personal opinion

floivanus wrote: and drive up the prices of these bikes so far that a normal joe wont be able to afford it. whereas once again, the parts are being made and you can keep eleven on the road instead of just ten.

Obviously, the demand for the old metal is still there otherwise there wouldn't be a community like this, places like Z1 enterprises and APE wouldn't exist and kawasaki wouldn't have made the 90s line of zephyrs (which were a step backwards, if I wanted a modern bike I'd rather have one with the more powerful, better geared ninja or concours motor instead)

Ill trade you a side cover and a gas tank from a 78 kz1000
for the 550

What is being produced new that is more affordable than buying used? I'd rather spend more up front and have a pool of cheap used parts.

I'm not sure how much cheaper you expect bikes to be. The 80s KZs can be had under $1000 if you shop around. Sure the 70s models are more rare and expensive but I expect them to be, they are more collectible and that means you got to pay to play.

Wow, some interesting reading,. When i bought my bike I seriously considered parting it out if it did not make financial sense to fix it up. I paid parts bike price for my kz and fortunately I was able to fix the minor problems myself with a small supply of parts. All the parts suppliers make almost every part for our bikes but would cost a small fortune to build one that way if you had a large parts order. I think where most of these bikes get parted is because they are started as a project and stripped down and then the owner loses interest and/or money and then parting is the best way to recover their money. Its very hard to sell a bike and get anything for it if you have to carry it out in boxes. There are some used parts on my bike that came from parted bikes (thank goodness for those bikes) it saved me alot of money and I can enjoy riding my kz.

if you try and biuld a old kz to make money STOP
if you build a old bike cause its what you want CONTINUE
The bikes cost what they cost if you want one get it now thatll save you some coin
if you cant afford one and want one buy cheap broken bikes and fix them
then sell them for a profit
thats how i got mine when i was poor

pay to play? of course, but it'll come a time that everyone will be paying to much. if that's alright with you guys, that's fine.

I wish there was such thing as cheap broken bikes around me, like I've said, scrapping is big time where I'm at, used to see a few kzs around in barns and what not near me, asked a few owners today when me and the boy were out riding and they all say the same thing... with the price of scrap the way it is... and for you early fans one was an H2, but hey it's his right? and before i get lombasted, he would sell it to me for $4000 but cut it up and loaded it with his scrap a few months ago.

A side cover and a tank? I have a tank, side cover and tail off a 78 kz1000, the old man's bike that he was on the night he had his fatal crash. in suprisingly great condition considering how the rest of it looked..

im sorry for your loss

might be part of the why of me wanting a specific bike BUUUUuuuuuuuuuuut not really the point in and of itself.

He used to part all sorts of kzs, gave me my hatred of parting things, he never liked it one bit. trust me though, if his was salvagable I'd be all over it already... off of it, got a liscense plate, mangled rear fender, tank, tail fin, and side-cover... And a freaky picture of the last thing he touched, the windshield of the car he ran into.

Trying to figure out how to convert the tank into an urn though, figure that'd be a fitting memorial for him... Always said he'd ride that thing until the day he died, and he would have to go out in a firey inferno.

2 words- Supply and Demand

im so confused...i'm gonna go for a ride in the morning and then come back and re-read this to see if i can make sense of it....my bike that i'm going to ride is at the very least 30% parts from other bikes and the parts that came off mine went away in a mass sale...to be some way maybe on a another mans ride..what does this mean

ride on

right on

write on

My Z1 was resurrected by parts bikes. It was shot after me letting it sit to long (13) years to be exact. I lean towards the thinking like you especially if it is a stock for the most part bike, but donor bikes are needed weather we like it or not. I will never part out anything I own but that is just me. My 71 Chevelle needs to be pulled out of the weeds soon so I can get her on the road again now that I think of it, and a donor car will be needed I am sure.

I paid $250 for my Z1 and it was a runner 30 years ago before the collectors started collecting them. I sure wish I could find another one for that price

I can understand the sentiment behind your posts floivanus but sentiment and reality rarely meet. While in the big picture of old KZ's it may be nice to think of trying to keep every one on the road, if I have one that is worth more as parts than as a whole and I don't want it, the 'big picture' fades pretty quickly. Loving these bikes and the act of parting them out are not mutually exclusive, its just that like most sentiments, they don't work in real life.

If you want lower cost bikes with kick starts that resemble the early Kawas, the KZ650s have kick starts (until 81?) and look like Z1s. GS750 through '79 hav kicks starts and also look quite similar to a Z1 if you're a bit roomy in your definitions. Both cost much less than Z1s. And both are arguably better motorcycles. Or you could get a Z1000 MkII, which is also cheaper besides being a better handler, and dress it like an earlier Zed.