76 Z1 Dealer Prototype?

blanham8 wrote:

Talking about this? It's my dad's and he is trying to sell it.

KZ 1,000 commemorative

The Americazation of Kawasaki

June 78'- Lincoln, Nebraska
36 out of 200

Wow! Nothing on that bike matches the Commemorative Edition. Not the fairing, not the luggage, not the front fender, not anything.
Wonder how it was determined that it was 36 of 200??
I do have to ask though, 200 what?


Edit 27 Jan

I just discovered that if you click on the pic of the ugly bike above, instead of getting an enlarged pic of the ugly bike you get an enlarged pic of a different bike, what appears to be a real Commemorative bike.

Wonder how that was done?

Why did I just look through this thread?
I hate it when I puke a bit in my mouth.

blanham8...that is a P model Police bike (KZ1000P)...year unknown.

EDIT 28 January 2011

Steell pointed out the posting oddity with the Commemorative Edition (aka CE) only appearing after you click on the ugly cop bike. I suspect your dad will be unhappy with any offers he gets on an open forum (like eBay) as the market for the CE just never developed and certainly didn't translate into increased value, other than that for a standard KZ1000A2.

Jeff.Saunders wrote:

The Gringo wrote:

Jeff was that the one we were all oohing and aahing over last year at Mid-Ohio?

Yes, that's Greg's bike

RonKZ650 wrote:

The white one was a late 1978 KZ1000A2A. "spirit of America" 200 were made in Lincoln, NE as Kawasaki's "smallest limited edition". 1976 saw the KZ900A4 or the 900LTD KZ900B1. No special model in 1976, so I call balony. The guy probably has one of the 50 900LTDs made that year :laugh: I'm reading this in Micky Hesse book Kawasaki Z1 that cover all the Z1 up to the Z1R-TC and everything in between.

The Spirit of America is NOT the KZ1000-A2A. The A2A is a California spec 1000 - identical to the KZ1000-A2 except for emissions stuff - carb parts primarily. The Spirit of America bikes don't appear in the fiche.

The Hesse book has this 'information' incorrect.
If you want to spent the time, go to the Kawasaki parts fiche and review the carb parts - they are the only things different.

I'm still not so sure the A2A was only California model spec. This has been talked about and I'm still not convinced. I've seen black A2A from the east coast that claim one owner for sale, also have my KZ650B2A that sold brand new in Colorado. For sure 1000A2A and 650B2A are late production 1978 to comply with carb emissions requirements later in the year as the serial numbers directly follow 1000A2 and 650B2 but whether they were CA models only I still don't think. There were about 14000 1000A2 built total for the world and 7700 A2A, so California accounted for 1/3 the total distrubution of 1978 KZ1000 for the whole world? I don't think. Also I have my MKII 1979 A3A that was sold in Colorado new. I'm not arguing, just still think the CA theory is wrong, so it's entirely possible the A2A could have been the spirit of america. Next one comes up on ebay hopefully with VIN # we can check it out.

Ron, look at the parts diagrams on www.kawasaki.com . The KZ1000-A2A fiche are clearly for a STANDARD kawasaki street bike. If you spend the time going through the fiche (and I have), you will see the ONLY difference between the A2 and the A2A are carb parts impacting emissions...

Were these A2A bikes were sold exclusively in California? No
But I do know they are jetted leaner than the A2 models AND according to Kawasaki paper reference information, they refer to them as California spec bikes... Some people have referred to them as 1978 1/2 models - and that's probably a better way of describing them. 1978 was a year where Kawasaki was battling to get their bike to conform to EPA emissions standards. You'll see 6 different configurations of carbs/jetting on the fiche for 1978. There are also even more carb configurations as I've pulled apart 78 KZ1000 carbs and found needles not even referenced on the fiche... The acetate fiche provide more info than the online fiche.

Here is the Kawasaki production information - directly from Kawasaki fiche... you'll notice significantly more than 200 A2A models where manufactured
1978 KZ1000-A2 Standard -
- Frame numbers
KZT00A027501 - 033450 (Made in Japan)
KZT00A507027 - 515034 (Made in USA)
1978 KZ1000-A2A Standard -
- Frame numbers
KZT00A034226 - 037430 (Made in Japan)
KZT00A515035 - 519537 (Made in USA)

You're right there. I misunderstood. For sure the Spirit of America was a 1978 KZ1000. I don't believe they had specific serial number any different than a standard model applied to them. So I was saying I'm not sure the Spirit of america came out of the A2 or A2A run. Could have been either or even some of each. This is what I meant. If you've already got info they were A2 and not A2A that's fine, and we'll leave it at that. For sure I don't want one, so it doesn't matter too awful much.

The way I understand it, if you did want one, all you'd have to do is buy a 78 KZ1000A2, pick up the standard Vetter stuff on eBay, paint the bike to match the Commemorative bikes, and "Presto", you have a 78 Commemorative bike.

Since apparently there is no record of the serial numbers for the 200 Commemorative bikes, no one could prove yours wasn't original.

Kind of makes them worthless as far as collecting goes.

I have been looking at these bikes for about 6 years and trying to gather as much info on frame, engine and Commemorative numbers as possible. Every Commemorative I have received information on has fallen in the range of Commemorative #7 had frame number KZT00A 516007 to Commemorative #181 with frame # KZT00A 516281. Based on this I think the 200 bikes had frame numbers KZT00A 516000 through frame # KZT00A 516300. This would all these bikes A2A models per the Z1 web site. I know of 2 bikes in Commemorative dress that are just above this range and neither bike has a number on the tank. One person from the ride felt that Kawasaki produced more than 200 Commemoratives and handled that by not putting a number on the tank. The frame numbers for the 2 bikes I am aware of end in 302 & 304 which relates to the ride participants memory. I would appreciate anyone with a Commemorative posting the information on their bike. Commemorative #, Frame #, Engine #
Craig Vetter is trying to document the serial numbers on the dress items and that information would also be appreciated. Decals coming soon!

AzureBob wrote: I have been looking at these bikes for about 6 years and trying to gather as much info on frame, engine and Commemorative numbers as possible. Every Commemorative I have received information on has fallen in the range of Commemorative #7 had frame number KZT00A 516007 to Commemorative #181 with frame # KZT00A 516281. Based on this I think the 200 bikes had frame numbers KZT00A 516000 through frame # KZT00A 516300. This would all these bikes A2A models per the Z1 web site. I know of 2 bikes in Commemorative dress that are just above this range and neither bike has a number on the tank. One person from the ride felt that Kawasaki produced more than 200 Commemoratives and handled that by not putting a number on the tank. The frame numbers for the 2 bikes I am aware of end in 302 & 304 which relates to the ride participants memory. I would appreciate anyone with a Commemorative posting the information on their bike. Commemorative #, Frame #, Engine #
Craig Vetter is trying to document the serial numbers on the dress items and that information would also be appreciated. Decals coming soon!

If you could document the frame VIN's with respect to the Commemorative issue, you'd being doing a service to all Kawasaki geeks...this has remained unsubstantiated...perhaps until now.

roy-b-boy-b wrote: Jeff.Saunders wrote:

The Gringo wrote:

Jeff was that the one we were all oohing and aahing over last year at Mid-Ohio?

Yes, that's Greg's bike

Someone needs to die for doing that to that poor kawi!