I hit 130 on the z1 tonight

ltdrider wrote:

I think that, if your speedo "indicates" 100, well, that's close enough!

I find as I get older ( wiser? ) that speed is not the most important thing to me on my Z1. But someday I'm going to have Bob @ Z- Resto redo all my gauges and see if that helps mine be a little closer to the true speed.

my speedo is bust so it lives it own life - sometimes it sticks so when i park i can see my topspeed still indicating in the speedo - give it a few knocks and it slowly goes back to 0 .

i've also noticed it won't go past 140 km/h - but that might be the bike ...very little omph at that point ...

still waiting for new carbs, valve adjustment + + + (but not now!! it's still dry and nice riding conditions outside guess i can live with it running with some ponies on holidays )

Here is an interesting thing- my Z1 speedo is the most accourate speedo I have on ANY bike in the stable, either mine or a customers. Tested it by GPS< radar AND certified speedo. Dead nuts on.

Bike went 127, flat ground, no headwind. 1975 Z1 B, 4 into 1 Kerker, "cheese grater" style aircleaner- otherwise, all stock.

took forever to go from 120-127, but got to 120 pretty quickly!

FWIW- my Sabre speedo is the worst I have ever tested- over 30mph off at top speed!

I think my speedo is pretty accurate too. I have this excel spreadsheet I picked up on the web; you input your gear ratios, sprocket sizes, wheel sizes, tire sizes, and rpm. It tells me I should be doing 58mph at 4500 rpm. Guess what? That is exactly what the speedo reads at 4500 rpm. The chart says at 5500 rpm I should be at 70mph, and I am.
I'd really like to check it with a GPS unit.

Pretty much all the tests back in 1975-1980 on KZs were the same, and the speedo was about 5mph optomistic at highway speeds. Of course every speedo is a little different and a different circumference front tire can change things too. I can't remember the last time I was over 100mph, maybe back in 1985 on a GPZ750 on a roadrace course right before I wrecked it. No it was probably a Yamaha FZR1000 back in 1989 when I got reckless driving. Well didn't wreck that one for a couple more weeks and another wreckless driving citation. Speed doesn't matter to me anymore, been there, got the reckless driving tickets and roadrash too. Good riddence to that

The speedo on the 1000 is off by 8mph, I have rode thru these road side radar signs, they put them up in work areas to try and get you to slow down by showing your speed, and every time it is 8 off, seems like just about every kz I have been around they are all off.
Its my guess that who ever did the conversion from kpm to mph at the factory missed it

BSKZ650 wrote:

they put them up in work areas to try and get you to slow down by showing your speed

They put those speed signs up on the fwys here sometimes. But I think they have the opposite effect. Everyone mashes on the gas pedal like they're at the drag strip. My personal best is 93mph in a Nissan Pickup. :laugh:

Haha,,, these sneaky !@#$% have been known to sit off to the side with the laser and nail you, no mercy


ltdrider wrote:

BSKZ650 wrote:

they put them up in work areas to try and get you to slow down by showing your speed

They put those speed signs up on the fwys here sometimes. But I think they have the opposite effect. Everyone mashes on the gas pedal like they're at the drag strip. My personal best is 93mph in a Nissan Pickup. :laugh: