Scored a 74 Kawasaki z1a 900

Hey Everyone! Man you gotta love the infinite resources the Internet can provide!! Perfect for me to pop in and ask about this bike to a solid group of enthusiasts!

So a great buddy of mine is a die hard Kawai guy... He's got like 6... Well he's retiring from work and me and him have been talking about building a bike for a long time now... Long story short he gave me the bike because he couldn't make his mind up on how to approach this bike.

Now, I'm really interested in cafe builds. Bare metal, upgraded preformance parts, stripped down... I'm sure you get the idea... That's where I visioned taking this bike... But after poking around online it seems like there is some people that want big money for these, I've seen people asking $12,500 for these online... In perfect shape, and that's what they're asking... I'm sure there not getting that?

So where my heads at.... 20 minutes of tinkering we got the bike thats sat for 20 years in his garage to start up... She ran!!! Awesome! Ok, but it's not looking so hot, dents in the tank. Surface rust. It's been indoors forever but it's still needs a lot of work to get it back to prime. After looking around for parts it looks like the original exhaust is like $1,500?! Fenders going for $200?!

So even though I got the bike free it looks like I could dump 5-6 grand into this project. Spend years tracking down original equipment, and when it's said and done have maybe 3-4 grand of profit on a totally original survivor...

I'm sure some of you purists are cringing waiting for this next paragraph but don't worry!

I'm about 80% sure I wanna build the bike my way... But here's the thing, I can do it all without cutting anything or ruining anything... I'd keep everything I took off the bike and make whatever custom parts I want. That way if I sold the bike if someone wanted to bring it back it wouldn't take much...

I'm hoping to get any opinions on what you think I should do? I know this is a survivor bike but the original bike just isn't what I'm after.. Thanks for your time!

Fairly certain that a lot of folks on this site would either A) trade you a later early kz1000 for that and you could build it the way you want or pay you enough for you to get a bike to customize for it.

And no, a lot of people ARE getting that price for their's if the condition demands the price point. There were only 80,000 or so Z1's made. They are a colloctor bike and any of them in fairly original shape should stay that way IMHO.

If you ask me it is a big mistake to cut up a Z1!

Just clean it up, sell it, and use the money to buy a KZ1000 that is not in great condition. You should end up with enough money from the sale of the Z1 to pay for the KZ1000 plus many of the mods you care to make to it. In the end you'll have a better performing & handling bike than you would with the Z1. Ed

Welcome to the KZ Madness :lol:
Nice find !! Take your time finalizing your game plan so you only do it once. Lots of folks here will give you their opinions on what should be the direction of your build, but in the end Its your Bike....
Ask lots of questions and be a sponge and you will absorb the facts you need . But Again. Don't rush the plan.
Price out everything first and this will be a great experience
Dave

Do what you want with the motorcycle....it's yours. However, keep those one-way changes at zero. When you get tired of your cafe build (and you will) and try to sell it...expect no one to pay you what you have in your custom. The only Z-bikes that are worth serious money are those that are bone-stock.

I'm probably piling on at this point, but think long and hard about turning that bike into a Cafe Racer project. Do an advanced search on EBay for Z1A completed listings. The prices in green are the actual sale prices. People are getting $12.5K for a nicely restored original Z1A. Compare the original bike prices to the "customized" Z1's with thousands in parts and upgrades. They rarely break $5K. A big factor in the bike's value is the numbers. Use this link and check the numbers/date codes. If you've got a numbers correct bike, either restore it or sell it as is and find another bike.

www.z1enterprises.com/Z1NumbersGuide.aspx

You're not far off in your estimate of $5-6K restoration cost assuming you can do the work yourself. You'd still be doubling your money. How much do you think your Cafe racer project parts are going to cost? I see mag wheels, inverted forks (requiring custom clamps) new exhaust, rear disk brake and dual front disk brakes to start. That's probably $3-4K in parts right there, and you won't get it back. Starting with later year KZ donor bike would get you closer to your vision. If you sell the Z1A as is, you'll have enough to buy that bike and a good chunk of the parts.

I agree. Keep it stock and enjoy it. OR.Fix it up, sell it and buy the one you really want. I order to make it perform like a modern bike, you will have a lot of welding and other work to do. In the end, it won't be worth what it could be. I've seen them go for 27k depending if the part numbers are correct. A lot have codes. That makes the money.
Good luck
Steve

No eBay APP ID and/or Cert ID defined in Kunena configurationJust for the record...
I just did a completed listing search on EBay for Z1A's. An original restoration Z1A did recently sell (Jan 31,2015). It sold for $19,500!

Couldn't add it as a direct EBay post. Here's the listing:

The Z1b and the Z1 demands more money.

No eBay APP ID and/or Cert ID defined in Kunena configurationThers not a chance in hell that repo parts bike sold for 19k. Watch ebay it will be listed again
If you want to sell your 74 pm me I will make you a good offer
don't cut it up

cheers
gregz

MDZ1rider wrote: Just for the record...
I just did a completed listing search on EBay for Z1A's. An original restoration Z1A did recently sell (Jan 31,2015). It sold for $19,500!

Couldn't add it as a direct EBay post. Here's the listing:

it's your bike,
you already said you had no plans to do anything irreversible.
so have at it.
save the stock parts you take off.
never admit in public that it is any older than a 76,
so you don't have to hear more of the "save the stocker" crybabies drivel

and have a helluva time with it.



or do what the other guy's said.

that's my .02,fwiw

leon

I don't know where you live but I would offer you a straight up trade for my 1976 900. Completely restored and running perfect for that bike. Im in Wisconsin