Bike of the Month.

Ah yes..., The Wounded Z.  Death by a thousand rust & corrosion pits.  It was not just a project; it became a Project.  The capital 'P' is earned when the item or workpiece extracts a blood sacrifice.  Still blood spots on the shop floor ( gives it 'shop cred... ' ).
(Legal disclaimer - No motorcycles or motorcycle parts were injured during this Project.)

We really struggled with how to approach this bike's original finishes.  Had the motor not been stuck & two cylinders not been filled with the pictured mystery goo (seen in the linked thread), we would not have done a frame-off or split the cases.  We'd have left the OEM finishes as-found & just cleaned.  Age patina on steroids.  Considering what we found in the two cylinders, we didn't trust that the crank & tranny were in operational condition.  Turns out they were in VGC. 

Other stuff: The hollow cams were a real surprise.  The way the #60(!) chain squeaked & shed rust was disturbing as the rear wheel rotated when we wheeled it into the shop.  One (only 1!) cotter pin in the master link of that farm implement chain .  Carb slides not stuck!  VIN sticker in VGC.  Near-rust-free tank internals (still don't understand that) !.  The contrasts of the varying conditions of the parts on this bike were remarkable.

Seeing as how the cases were split, we decided it was appropriate to paint the motor, which would have presented a very glaring contrast if reinstalled in the rusted / pitted frame & associated ferrous parts.  Paint one, paint the other.  The deeply-pitted & corroded polished aluminum motor covers had to be dealt with too, so as to not detract from the fresh motor paint.  Everything else was cleaned & refurbed, leaving as much patina as possible.  We're still astonished at how well jewelers rouge & hours of patient rubbing by The Lovely Z1BEBE brought back the OEM tankset paint.  Then there was needed chrome; the rims, and torque link, and starter cover, and..., and..., and...

Speaking of The Lovely Z1BEBE; this Project was her first foray into the joys of a click torque wrench.  A monster resulted.  slmjim quickly learned that he had created a shop-dwelling being that he'd best not get between and a case (or any other) fastener needing torqued.  To her good nature & work ethic, she only whined a little about the war paint on her nails while at the wire wheel .  Her time at the vapor blast cabinet is now the stuff of family legend.

This bike was a fun & challenging Project.  They're out there, although becoming increasingly rare, just waiting to be discovered & brought back to life.  Seems we've heard of a KZ900 here on KZR recently that the owner is interested in making ready as his next project.  Or Project.

Thanks for the kudos everyone!  We truly appreciate it.  This stroll down memory lane has reawakened many fond memories.

Good Ridin'
slmjim & Z1BEBE

Nice work !

Excellent Save & Work Slim & Mrs.!
You do Very Nice Work Jim!! It helps to love what you do! With that Z1 addiction!
I miss having a complete Z1-KZ!  All those parts! All those years! I hustled them, almost 48 years now!
Still have some miscellaneous part restores going!
Old Harley dragbike project. Got my Z1 disc's machined down for the Z1 hub 6 bolt with an 18" Akront.  Interesting project this is.
We got my shop partners Supercharged AA/Gasser ready. (Caged Heat)
We'll be at the old Thompson, OH. now "KUHNLE" Dragstrip June, 1-2

Marty in Buffalo

It's that time of the month again where we celebrate another great restoration of an old KZ. We are in Germany this month for Calum's stunning 750Ltd.Here's a brief history of the bike: 1980 KZ750H (Ltd)My Dad had it rusting away in a corner of his shed in northern BC, Canada. He swapped some mining stuff for it a while back. He said he'd pay the freight to Germany if I paid customs and if it looked like a new bike when I was finished. I went back over to Canada and serviced the brakes and the shocks, then we took it down as far as Quesnel on the trailer and I rode down to Vancouver over the next two days (about 600km).Got it back to Germany on the 3rd of May 2019 and rode it home from Frankfurt (about 300km). Completely disassembled it and restored it as per my project thread ( KZ750H Restoration - KZRider Forum - KZRider, KZ, Z1 & Z Motorcycle Enthusiast's Forum  I bolted the tank on (at the time, this was the final piece) exactly a year to the day after getting it home. Most of the parts are original (restored or NOS), the indicators and taillight are replica parts. The only non-original and non-replica parts are the handlebars (I have the originals on the shelf and did try to use them, but they're just too narrow). The paint is Kawasaki Ebony Black but no pin stripes on the tank and the motor isn't usually painted on this model, but the crankcase was in pretty bad shape so I used the black paint to hide it I actually like it better with the black engine though. So all in all it's almost a "proper" restoration, but with a few personal touches.

Well done Sir! 

You have some fine skills!

​​​​​I too like the engine black...

H.

Germanys next Top Model, Calum did  a perfect rebuild as always without Heidi Klum. 

Great work and cool to keep it in the family.

A fine example of what can be done to restore a classic Kawasaki.
Your workmanship is awesome !!!!!
Dave

A full tear down and rebuild in a year, wow!

High quality work.  The black engine was the right choice.

Beautiful work. Well done!

Fantastic