KZR's Bikes of the Month for 2024

1980 Z1 Classic Tank - Leave it or Repaint it?

  • ajsfirehawk
  • Topic Author
  • Offline
  • Sustaining Member
More
22 May 2018 10:41 #783838 by ajsfirehawk
I'm thinking about what I want to do with the 1980 Z1 Classic I bought last year. I will be fixing it up for sale, that much is certain. As a refresher it is a one owner 7,400 mile bike and the pipes were removed and a Kerker installed before taking delivery at the dealer. Always garaged at night. The tank was stolen while parked at the dealer for service later in it's life and replaced with a 1980 LTD (not Z1C) tank with the fuelie plumbing on the bottom. So the pipes and mufflers are perfect except for some bluing on cylinders #2 and #3. Prior to sale the owner reinstalled the stock pipes, and started the bike for the first time in a long time. #2 and #3 were getting hot and he shut it off but not before some bluing occurred. The chrome on the aluminum parts and master cylinder are peeling off as almost all of them did. I'm not certain if it was chrome or a spray on plastic look alike. Those are the only issues the bike has, it is in extraordinary shape, especially for being the red haired stepchild that it was. I'll address the fuel injection issues and get it running properly. There is a small amount of bubbling under the surface of the paint near the chrome placards and a small ding shown in the pics below. I can't decide if I should repaint the tank I purchased or leave it stock. The tank is in good shape for such a rare piece but it is far from perfect. I have already purchased reproduction stripes. Should I:
1) Sand it and repaint/stripe the tank
2) Wet sand the tank and remove the stripes, clear it, install new stripes (or patch the missing 3 inches) and then bury the stripes in clear keeping the original black paint intact.
3) Leave it as is bone stock with it's flaws.




79 KZ650 SR
80 KZ1000 Z1 Classic
83 KZ1100 LTD
Z900RS
23 Mach 1

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

  • DoctoRot
  • Offline
  • Sustaining Member
  • Oh, the usual... I bowl, I drive around...
More
23 May 2018 12:27 #783882 by DoctoRot
Replied by DoctoRot on topic 1980 Z1 Classic Tank - Leave it or Repaint it?
If youre going to flip it I would leave it alone. A new paint job wont increase the value much, and doctoring the existing paint job might actually hurt the value. Personally when im buying a bike I would rather see the original paint in bad shape than a fresh repaint, it makes me suspicious.

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

  • ajsfirehawk
  • Topic Author
  • Offline
  • Sustaining Member
More
23 May 2018 20:44 #783912 by ajsfirehawk
Replied by ajsfirehawk on topic 1980 Z1 Classic Tank - Leave it or Repaint it?
Good point Doc, I too am very skeptical of repaints.

79 KZ650 SR
80 KZ1000 Z1 Classic
83 KZ1100 LTD
Z900RS
23 Mach 1

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

More
27 May 2018 04:52 #784138 by z19OO
That's patina.......leave it alone.

1975 z1 900
1979 kz650b

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

  • ajsfirehawk
  • Topic Author
  • Offline
  • Sustaining Member
More
11 Jul 2018 22:39 #786839 by ajsfirehawk
Replied by ajsfirehawk on topic 1980 Z1 Classic Tank - Leave it or Repaint it?
After I seal and paint a tank, this one becomes the primary project.



79 KZ650 SR
80 KZ1000 Z1 Classic
83 KZ1100 LTD
Z900RS
23 Mach 1

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

Powered by Kunena Forum

If you like KZR Please consider making a donation. Thank you.

KZRider is free, but not without cost.

Please consider chipping in a few bucks to help cover the cost of running the KZR servers.