Fixing Up My Father's '73 Z1

I've talked with several members here, and thanks to everyone who has helped so far! I figured I would post a few pictures of my current project and progress.

I'm currently in progress of fixing up my dad's 1973 Z1 that I inherited a few years back. Many memories of riding with him as a kid, then with my KZ1000 alongside. Numbers match (Z1F 10,1**, Z1E 10,2**) Built in 3/73. My goal is not to restore it to show quality, but rather fix it up somewhat close to stock to a nice looking occasional rider quality.

He has owned the bike since the early 90s. My dad originally got the bike in trade when he owned a bike shop in Holland, MI. The story that I recall is a lady came to his shop with riding lawn mower that she couldn't afford to get running, but offered to trade her husband's old bike for the work. It was stored outside, and in fairly rough shape at the time. My dad got it road worthy with whatever parts he had laying around, and a rattle can paint job. Gauges from a CB900F, rear wheel from a Magna V45, shocks from a V65, etc.

Here's a couple of pictures of the condition of before I started. I've rode it occasionally over the years, and after an ignition wire fix it runs again.

Back in 2009:


This year, before doing any work:
(Paint looks a lot worse up close due to fuel spillage marks)

After sorting out a few wiring gremlins she's roaring to life again!

I was able to find a repainted body set off off craigslist. Turns out it's from a 74/75, but done in the 73 colors. Not perfect, but great for what I need for now and at the right price point. I'll keep the original tank around in case I decide to restore it someday.

I have a set of original 28mm carbs waiting to be cleaned (Thanks Don), along with a handful of other parts waiting to be bolted on. My next priority will be to fix a couple of oil leaks (Tach seal & Stator grommet)

Hi gvsu141,
That's looking pretty good. Understand perfectly the "nice rider at a glance" concept. The sentimental value will always be priceless. Well done!

Good Ridin'
slmjim & Z1BEBE

Lookin' good! Ed

I'm normally obsessed with restoration to original, but I completely understand making it a nice rider the way your Dad had it as a tribute.
If the paint is rough on the green tank, you may want to use some stripper in the badge area and see how they were filled. Hopefully it was just Bondo or some other filler that can be chemically removed. The 73 tanks were the only year with the small name badges (155mm vs 180mm) I think the mounting screw holes are 122 mm apart vs 140 on the later tanks. Even replacement 73 tanks sold by Kawasaki had the larger hole spacing., That's why the reproduction tanks have 2 sets of mounting screw locations.
A real small badge tank, regardless of paint condition, can bring serious money. It's been a few years, but I saw one repainted all yellow go for $2,600 on E-Bay a few years back.

Thanks! I have a small pile of parts waiting to put on. Will try to get it mostly original, with the exception of exhaust.
I have right now:
-Z1 Carbs
-Repro seat
-Front Wheel
-Tail Light
-I have original Z1 Front Forks/Brakes on his old dragbike that I will swap over to this.
-Have a rear wheel from a '76 on the way until I find a Z1.

I'd like to find an older used Kerker in nice shape. It currently has an unkown header with a Kerker on the end w/o baffle. Chrome needs some help.

MDZ1rider wrote: I think the mounting screw holes are 122 mm apart vs 140 on the later tanks.

Yup! That's how I found the orange tank that's on it was from a later Z1. I can just barely see the outline of the 140mm spacing with a light on it on the one side, even though it was filled in. Current emblems are the small ones attached with 3M tape.

I plan on stripping the green one down at some point to see what I have. It looks like it has the root beer underneath, so i'll tread carefully wet-sanding at first to see if I get lucky and it could be salvaged. Not expecting much.

I like the 73 color paint scheme ( root beer / orange ) on your bike.
Keep going gvsu141

BTW some early 72 prototype colors



Michael

Well, Last night I replaced the tach seal/oring. Had to use a heat gun to soften up the old o-ring to get it off! I started to tackle the common stator plug leak. I ordered a new plug, but decided I didn't feel like cutting into the stock wires just quite yet. I started the cleanup with brake clean. WIll try fixing this as is first before cutting into the original wires. Who knew these wires actually had a color other than "oil"??


Also did a little cleanup of the rear fender & put on a new repro tail light. Chrome is a little cloudy on the edges, but cleaned up decent. May keep an eye out for a deal on a decent used one, but not in any hurry.

No need to cut the stator wires. De-solder the wires at the connector plug for the new grommet
Use shrink tube on the stator wires as additional gasket through the grommet. The original isolation here acts as a candle wick
and leading oil out of the stator cover.

I use crazy glue to seal the woven insulators. I clean them with carb spray first.
Steve

Ended up using the crazy glue method, seems to be holding so far.