'75 Z1B found sitting in a garage

I wanted to share some photos and info of this Z1B that I bought a couple days ago.
A few weeks ago I entered my '76 KZ900LTD in a local bike show. I received a phone call last Thursday from the company who'd transported the 900 for me saying there was a guy who'd called them asking about it and saying he had a bike he wanted to sell.
I called the guy up to let him know my LTD isn't for sale and to ask him what he had for sale.
Well he had his brothers 1975 Z1B that had been sitting in a garage and hadn't been started in 30 years according to him. I made it over to see him a couple days later and found a pretty neat bike sitting under a blanket on it's centerstand.
The bike had been ridden by his brother for a couple years before he passed away and then parked. I asked if he was serious about selling it and he said he wanted $3,500. A quick run to Wells Fargo and I returned with a truck and trailer to haul my Z1B home.
The bike has the original Dunlop Gold Seal front tire, some LTD style pipes, a not so cool LTD style seat, original grips, tool kit with the little feeler gauge, owners manual and warranty card, and some light fading of the paint on the tailpiece. Other than that the bike looks new.
It won't start but cranks no problem. I suspect the carbs are going to need a total cleaning job.
Anyway heres a few photos.







Pretty cool to find one of the survivor bikes sitting in a garage. Even cooler that it's in my garage now!

Nice! HOW LONG did it take to clean after 30 years for the photo?
Not bad! A $10,000 grand cycle easy after you clean the valve seats from sitting that long, and hope the rings are free? Lucky you! I have been there over the last 30 years a couple of times.

Nice Score anyway! Japan always wants them Z1's for $5000 - $7500 with match #'s & title.

Wow! Nice bike and great deal! I can hear you grinning from here! :laugh: Ed

Very nice. Rare to find something original for the most part and not priced in the rediculous zone as most are.

Yes it was quite a surprise to walk in that garage and see the bike sitting there in that condition.
I didn't have to do much to get it cleaned up. Some Mothers aluminum polish some chrome polish and just some time spent detailing it.
It sat under cover in a warm garage all that time so the clean up was mostly minor.
As far as getting it to run we'll see how extensive that'll be when I get some time to dig into the carbs.
I'm back at work now for three weeks and the Z1 is back to sitting in a garage but it's my garage.
And yeah I think I got a heck of a deal considering what these bikes are being sold for on ebay.
It's nice to find one in unrestored original condition. I'll put an original seat back on it eventually locate some 4 into 4 pipes and get rid of the tires and put some Dunlop Elite II's on it and call it good.

Great score! You just fell into what we all dream about. I had a Z1B, purchased new, and I still think about it

Very nice find. It renews my hope that there's still one more out there just waiting to be found.

Awesome find!!!

Grizz,

The police should be there soon. You absolutely stole this bike! Great Great Find. Good for you, take care.

OMR's barn find lookin weak compared to this !....hahahahaha

Now that's what I call a sweet deal. Two super nice bikes brother.

Hey guys. Yup it's been a couple weeks almost since I bought the bike and it's starting to sink in just how lucky this purchase was. I mean anyone can restore one of these. Anyone can buy a restored one. I'd much rather have an unrestored original in this kind of condition. To me it's got much more meaning character and value compared to a bike thats been restored.
Since I bought it I have been away from home at work but the bike was dropped off at Squeaks O'Connor's home shop in Anchorage and he got it running for me within a couple hours. Squeaks is a well known highly respected former Kawasaki dealer and drag racer from Anchorage who has been a Kawasaki racer and fanatic for over 40 years. He's 71 now and sorta retired but still races a 750 triple dragbike. 71 and still running 10 second 1/4 miles. Yup. My hero.
His dealership sold this bike to the brother of the guy I bought it from back in '75 and he told me he'd intended to buy it. The guy had called him about getting it running but hadn't ever gotten around to getting it delivered it to him. When it was dropped off at his shop he called me and said holy hell I didn't know it was this bike that you were talking about. I'd told him over the phone only that I just bought a real clean Z1 and he said you didn't buy it you stole it. It wasn't getting spark and the carbs were grimed up but it idles smoothly at 900 rpm and runs like new.
I bought a reproduction original a seat from Z1 parts and am going to sell the one that's on it in these photos, got a couple Continental Classic tires for it, a couple new long stem mirrors, some rear foot pegs and will eventually buy some 4 into 4 pipes from ebay but for now the LTD pipes will stay on it.
I've received a couple offers on the bike for a hell of a lot more than I paid but I'm gonna keep this one. It's an investment type bike but I am going to ride it now and then. I've got the 900LTD to ride when I want to rip around but the Z1 will be the sunny Sunday and bike gathering ride.
It's just really cool that there are deals like this to be had sitting in a garage waiting to be found. I do feel like I stole it but if it wasn't me it'd been somebody else. Lucky me eh?