1980 z 1 classic

i was flying down the enterance ramp to I94 looked down at the speedo and saw i had already pegged wow was i impressed , after i came to a stopped and checked the speedo it now pegs at 90 not 140 or 160
who put these sissy speedos on a z1 ?

zelsdad wrote: i was flying down the enterance ramp to I94 looked down at the speedo and saw i had already pegged wow was i impressed , after i came to a stopped and checked the speedo it now pegs at 90 not 140 or 160
who put these sissy speedos on a z1 ?

Thinking "pegged" means when the needle is physically blocked from moving any further (i.e., needle bumps into and is stopped by the peg).

Good Fortune!

yep thats my question
why would kawasaki build a tribute to the original z1 and put a low range speedo
i guess no one has an answer

the goverment did that starting in 79 i believe :laugh:

Yes, the "Joan Claybrook" 85 mile an hour speedometer. Somebody had the weird idea that we'd only go as fast as 85 mph. A company or two many years ago, made an adapter the doubled the speedometer readings so in theory 85 mph was 170!

I think it was done for those who must stand before a judge. They can honestly say, under oath, "Your Honor, even though the Officer's radar clocked me at 127mph I had no way of knowing I was exceeding 85mph, so please reduce my fine and don't throw me in the slammer." :laugh:

Actually, this was just one more case of sheer stupidity on the part of Joan Claybrook, the NHTSA chief under Jimmy Carter's disastrous administration. You may recall that she's the same imbecile that blew millions of taxpayers' dollars building the "backward bike" (see pic below).

On September 1, 1979, in a regulation that also regulated speedometer and odometer accuracy, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) required speedometers to have special emphasis on the number 55 and a maximum speed of 85 mph (137 km/h). However, on October 22, 1981, NHTSA proposed eliminating speedometer and odometer rules because they were "unlikely to yield significant safety benefits" and "[a] highlighted '55' on a speedometer scale adds little to the information provided to the driver by a roadside speed limit sign." (from WIKI)

Backward Bike-
You sat so low (with the carb in your chest and the cylinder head at your chin) that you couldn't see squat (imagine if you stopped fast or hit something). The bike steered using the rear wheel (imagine that front tire trying to go straight in the turns - yahoooo), and you had to have outrigger wheels sticking out 4 or 5 feet on both sides so the bike wouldn't fall over in turns (makes the bike as wide as a car - I bet that teach those lane splitters!), and I don't know where the fuel is stored. And it only cost like a million or more bucks. In the picture below the rider would be facing toward the right with the forks behind his back (notice the handlebars location).

Dyslexics could only go 58.

i am left handed and have to reverse most any instructions , so 58 miles per hour ,top speed , makes logic to me , now to finda left handed judge