Pics 82 KZ1000 22 miles

Thanks for the info and opinions so far. I do believe it is 22 miles and no apologies necessary, not a problem. The pics are not the best, but there is no wear or signs of use on anything. I did not pull the side covers as I was worried about breaking a tab or the rubber grommets, but everything, despite being covered in dust just appears unused and yes, stored incorrectly for sure. It will take some elbow grease for sure, no doubts. I do have more pics, mostly the same types of stuff and same quality. I did take them before the sun was even up this morning. If we did put a reserve, any ideas???? I know some of you may be interested, and we probably will not put a reserve at all, just curious as to what you think? By the way, no scoring on the Front Rotors, just the photo and it does have the Electronic Speedo. Thanks for all the help guys.

Was it put away wet? With all fluids(gas in tank, battery installed, full of oil)? It looks to me to be slightly more mileage but not much more. I would be bidding if I was closer and had another stall open. Could be a easy job or a nightmare to get it square but at least it is all there. It is very purty!:ohmy: I can't imagine opening up a barn and finding that sitting under 25 years of dust! They'd be giving me last rites and trying to get that silly smile off my face for the showing. :woohoo: Post the e-bay auction I want to watch it.

I am not sure how wet it was. The tank looks clean inside with no fuel residue, but the throttle is stuck, gummed carbs. There is no battery, but it does have clean (26 year old, I guess) oil in the case. The front brake works, but you can see in the photos there was some fluid leakage at one time and I don't see any brake fluid in the site glass. Looks like someone had some kind of an idea of how to store it, but just didn't follow through. The tank is spotless on the inside. I will post a link when it does go on and we should have better photos as well.

Just my 2 cents. and I'm not expert by far, but the tires look to have more than 22 miles on them.

But it's still and excellent bike.

That's simply an amazing find, Steve. If I had to sell it, I'm not sure I'd let it go for less than $1500. Call me crazy, you won't be the first. :woohoo:

As for the front brake, your detailed pic just shows the surface rust being polished a bit from the natural drag of the pads, IMO.

Aside from cleaning and maintenance to get things up to snuff, I can't imagine anything major being wrong with it. I would think that with the mileage shown that anything major would have been dealt with under warranty. If the speedo was changed out by the dealer, there would have to be paperwork to that effect unless it was lost over the years.

Maybe I'm a bit crazy, but I don't think I'd be scared of that bike.

Too bad it doesn't have a kicker so at least some idea of the compression could be determined.

The 'wear' on the rotor is what a rotor with 22 miles on it would look like: just barely been touched by the pads a couple times.
The tires 'wear' is probably dirt/dust from setting for 26 years (Notice they are Bridgestone Mag Mopus...the WD40 of sport-bike tires from 'the day'; been there, crashed on that...ha!).
My larger concern would be what does oil turn into after it sets for 26 years? Chem majors? The new stuff breaks down into some kind of acidic stuff that isn't good on motors. That thing had oil that is from 1982...anyone out there know what the oil contents were back then? I doubt that zinc and any other phosphates were added back in the day...but it also could be a superior lubricating oil since the gov probably didn't have as restrictive laws in place for motor oils...I don't know.
Hmmmmmm...

My $0.00002

As is, non running, it will probably fetch $2000-$2500 on eBay.

Running, cleaned, and polished, maybe $5000-$7000 on eBay.

Just my wild guesses, because on eBay you never can tell, I have seen used spark plugs, worn out sprockets and chains, and even worn out clutch frictions, sell on eBay :woohoo:

We did a couple of old long sitting bike resurrections. The oil will be like sludge. Oil goo! Got to get it warm, drain, refill, repeat, repeat. We used Marvel Mystery oil to cut it a little and to weep the cylinders prior to moving the engine.. After about 4 or 5 oil changes we finally were getting out the same amount we put in and it was clean. But the bikes are still running years later with no sign of problems. Beats cracking it. $2-2.5 large I would have no prob paying. That is about it not running, all by eye!

Locozuna wrote:

We did a couple of old long sitting bike resurrections. The oil will be like sludge. Oil goo! Got to get it warm, drain, refill, repeat, repeat. We used Marvel Mystery oil to cut it a little and to weep the cylinders prior to moving the engine.. After about 4 or 5 oil changes we finally were getting out the same amount we put in and it was clean. But the bikes are still running years later with no sign of problems. Beats cracking it. $2-2.5 large I would have no prob paying. That is about it not running, all by eye!

All the engines I've seen that had oil sitting in them, regardless of how long they sat, the oil is just fine (to look at at least). It will drain right out and fill her up with new oil. 26 yr old oil won't be a problem. Salt Lake has the same general climate as we see in Denver which is dry so assuming the engine did not sit outside with the oil fill plug removed the oil should not be a problem. So arguably I'd bet if the bike actually has 22 miles on it, drain the oil, clean the carbs since it seems they had gas stored in them, put gas in, start right up with no leaks.

The resurections we performed were of a different nature. I'll give you that. One was a KZ650 that had sat in an aluminum shed for about 18 years here in the northeast. It had 15,000 mi on it. I knew the owner who did the recommended oil changes. That oil was the constituency of grease. At first drain about a quart drained and then by glops maybe another half quart. We put in the recommended amount of oil and started. Ran great for 1 minute and started rapping n' running like crap. Oil was coming out the breather vent. I thought we had seriously done in the engine. We knew what had happened and drained the oil and a whole lot of stinky crude ran out. That was the worse one. Two other bikes displayed some of the same problems. All of them were subject to some extreme heat and cold cycles and were higher mileage bikes for sure. Plus must have had more than 22 miles since fresh oil was put in. So maybe it was condensation or regular running contaminants that caused the oil to turn to tar but tar it was. Even that doesn't scare me since like I said a little patience and all three remain running the roads today.

I have to concur with you guys as to the value estimate and the fact that I too wouldn’t be terribly afraid of the mechanical soundness of the bike. Most of us have brought much worse back to life. I would be more hesitant about tackling the cosmetics than the mechanics. I’ve always found it takes more work to make them look good than it does to make them run good. Maybe I’m just stingy with the elbow grease.

The fact that it comes with a color matched, in the box, genuine Kawasaki accessory, Vetter fairing is appealing to me as well. I’m probably in the minority here but I’d probably mount that sucker on that bike and enjoy riding the bike around. I rode a 78 1000 A-2 that had a Vetter for a while and I loved it. Nice to be able to ride down the road and smoke a cigarette at the same time.

Okay, sorry, I don't get on here as much as I would like, but finally got back to look over what you all have said. So...Now that you have looked at it, I will ask the original question again. Should we clean it up and get it running, not a problem, we have a shop, or as true Kawasaki fans, do you think it should be left alone. If the final outcome of cleaning it up first is going to bring in more $$$, then that is what will happen. If it was my bike, the money wouldn't matter, there would be no question, it would stay in my garage, but sadly it isn't mine and I am only trying to help my Uncle get the most he can out of it. I appreciate everything I have read so far, it has helped.