This is Smash Adams's 1980 KZ 440 A1. A nice find with 3,000 original miles garage kept by one owner. You can see a better picture and some member comments in the gallery.
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Z1 History and background
Written by kzrider
Tuesday, 15 July 2008
The idea of a four-cylinder four-stroke was conceived way back in 1967, when Kawasaki focused mainly on developing two-stroke motorcycles. The decicion was made to develop a high-performance motorcycle which would far exceed the 650W1, the largest motorcycles in Japan that time. The goal was a fast, yet comfortable 750cc motorcycle with good handling and brakes - a modern version of the Vincent H.R.D - Black Shadow.
Coordinated by Sam Tanegashima, a project planning group was established and development code T103 was born.
"The fastest production motorcycle in the world!" proclaimed the radio ad about Kawasaki's Two Stroke Triple. As high school boys in 1970, that statement caught our attention in a big way. Most of the bikes on the road at the time were Harleys, Triumphs or BSAs, and the new Kawasaki could blow them all away! There were also various things that people would be embarrassed to ride now days; Cushman scooters, Wizard mopeds, minibikes. It didn't matter to us though, if it had a motor and two wheels it was "cool". Most of what we rode in the dirt were stripped down enduros or the occasional Husky or Bultaco, but the guys that had those were a little older and had more money to spend. It would be a few years before the Japanese companies came out with the motocross bikes as we know them today. 1971 also brought us the definitive documentary about motorcycles, "On Any Sunday" and of course that instantly became our favorite movie. By the time I graduated from high school in 1972, I had owned a wore out 1962 250cc two-stroke Yamaha (a road bike similar in style to the old Honda Dream) and a 125cc Ward's Riverside (the old timers will know what that is).
Most street motorcycle plastic bodywork is made with either Styrene or ABS plastic. Here's a method for repairing these bodywork panels that's effective and inexpensive.
