New from Spain/Mexico. Z=KZ???

Hello everybody. I am from Spain and living in Mexico at the time. I love bikes since 8 and currently own a 1984 Honda XR200R, 1991 Gilera CX (piece of art), 2009 KTM 250 2 strokes Six Days (racing bike) and a 1971 Triumph Daytona under deep cafe surgery.

Now, I am in the market for a reliable bike. I had already made my mind to get a new KTM 990 Adv, so my budget is around $20k. Buuuuut, I have a soft spot for 70s bikes and specially the Z but they are rare in Mexico.

For good or for bad, I don't know yet, yesterday I spotted a 78 KZ1000. I broke every traffic rule chasing the guy until I stopped him and asked him to sell me the bike.... He will think about it but I think he will.

So, I have always searched for Z1 but know very little about the KZ. It seems very similar and I would like to know how different they are. Its important to me because I would like to try to build something similar to the Sanctuary Z's and parts interchangeability between both seems to be important. Remember I have the $20k to spend.

Could some one please give me some advice on how different this two bikes are? Engine? Body parts? Frame? Etc. I will really apreciate it.

Thanks

Ramon.

bienvinedos amigo, te gusta motocicletas ??? excellente !!!

try the search function for the info u seek, or google it (I have better luck with that)
I have seen several posts with this info

Welcome to KZR! There are a lot of similarities between the Z1 and the early KZ's. Mechanically speaking just about everything interchanges between the Z1 and the KZ900 and KZ1000's up until 1980. After 1980 a lot of things changed in the engine and frame, so that stuff doesn't really work on the older bikes. Now there are plenty of things that are unique to the Z1 such as the exhaust, fork legs, and all the body work. But as far as I know, most of that stuff is mechanically interchangeable with the KZ parts. However, I am, by no means, an expert on the Z1 specific stuff. I'm sure that someone with better Z1 experience will be along shortly.

The 78 kz1000 is a great bike and if you want too make it look like a z1 you would have to get the z1 body but then the side panels might be a pain to get on unless you buy some extra tabs to hold them on. The lower fork legs can be found on ebay and you would have too change the tripple tree for the z1 gauges and they are going too cost ya about 300 used for a set. The 78 does already have wire wheels unless its an ltd. I have a 78 ltd that i have changed around a little

Thanks guys, I will call the guy on Monday (Unfortunately right now I am traveling) and will give the bike a closer look. From what you're telling me this could work.

Thnaks.

Give this site a try ( www.kawasakiz1.com/ ). It's a great reference source for Z1s and early KZs.

Also, if you're building a bike of Sanctuary level, check out PMC ( win-pmc.com/ ). The site is in Japanese, but try Google Chrome, which offers a translation option- I'd imagine it works with Spanish too.

Z1 Enterprises ( z1enterprises.com/ ) can get anything you see on the PMC website and has the best customer service in the motorcycle world and everyone will back me up on that statement. :)

¡Buena suerte!

Oh, where in Mexico are you located? I rode my '76 KZ 900 down the Baja to Cabo San Lucas just about a year ago- it was a great trip! The hospitality of the Mexican people (once you got past Ensenada into the rural areas) was incredible!

Thanks again. I live in Mexico City. The Baja is one of the most beautiful places on earth. I don't know it very well by land, but I used to sail trough the Sea of Cortez. Simply amazing.

While you're working on the Triumph, check this site out, They only deal with classic Triumph & Harley. Tons of info and inspiration.

www.jockeyjournal.com/forum/

Rick

If you have 20K to spend get on ebay and buy a 73 z1 and have it shipped down to you. Or you could buy my bike and ship it down. :lol:

No need to spend 20K, unless you really want that bike.

I'd rather find a very nice used '75-'81 900 /1000 for around $3000, put $1000 -$2000 in changes into it (seat, paint, exhaust, tires, bars, cables, etc..) and end up with a nice bike for around $5000.
Maybe you'll get lucky & find one that's done like you want.
It'll be a bit extra to ship & maybe to register an imported bike, but I doubt it would be that much.

I saw this bike for sale on Craigs List in Georgia recently for $3800. I saw it too late & it was sold.

Not a bad idea, Ive tough of bringing a bike from the US in the past. The thing is that I am really uncomfortable buying a bike without inspecting it. Ive also learned that buying a used old bike is more of a patience drill than just throwing money into it. You need to wait and the correct bike will eventually appear. Learnt this the hard way unfortunately.

About the $20k, obviously their not just for buying the bike, in fact the bike must be a little proportion of it. The concept of building a Sanctuary bike is to get an old bike and modernize it with the best to date components... suspension, wheels, brakes, swingarm and a lot etceteras. Just look at the price of a Sculpture swingarm or triple. $20k just barely takes you there.

Good news I found a Z1, bad news is that it might need a lot of rebuilding. I need to take a closer look.

Thanks for all the responses, their been really helpful.