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Hi All. I've spent the last couple of nights browsing through your very impressive project threads and thought I should maybe register and say hello. Turns out I registered here three years ago - Ah, then it's definitely time to say hello!

Name is Stewart, but I go by Stu... I live in the South of the UK, about 100 miles West of London in the sleepy county of Wiltshire, a few miles North of Stonehenge.

Got my first bike on my 17th birthday which was now almost 45 years ago. I'm a prolific bike swapper, so may have had about 50 bikes over the years, only 3 of them bought new. The first new one I bought was a '79 z400b Kawasaki (kz400 in the States). Loved that little bike and managed to buy it back again 30 years later and rebuild it quite nicely. About 4 years ago, I made the mistake of selling it again... crazy, in retrospect.

Only other Kawasaki I've owned was a 1987 GPz1000RX or 1000 Ninja. Had that in 1990 or so, but sold it when the kids came along.

Anyway, middle of 2016, and missing the z400, I decided to buy a bike I'd always fancied. A Zephyr 750. OK, not really a KZ, but certainly of the bloodline. I'd always liked the idea of having an old Kawasaki 4 and modernising it just enough to make it handle better, and the Zephyr with its 17" wheels and (slightly) more modern brakes seemed like a good place to start. It didn't hurt that they are a cheap way into a classic style bike, either. I'm an engineer, and pretty pragmatic, so paying a fortune for a genuine older 650 or 750 didn't seem like much sense when I was looking for a bike to modify a bit.



Anyway, not going to turn this into a project thread; it's all documented over on Zephyr-Zone if you're interested enough and it's not nearly as impressive as some of the builds on here.

Stu's Project

The idea was to turn it into something that to the casual observer looked like a slightly hot rodded seventies bike. I think I've achieved that. Wouldn't fool the discerning members of this forum, but the man in the street would be taken in, especially as she came from the PO already wearing a seventies registration (I didn't ask... just bought it quickly!).

I've just got her running again and done the first few miles on her. She's running well and I'm loving it so far. Looking forward to getting the last few niggles sorted over the winter and putting some miles on her in the spring.

Hey Stu,
Thanks for signing on! Sorry your first post didn't show up right away. We've got it set that way to prevent the spamsters from spewing on the site. Your next post will have to be approved also but after that you'll be able to post at will with no help from the Mods. I'm going to follow your link to the Zephyr Zone to see your project.
Welcome to KZRider!
Bill

Thanks, Bill. Let's get post #2 out the way then... a couple of pics of my previous two projects.

My 79 z400, that I bought new in May1980 and tidied up in time for her 30th birthday. Wish I still had her around.





And (nothing'to do with old Kawasakis but hopefully interesting) the Ducati MHR, similar story, bought new in 1982, bought back in 2004 and rebuilt. She won Classic Bike of the Year, in Classic Bike magazine, in 2008/9. Picture at the Verandah, Isle of Man, 2012. No regrets selling this one... too cranky for me these days.

Hi Stu,

Glad to see you here and glad you returned to your project and finished it!

Nice bike. I too own a zepher, but it's the 1100. Owned it many years and love it's styling of the old z1

Nice work ther Stu. Look great.
/Anders