73 Z1 900

oh no no no...i dont have a spare...just one set... they have a frame that loves and misses them..they are just split up till they can find themselves....

Z-1 motors turn up and some folks /members/Canadians ,that we all know, have hoards of this gold....you just keep your eye on the ball and the right mill,at some point, will be offered up i bet..

There are quite a few sets of KZ cases on ebay right now. You might get lucky and find one for sale by someone who doesn't know the VIN numbers and realizes the significance of his cases.

Engine numbers within the Z1 tend to stay roughly within 400 numbers of the frame number.

Early Z1's tended to have much closer numbers - then as production continued the numbers bounced around a little more.

The factory never attempted to use engine numbers in sequence - so bikes coning off the production line with consecutive frame numbers could have numbers from slightly lower than the frame number to higher by 300-400 numbers.

As part of the engine build process, engines were run on a dyno, those failing would be torn down and rebuilt, this inserted earlier numbered engines into the production process at a later time. Additionally engines were sold separately for racing and replacement purposes.

Once you get into the KZ900 and KZ1000 production, the engine numbers don't stay even vaguely close. By this time motorcycle production was split between Japan and Lincoln, Nebraska. Because of this, VIN numbers were assigned using two completely different sequences, while the engines used just one. USA build VIN's all start with a 5 i.e. KZT00A-5xxxxx while Japanese bikes started with a zero.

I have a completely rebuilt 73 motor that I was going to use on a project. The engine number didn’t quite match what I needed and recently found a more correct set. This motor has the non oring block and a 1000 head. Complety ready to go and bolt in guaranteed. Polished covers. $1500.

Jeff,

Thanks for the reply. I kind of figured that by the time 1977 rolled around things in the factory would be getting a little loose. I haven't been that concerned about motors not matching the bike until I found this 73 Z1. I'm going to pick it up this weekend. I really only had a quick look at it a few weeks ago, but I'm sure it's worth resurrecting in some form. When I get it home I'll assess what it needs.

Thanks for the input and encouragement,
Ross

etbike,

Thanks for the offer of the motor. first I need to get it home and do an assessment of what it needs and put together some vague budget. At this point $1500 for your motor, as tempting as it is, is too early in the project. Where are you, by the way? I'll need to chew on it for a while. I'll get back to you.

Cheers,
Ross

Another question about correctness. I've also noticed that the speedo, according to the photos in the Z1E website, is a 74 speedo. With a frame # of 13334 it seems fairly late in the 73 model year. How likely is it that it would have come with a 74 Z1A speedo? Or is it more likely to have been been replaced at some point?

Cheers,
Ross

It should not have the brake light tach until after the 20000 vin number. Most time in my experience the switched gauges spell an accident in some point of the bikes life.
Take a real good look at the plate underneath the steering head. Any bends or cracks is the sign of frame damage. Check that the steering stop pin is straight in the middle also.

The motor is offered to anyone. It looks brand new, painted/polished with all the covers. I will get some pics and post them in the for sale section.

So I got the Z1 home on the weekend. Finally had a chance to look at it a bit yesterday. Not much usable, carbs and air box, frame, tank, left side cover, lower front shocks. Needs all new chrome, gauges rebuilt, h-bars, switch blocks, signals, h-light bucket, seat, chain guard,..... You get the drift.

I've decided that my skill level, and bank account, won't allow me to do a full on showroom restoration. So I'll do it up as a very nice, close to stock rider, using reproduction and re-chromed parts. This will be the bike that I keep for a long while.

So, in the foreseeable future, my 76 KZ900 and 77 KZ1000 will be for sale. One of them fairly soon to fund the project. It'll be a tough choice, they are both really nice units.

In the mean time, I'm stripping down the 78 KZ 1000 LTD parts bike that came with the deal. There may be the odd bit that I can use. The rest I'll sell, give away, or trash.

Lots to ponder.

Cheers,
Ross

well you ..like me...now own..."the rights" to a future Z1 in the stable, running...i promise not to add up mine if ever get around to the thing...some folks here have little stuff hanging around..you may get closer than you think..p.s ..i need all those parts you named/ got ...lucky guy....

If you are prudent with mixing aftermarket with genuine, and balancing repainted/reconditioned with new, you can put together a bike that's a valuable asset - and make money on it if you ever sell it. That's hard to do with most other bikes.

Do not throw anything away from the Z1. Somewhere, someone will probobly want that part to refurbish if it's an original part.

I restored my Z1B on a budget, I think I have about $1800 into it tops. Didn't need major engine work though. Then again, I had a complete 74 Z1 engine I couldn't give away. So you can find deals on some things.

www.kzrider.com/forum/11-projects/375078...t=20&start=60#402914