Hello from central PA!

Welcome to the site thetaurus. I too am new to the site and have found the knowledge tossed around here to be very helpful.

Not to far away from you, I'm located in western, Pa between Pittsburgh and Cleveland.

Actually, not far from you either Gringo, that is if you're in Akron.

Have you ever heard of Bike Night at Quaker Steak & Lube Sharon, PA?

Nope, I can't say that I have. I'm in central PA and I don't typically make it over to the western side of the state very often.

Understandable, I dont make it your way much either.

Anyway, I am in the process of putting a 200mm tire on my 1980 kz1000 ltd and hopefully ride it to "Bike Night" before the weather changes.

How about I blew a clutch cable on Saturday. I put on new "drag bars" two weeks ago and I made the cable too tight in the way I routed it. My father is a Kaw-Man from way back, as he laughed, he welcomed me to the modification world.

I bought a used cable set for my bike on ebay, I got every cable for my bike (used) for $50.


Welcome. Good luck on the project.

Just wanted to update everyone on what I found out. After looking a bit closer, we realized that there's a "non-factory" weld on the frame just below the where the forks attach. It seems that someone who owned this motorcycle previously, decided to replace the forks/front of frame with one from a KZ750B (as the stamped VIN # would indicate). Then on the motor it looks like they either grinded out (or filled in) where the VIN # was and re-stamped it to match the forks. This would explain why the one exhaust pipe says KZ750H and the VIN says KZ750B. It would also explain the year/model it is titled for, while it really is an LTD. Any thoughts on this?

thetaurus wrote:

Just wanted to update everyone on what I found out. After looking a bit closer, we realized that there's a "non-factory" weld on the frame just below the where the forks attach. It seems that someone who owned this motorcycle previously, decided to replace the forks/front of frame with one from a KZ750B (as the stamped VIN # would indicate). Then on the motor it looks like they either grinded out (or filled in) where the VIN # was and re-stamped it to match the forks. This would explain why the one exhaust pipe says KZ750H and the VIN says KZ750B. It would also explain the year/model it is titled for, while it really is an LTD. Any thoughts on this?

I'd be really sure that all my paperwork is correct and legal. There are enough inconsistancies in your VIN's that if I were a policeman (and in a bad mood) I could make your life very miserable. For example, the frame and motor numbers NEVER match on a Z1/KZ series Kawasaki...altered numbers screams 'stolen bike' to me. As I understand it, your bike is titled as a KZ750B model...and it isn't. Be careful.

This is how the paperwork came from the dealer. I will go back to them when I have the bike running again. Thanks for the heads up.

I was pretty much thinking along the same lines as McDroid when I read your post earlier. The altered numbers are a big red flag saying possible stolen bike. That said, if you have a title that matches the frame numbers odds are pretty good that the average cop will leave you alone. Don't forget everyone around here is a heck of a lot more familiar with these old Kaws than the average cop.

thetaurus wrote:

This is how the paperwork came from the dealer....

May be a legit "salvage title" and might have some wording to that effect on the certificate. Believing most states have a special procedure for obtaining a replacement title certificate where parts from two or more "totally destroyed" motor vehicles are combined to build a complete roadworthy vehicle.

But then again, maybe someone enterprising soul decided (for whatever reason) to take a shortcut through the red tape.

Believing some - maybe most - states issue title certificates showing only the frame number as the VIN, and don't even show (or have anywhere on record) the engine serial number.

Glad to hear the paperwork came from a licensed dealer, and for that reason would be surprised to hear of any skullduggery involved.