A brief comparison / explanation of the 1972 Z1 vs the 1976 Z1 900 ...... INDEX 0:00 - INTRO 1:15 - 1972 Z1? 2:30 - 1976 Z1? 3:06 - Z1 vs KZ 6:55 - Final Thoughts
Hey biker bro's we all share a passion for our steel horses and I currently own a 72' Z1 and 76' Z900, I'm 65 yrs old and have been a Mechanic my whole life. 1980 became a Mechanic at a Kawasaki Dealership and have owned numerous brand of bikes through life however, none have provided the thrill that I get when I ride my Z1's. Now, since then many bikes have come out that are more powerful and perhaps more aesthetic but, no other bike in the WORLD can claim the impact those Z's made on the entire motorcycle industry. It is the Genesis of the term SUPER BIKE! 51 new world records set at Daytona Speedway in 1972, afterwards at the track engine removed and completely dis-assembled to inspect for weaknesses, none found! The track run was 24 hours straight at wide open throttle done by 3 pro racers Yvon Duhamel was one of them. It truly is an icon in the motorcycle world! In a comment I read a fella said he regrets selling his Z1 at wife's request, should have sold the wife instead! 😂
The 1976 KZ 900 Had a stiffer frame (extra bracing ) ,a stiffer fork (the fork tubes had longer engagement into the bottom tubes reducing flex &had better dampening)., 2 mm smaller carbs (26mm vs 28 mm) & no exposed synchronizing linkage . It had some redesign on the air box ., but as a result of the carbs was a tiny bit slower on the maximum speed.The only thing that these bikes could benefit from was an electronic ignition (which came along in 1978). The company knew they would be run hard, & so they only had 8.6 to one compression , & as a result would run uneven around town, (to the great annoyance of their owners)., but would run better on b7es plugs, (NGK), which were 2 sizes hotter than stock. If you ran higher compression pistons they ran much better , with less misfire, (plug fouling) . New plugs always cured this ( for a short time). Still drive mine at 120, 000 miles.The only thing that breaks is the front cam chain rubbing block, (cause nobody could understand what the cam chain tensioner adjustment was for with the owners manual explanation). Mine has never been replaced & this would not stop the bike anyway. Charging system was permanent magnet type (with no touching moving parts or brushes, or bearings ), this would only break if owners used a hammer on it! , regulators were solid state, & would over or under charge if grounds were bad. Loose neck & swingarm bearings, lead to stories of handling issues, along with poor dampening in the rear shocks .Regular maintenance of these Items prevented any problems from happening..
Yea They were ALL running when parked( unlike a Harley) which were parked because they were NOT ) running as usual. Abuse for a Kawasaki was NOT abusing them . They thrived on it the worst thing you could ever do to a Kawasaki is not side the snuff out of it just glean out the corrosion ceased by ethanol and you will be fine
I have my 76 KZ that was in the world of wheels back in the day. Bought it when I was just 17 had built bikes for years but all the Kawasaki that I have had and built to race for others have given me great memories.
I am almost finished working on a painting I started years ago featuring the most beautiful Motorcycle ever. I know it just looks like a photo from a distance. Nothing Special. Like the Kawasaki Z1 is nothing Special/ There are a lot of way better bikes now! Yeah Sure... Anyway, my free painting is for people that really love the Z1. They don't have to ride the painting just get it downloaded and get it printed as Big as they can for the wall. It is high enough resolution to be printed actual size as the bike itself or at least half size. Currently, it is not quite ready. I will try to put it on Google images. I can't share it here.
I know all the differences between those two motorcycles, I've owned every year of them Kawasaki's except the '73 Z-1!!! I want that bike like 5 seconds ago, I have a '74 Z-1 900A, '75 Z-1 900B, and a '76 KZ900 LTD, on hand as of this text!!! Kawasaki made the best powerful motorcycles ever!!! Kawasaki really let the Goodtimes roll!!!👍👍😎😎
Yessir, damn right!!! love these motorcycles, these bikes deserve more respect than any other bike, I've been owning Kawasaki Z-1 and KZ 900's and 1000 for almost 40 plus years, I still want em!!!
I had a '76, a brown one that I immediately had painted a deep metallic blue, and it remains as one of my favorites among the several I've owned over the past 50 years. My only complaint was with the frame's tendency to get a little squirrelly at high speed.
KZ900 was the North American version. We here in Australia had the Z900, the same bike but it came with twin front discs as standard. I had one that was mint and sold it in 2014. A big mistake.
Big K had it perfect with the Z1 & even Z1A & the Z1B .. but defiantly looks wise it went downhill with the cheap/lame paintwork on the the Z900 .. even the square taillight & squared off ducktail was a step backwards .. someone in Japan gave the newer Z9 design brief to some bloke on the piss down the Pub.
i own a 76, and yes block stamp and vin sticker says Z1 on it and side badges say KZ900 ltd. I could never understand that. I do know that the 76 had significant improvements from the early models to address the squirley handling issues that plagued the "Z1`s"
Thank you for doing this video, long overdue, great job. I'm gonna watch it a couple of times just to refresh. The Z2 RS750 was the smaller JDM versions, they were sweet. How about those W series W1, W2, W3 1973 I think was the last year...old mans bike. Cheeers
Thanks so much!! I wish I knew more about them at the time to make a more detailed video but since they were both at my shop I knew I had to make something.
Pretty much every single manufacturer of any vehicle started their production runs in the year prior. What I have noticed is that vehicles usually starting in the month of August was the start of the following year production/sales at the latest. New production cars in the states are sold in the previous fall season. Most Japanese manufacturers waited for the calendar year to start, not sure about Euro manufacturers.
For the nit pickers out there the Z1 had different barrels, where the 903cc is on the barrels of the Z1, the top of the 3 is Flat. I have owned both bikes, I currently have a 73 Z1. The Z900 /KZ 900 is a better bike to ride, handles better and the 26mm Z900 carbies are a much better carb, they stay in tune. The Aust Z900 also had a longer rear guard and twin disks.
Do you buy outright from general public? I have a 1974 Z1-900 that's not stock but tastefully done in a Vance&Hines theme. This was one of Bob Moshinskie and Paul Gast creations. Even have clean Vermont title to it. Any interest, I can message a few pictures with cell number?
I'm up in Canada but still very interested. Not sure if you're able to message on RU-vid but if you find me on Facebook or Instagram you can send private messages. I live 30min from FBG.. would love to check out his shop
Both awesome bikes my uncle has a Z1 900 and a Kawasaki ZL900 eliminator both awesome bikes he has a KZ1000 as well my dream bike I've had a kz650 and a 1100
I had a 1978 KZ 1000 for many years and loved it. But what I would do to have a 1973 Z-900? I graduated from high school that year. I remember these bikes coming out and it changed the motorcycle world. At that time I was riding a late 60's Honda 305 Superhawk, which I still wish I had. If you get any of these vintage bikes, don't do what I did and listen to your wife and sell them.
Very nice '72, in great (what appears to be) restored shape. You stated there is no seat locking mechanism for the '72, there is...The seat lock is easily seen here in the vid. Nice bike!
Thanks, I wish I could claim ownership on these bikes but unfortunately they are not mine. You're right about the seal lock. I meant to say release mechanism.
@@PetesClassicCycle I enjoyed the video, Thanks. Twin discs were standard on UK Z900 models. There were a few other differences on the UK model. Perhaps the most noticeable being a strap across the seat, a longer rear mudguard (fender) and the rear turn signals were mounted on brackets welded to the passenger grab rail. On US KZ900s, they were mounted directly to the frame.. The US KZ900 had orange side reflectors mounted on each side of the frame.. just below the front part of the fuel tank. The UK Z900 did not have these.
@@PetesClassicCycle my 76 Z900 is australian delivered with twin disc standard, also had a long rear mud guard.and in australia they are not KZ but Z900
They're not that rare or even valuable my friend. You should probably just get rid of it quick! Send me some details and I'll be glad to help out with clearing some clutter from your garage.
if youlook harder on the Z1 you will find a lock hiding behind the seat lock lever ....it works with the ignition key as well and will lock your seat down
Pete. I’m a nit-picker the OTHER way. I have an early 1972 Z1. It is all original. The petcock was replaced but I have the original. Same for the seat. When anyone says there is no such thing, they are just wrong. Simple as that. The 1972 Z (ZED) 1, is not a unicorn. They do exist, and I can smugly confirm that from my lofty parapet. Here endeth the lesson for today ☺️🤣🤣🤣. Great video by the way mate 👍
I'm not saying they don't exist, but to the best of my knowledge they were still sold as '73 models. No different than buying next year's car off the lot today. ....although I could be wrong. But my 72 kawasaki brochure doesn't show a z1
@@PetesClassicCycle Pete. Nothing you said is wrong mate. In fact I subscribed after seeing your great video, specifically because you mentioned that the 1972 produced bikes had differences as they made small improvement tweaks, even with the paint in fact. However, the first 11000 produced which DID have a number of small and random tweaks, are most definitely considered 1972 models, at least in investment parlance. The bike was unveiled at the Cologne motor show in November 1972. Bit like the 1975 Honda GL1000 K0, the very first Goldwing. It was not released in the UK until 1976, so I had to get mine from the US. I love all the little nuggets like that. Ride safe brother 👍
Honda brought us cb 750, but super bike was staryed the day the z900 rolked ontothe dealers floor. Kawi has ruled ebery since thst day,not ebery yr but over las 40 yrs kawi has pretty much had the bike to own
I have always rode HD's but years ago I swapped a guy that wanted an old boat I had. He probably came by 10 times and I had no need of the boat. Well part of his boot was a kz 650 he said he couldn't get it to run like it should. I dialed the carburetors in and that damn thing was scary fast. I took it out one day and a coupla guys on new 883 sporty's tried to jump it. Apparently they let cubic centimeters blind em we were running about 70mph when I pulled in the clutch dumped it from 6th to 3rd red lined it waved bye bye and let her rip. Last I saw of em their eyes bugging out. Sumbitch was fastest thing from 60 to a 110 I'd ever saddled up on.
Ah-ha, "a friend of mine had a '76 KZ 650 back in the day, that he let me borrow regularly. He just had a baby and the wifey was worried about him getting hurt on the MC. So he let me ride it and live vicariously though me. I have similar stories, that little KZ was pretty quick...
I had a kz650 in 1977 brand new, but was LTD on the side cover. Didn't have it long as I had an accident with it, writing it off, getting hit by a car I pulled in front of. Nighttime, thought the car was way down the road,, not! Anyway, great bike for about four months. Then got into Cameros a 72, then a 68, then a 75. I also have a Kawasaki Vulcan 750 I bought new in 86. BTW a lady gave me the 68 Camero that she had since new. That was in around 1979, not a bad car, lots of fun in it.
Try a busa and beyond that a turbo busa. My turbo busa breaks the common gps apps for 0-60 as it registers sub 2 seconds and the apps just dont display (i need a dragy lol) Nd 60-110 is just as fast(aslong as you can bang the shift 😉) legendary bikes from every generation interest me including nost recently the modern H2.
The carbs on the kz900 are set too lean. That's why pipes turned yellowish coming out of engine. When they're blue, that's WAYYY too lean. EZ adjustment but each one must be set the same. Old School.
Even though these bikes are in really good condition, you can tell when looking at the headers, which have a kind of yellowing, that these engines have seen some serious revving throughout their lives. One guy on you-tube, can be seen revving the ass of his bike doing a donut whilst holding on to the front brake lever, so that the headers actually began to glow red.
The KZ was kawasaki's standard designation on most 4 stroke street bikes from 76-80'something. So from small displacement up to the 1300 were all KZ models.
You sound like you speak English yet you don’t know the English Alphabet…what part of the letter “Z” is pronounced “Zed”? Trying your best to sound cool? You don’t
Haha I'm flattered that that's your worste criticism. However... in English, which is what I speak in Canada it IS pronounced ZED. It is ONLY in America where it is pronounced Zee. It comes from the original Greek "Zeta". Sorry...Just trying to speak English, not American 😉
@@PetesClassicCycle well the original producer of the motorcycles is Japan, I’m pretty sure they intended the motorcycles to be pronounced “zee”1 and K”Zee”1000 and pronounce it as such. I think you foreigners have a fascination with Zed in the movie “pulp fiction” and the gimp…you do look familiar…🤔. Let me guess, you call the decals on the motorcycle “deckles” too…
@barrymergen6345 wasn't Japan a British colony? And maybe their marketing team was smart enough to pronounce it correctly based on the individual markets. Sorry if thinking of the gimp brought back some troubling memories. Again...if that's the one only detail you are hung up on then it's really not worth the effort getting upset. Cheers and Ride Safe
