78 Z1R Turbo

I was just at the bike shop yesterday and noticed a bad to the bone machine. Although I never really liked the look of these bikes this one made me drool. Black coffin shaped tank that looked almost as good as the day when new with one exception. The bike was turboed out and looked as if it were a factory original piece. The asking price on this bike is 9 grand. What would it really be worth?
It is not original but looks like one serious machine up to the exhaust pipes even mounted to the place where normal pipes mounted as if the pipe were made to go there.
I will have to go back and take a picture to put up but I am sure it will be put up on ebay before the end of the week.

www.turbomotorcycles.org/TMIOA/Bike_Kawasaki_Z1RTC.html

I had one of them. Junk best describes my thoughts on the model.

RonKZ650 wrote:

I had one of them. Junk best describes my thoughts on the model.

my god i once again find myself agreeing with Ron,i really must get counseling!:woohoo:

10.9 second quarter....that's smokin' for 1978/79.

Also says something that yer average 600 cc sportbike is quicker than that now.

What gave y'all that have responded so far the low opinion of them?

ttttttttttttuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuurbo llllllllllllllaaaaaaaggggggggggggg,tempormental overheating not to mention just plain ugly in my book.the plain old blue 78 z1rs were just perfect the way they were,just needed a little tuning!

po boy wrote:

10.9 second quarter....that's smokin' for 1978/79.

Also says something that yer average 600 cc sportbike is quicker than that now.

What gave y'all that have responded so far the low opinion of them?

Several things on mine. Mine only had 800 miles on it and was all stock. Some of my memories included replacing fouled plugs every time I rode it regardless of how the carb was set. Zenith carb was trash and fuel could not be drained, so stale gas was the norm after sitting a couple months. General aftermarket feel to the turbo, lots of lag, the way the throttle cables hooked up was a kluge at best, no way to ever get idle. Absolutely no documentation on any of the motorcycle to help getting the turbo to actually work in a street environment. Worst part was the black Molly paintjob that was pretty dang ugly and very fragile. I guess it used the same blinkers as the standard Z1R, if so they are black plastic and constantly come loose inside causing flopping signals which seemed cheap looking next to other chrome metal signals. Just little gripes that ruined it for me. I'm sure the turbo could be made to work, but the way it was stock didn't work well. If mine was not that black one, and had original 78 Z1R bodywork colors I probably would have had more interest in making it work. Supposedly Kawasaki only made a few hundred original silver ones, then the black ones were actually brand new silver paintwork repainted out in California. I've never to this day seen a factory Z1R-TC in original silver, but I've known at least 10 of the black ones just here in Denver alone, that seems awful strange if they only made a few hundred.

i guess its bluish siler im thinking about,but like Ron said they were much nicer looking bikes;)

Aftermarket turbos have come a long way in the last few years.

I've never experienced anything else like a modern, big bore turbo sportbike.

Waaaaay to hairy chested for my taste, but I can see how that kinda power is addicting....if you like riding something that wants you to wear it like a hat at 150+ mph.

po boy wrote:

Aftermarket turbos have come a long way in the last few years.

I've never experienced anything else like a modern, big bore turbo sportbike.

Waaaaay to hairy chested for my taste, but I can see how that kinda power is addicting....if you like riding something that wants you to wear it like a hat at 150+ mph.

Well then, I was just curious to know. I didn't think it was stock. The people who took it in on trade said that it was owned by some guy who had a speed shop here in Chicago and he did a lot of turbos back in the day. But like I said it was so clean it looked like something from the factory.
That said I am considering, actually more like almost convinced, doing a Mr. Turbo kit on my bike with the addition of a 1327 kit. These turbos are much better than this right? I mean I know that the 30 year old bikes are not as quick as the new bikes but I have ridden both and happen to like the feel of the kz's and wanted to do my bike up to look and sound like the business. If the 1327 turbo combination is going to be trouble even for weekend fun as I have a stock ltd that will stay very close to that then I don't think I want to drop all that money on a constant headache.

Nowadays, with E.F.I., intercoolers and water injection, they're getting stupid amounts of power (400+ h.p.) on pump gas out of Busas, 12s, 14s, etc.

I'm sure there's some excellent resources out there for you to look at if you dig.

You could ask the members at www.labusas.org (under Bike Talk). You gotta join to ask. Someone there will send you on the right path. Most of those guys owned big bore standards or U.J.M.s back in the day.

Well for one I am not looking for stupid amounts of power just something to run those new bikes with and make them respect the old school. But more for me that I had planned on doing something wild and crazy to this bike when I first bought it 16 years ago and now finally have some money to do it right. I thought a turbo on a dinosaur would be a rare view and well it's that or 1200 NA. I really don't know at this point any more. I get excited one moment and want to just do something and then the next moment I think about fixing my house up. The bike is just gonna have to be done and radical style so that I feel like I spent my money on the right thing. The busas have always caught my eye but I think for me stock with a pipe and leave her alone just like that. My brother's gsxr 1000 was a very fast bike that I had difficulty keeping the front wheel on the ground and a stupid smile off my face as I was on one wheel getting on the 405 ramp going downhill with my girl on the back and she never even knew that it was up for the entire time until I merged with traffic. But after all of that when I ride my ltd I love it more than anything new I have ridden. It just is. I still love the busa though.