him not to get out there anymore. He would always lighten up when I would talk about our motorcycle adventures. I lost him two years ago ,but his passion of motorcycling lives on through me. Kawasaki's motto of "let the good times roll" rings so true. I've had many more Kawasaki's through the years. Still currently have a zx12r and z125 pro.
