It just landed in our lap.. new kz 900 z1?

Okay so.. this became "ours" today. (boyfreinds and mine.)

and because we all love eye candy....

and....

and the weirdest attachment welded on a kickstand ever...

What we know so far is it's a 1976 (1975 on frame) kz 900. It has z1 stamped on both engine and frame. It has been painted that aweful colour you see now. It looks like it was a very pretty blue once before. It is in AWESOME shape. and.. I get to test ride it Sunday... The carbs also have a bad leak (nothing new to me there.. LOL)

Okay so many many questions here.. is this considered a z1 or just a kz 900? How do you tell the difference? Where do I find that site for frame/engine numbers to see if they match up or the engine has been replaced? Is this considered a 75 or 76 bike? How do I figure out the number assigned (that A1, B etc...) and anything else you can point me to...

Thanks!

KZ900 Baby, Yeah! Nice score! Looks in great shape. The vin's for a '76 are as follows:



What's your plans for it?

Joe

Okay so it looks like a A4 frame with a b1 engine? frame is z1f095... and engine is z1e117... so thats a replaced engine...

We really have no idea what we are doing with it as of yet.. LOL we are both still spinning with joy over it being ours.... Sounds like we are going to lower it a bit so I can reach better to drive it. We need to clean and rebuild the carbs and it needs new sprockets and chain. It's probably going to get a paint job also. That's as much as either of us know yet.. As we make decisions I'll keep ya updated.

Nice score there itll be a beauty
i think im up in your neck of the woods right now
im at work at LDI mine up the armstrong highway
rode up about 2 weeks ago
8 shifts left then home to north bay
about 1200 km down hwy 17 very nice senic ride
enjoy the new 900

bekz wrote: Okay so it looks like a A4 frame with a b1 engine? frame is z1f095... and engine is z1e117... so thats a replaced engine...

We really have no idea what we are doing with it as of yet.. LOL we are both still spinning with joy over it being ours.... Sounds like we are going to lower it a bit so I can reach better to drive it. We need to clean and rebuild the carbs and it needs new sprockets and chain. It's probably going to get a paint job also. That's as much as either of us know yet.. As we make decisions I'll keep ya updated.

The paint seems fine, I would keep it and use the money for something else. At least where I live getting a a good paint job replicating the original one would set me back 600-700$, and that would be cheap.

And I would rather keep an original paint iwht some dents, maybe patching it a little bit or leaving it as is, then painting it in a non original scheme. But this would only apply if you'r thinking of keeping it fairly stock.

Nice find!!!! Yep, based on the numbers provided, you have a 1976 KZ900-A4 (and the frame and motor VINs are within range...see www.zedder.com under Bike Info, then by motor size). Starting with the 1976 year model (manuf. 1975), the frame and motor VIN no longer were 'close' in sequence as they were assembled at two sites (Japan and Nebraska...yours is a Japanese bike) with each site having an identifier in the VIN. The motors, however, still only came from a single series. You can envision why the motor/frame VINs could no longer be in series.

The paint and sidecover emblems, however, says "I'm a 1974 Z1-A"...if that is original paint on the tank and tail piece, and they clean up well, it might be worth selling them outright, particularly if you intend on a repaint anyway.

great score...it looks as the chain adjusters are at max....and worth a peek ,if that chain might come off.....

the side covers other than paint color are A4 type,fit the kz frames and the plastic tail looks like an early 900 the tail light is another clue to it being a kz900..you got the start of a really nice thing there
little stuff makes z1/kz diff...no round reflectors on the fork legs

Astro LUV's it....

Great score! The paint looks like the PO was trying to replicate the 1974 Z1 paint scheme:

1974 Z1

congrats on the awesome score.

leon

Thanks everyone.

The paint job looks good on camera, not so much in real life.. It's definately a copy job as 650ed pointed out. Yeah the chain is done for. We can't even adjust it. That will be a priority fix for her. An old but temp chain will be tossed on just for a "test drive" this weekend. :woohoo:

Thanks for the engine/frame # link! That is a nice resource to have.

Jeff, do you head towards tbay at all while on shift up there? I haven't been up armstrong yet this year but it sure is a pretty ride. Construction between armstrong and tbay is quite nasty right now....

We are not sure of future paint schemes.. most likely green as I'm a bit nutz over that colour.. hehe

I like Astro's reaction. :laugh:

My dog.. well... she seems not to care...