771000a

Ok,even though my 77 ltd1000 isn't finished,I decided to start another project.A 77a that I couldn't pass on.She was fairly well stripped when I got it but I have a 78 a parts bike.I noticed on the neck above the vin # it is stamped made in japan but my 78 is not.

Too bad that second zero wasn't a four. 012345 would be a neat serial number!

Your LTD paint work is awesome. If your gonna vary form OEM it has to be nice or it just looks like strange. Your looks great. Good job. I’m sure this one will be just as nice.

The date stamp on your frame is interesting. The '77 KZ1000A started with KZT00A-000101. I'm surprised that by November '76 they had already produced 12205 bikes. Kawasaki must have been betting that 1977 was going to be a good year.

ronnieV wrote: I noticed on the neck above the vin # it is stamped made in japan but my 78 is not.

Some KZ1000A models were made in Japan, and some in Lincoln Nebraska. If the serial of your other bike starts with KZT00A-5xxxxx, it's a US made bike.

Thank you Mikaw,I'm not a stickler for originality,I'm more the old school guy and do things the way I did years ago,plus I live in a retirement community and my shop is a 12x18 shed.Very limited.

Gathering parts,it all starts here.Only problem now is I got called back to work,good news?Kinda,but less time for the toys

My reference book ( Micky Hesse's Black Classic Book #1) says the Japan produced 1977 KZ1000 A1 VIN range was KZT00A 000001-KZT00A 027500, and Lincoln production was KZT00A 500001-KZT00A 507026 for a total of 34,000+ bikes. I never really looked before to see what percentage of bikes were build in Lincoln before. Having 12,000 built by November isn't all that surprising if they started next model year production in the middle of the year like we did in Lincoln. Figuring 20 weeks of production time for 12,000, would be 600 units per week, or 120 a day for a 5 day week. I can't recall what our maximum daily production on the big bikes was in Lincoln, and apparently production records from then are nonexistent judging by other investigations I've attempted. Guess I should have kept a diary!

Mike