Design life expectancy of a Kz

The Z1 ,KZ900 and KZ1000 have to be the most reliable and durable large capacity machines of that era, IMO. A lot is always made of Honda's reliability, but in the 70's to early 80's they had a lot of bikes with well documented problems, while others were pretty bullet proof. I've read a number of tests in the classic magazines where they extol the ground breaking virtues of various Honda models, never mentioning the issues these bikes had when first introduced, the V4's being a recent example. I've owned a lot of Honda's and still have 3 Honda bikes, but in 1982 when I was looking for a new bike in the UK, I avoided the Honda 900 I was originally set on, because of the valve issues those early 16 valve units had and bought a Kawasaki Z1000J instead.

I don't know if they actively thought in terms of a design life on these early 4 strokes, but Kawasaki certainly moved motorcycle longevity a long way down the road from what it had been, I recall a time when 12.000 miles was high mileage, to begin to see and hear of bikes with 40-50k on them still running the original engine was quite a landmark for me. You also have to keep in mind that in the 70's cars didn't last too long either compared to today's models and 60k was considered high miles for them.

Given how long they lasted in the day and the massive improvements in oil since the days they were new, I would imagine a new KZ1000, well maintained and ridden sensibly could easily go to 100k without a problem.

It's interesting to consider how more recent bikes will fare down the road in terms of popularity as classic models. We tend to get stuck in the era of bikes that caught our imagination as teens and young men, so I can for example never feel excited about the bikes that cam after the air cooled Kawasaki's, the GPz900 as an example, a great bike in it's day, but I've never had the urge to own one either then or now. For someone of a different age that could be completely the opposite. Certainly when I read of today's bikes with all their electronics etc. I find myself wondering why I would want or need all that and wondering how long they will be viable to repair down the road.

Just look at the fuel injected KZ classic. Major fail. The Honda 750 Had oil jets in the head. A common problem was them getting clogged and wiping out the cam. I never regretted buying my Z1.
Steve

In 32 years of riding bikes, I can attest to my own experiences with high mileage. My first roadbike was 1989 FZR600 that I took care of and sold with 50k miles on it, trouble free. Not bad for a sport bike ridden by an 18 year old. I also had a 2000 GSXR750 that I sold with nearly 60k miles on it, also trouble free. 2001 Yamaha R6, 40k miles trouble free. My most recent experience, before the GPZ, was a 1992 BMW K75S. I did nearly 100k miles on it, replaced the fuel injectors once which was my own doing.

I think bikes are fine, especially modern bikes, if they are loved. Just like cars. This '92 GPZ I have is cherry and other than a couple of niggling issues thus far. I expect it to last me many years.

My 69 F 250 I've rolled the odometer over three times. 2nd engine. A 390. The last one was a 360. Some bikes, trucks and cars are built better than others. Now it's "planned obsolescence." Been happening since the 70's.
Steve

just like cars, mileage isn't really an issue, total running hours and cold starts is a factor, but really it how they are looked after.

I think they needed to build these strong to avoid a deluge of expensive warranty claims from riders abusing them, and the ones that were looked after better are the ones that have survived. Being able to wind it into the redline and miss gears -even cam timing a tooth out and they still survive thanks to generous clearances. I guess less than 10 percent of these kz still running now, although crashing and theft is probably what kills most of these bikes over the years.

Interesting dealer's memories of the quality and reliability issues with the GPz1100 back in the day, they had taken the original 750/4 design to the max and the limiting factors were starting to show.

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