Frame differences 1976 KZ900 A and B

I have two bikes here. First one a 1976 KZ900B LTD. KZ900B503XXX. VIN # stamped on left side of neck. Black frame.

The second bike I recently picked up recently KZ900503XXX Stamped on right side of neck. Frame painted white sometime in the past..
First pic is the A. Don't judge me on the wad of wiring, it's a work in progress.

Idk.. where does the white bike fit into this number range?
The LTD has "KZ900B503xxx... stamped on the neck.
The white bike has "KZ900503xxx stamped on the neck but according to this should it also have the "B" in the VIN #, but it doesn't. It also has a 77 KZ1000 engine.

1976 Z900-A4
FRAME NUMBER: Z1F-085701 >
ENGINE NUMBER: Z1E-086001 >
COLOUR: DIAMOND DARK GREEN OR DIAMOND BROWN
A few extra models
rolled off the American production line in Lincoln in 1977 known as the KZ900-A5.

1976 KZ900-B1 LTD
FRAME NUMBER: KZ900B-500011 >
ENGINE NUMBER: Z1E- 108503 >
COLOUR: CLASSIC RED

KZ900 was produced in Japan and in the USA. The US models all begin with S/N 5xxxxx .

Engines came from Japan and were simply an extension of the Z1B engine numbers, which ended around 87500. KZ900 engines would begin with Z1E - XXXXXX. Early KZ900's would have a S/N less than 100,000.

The "B" in the serial number indicates it's an LTD model. If there is no B then it was a standard model. KZ1000's used "A" to designate the standard model. I'm not sure if that was done with the KZ900. It may have simply been Z1F-xxxxxx.

It's unusual to have the S/N stamped on the right side of the neck. I've never seen that. Every one I've seen has been on the left side, from bottom to top.

It's unusual to have the S/N stamped on the right side of the neck. I've never seen that. Every one I've seen has been on the left side, from bottom to top.

That has been my observation also. This VIN# runs from top to bottom.

Frames/bikes made for the European market had the VIN stamped on the right side of the steering neck.

Z900 A4 Frame and rebuild

z-classiker-berichte.z1000j.de/Alben/Hanno/index.html

1981kz750ltd wrote: I have two bikes here. First one a 1976 KZ900B LTD. KZ900B503XXX. VIN # stamped on left side of neck. Black frame.

The second bike I recently picked up recently KZ900503XXX Stamped on right side of neck. Frame painted white sometime in the past..
First pic is the A. Don't judge me on the wad of wiring, it's a work in progress.

The 1976 KZ900 street model came with a rear drum brake.

Good Fortune!

Interesting comments. Perhaps this bike was built for European export and that's why it has the rear disc? Was it diverted from export and sold domestically ? Was it "upgraded" to rear disc by a previous owner? Since the Federal sticker on the neck was gone I had to have a Level II inspection done. No record or title history of any kind for that VIN# was found anywhere nationwide.

The VIN #'s for the two bikes I have are separated by 161 , the white bike having come down the assembly line first.

1981kz750ltd wrote: Interesting comments. Perhaps this bike was built for European export and that's why it has the rear disc? Was it diverted from export and sold domestically ? Was it "upgraded" to rear disc by a previous owner? Since the Federal sticker on the neck was gone I had to have a Level II inspection done. No record or title history of any kind for that VIN# was found anywhere nationwide.

The VIN #'s for the two bikes I have are separated by 161 , the white bike having come down the assembly line first.

I'm reasonably certain that the 1976 KZ900-B LTD was the first KZ900 to have a rear disc and that no 1976 KZ900 street model was produced by Kawasaki with a rear disc.



Good Fortune!

Yes, and I believe the rear caliper is different than any others that Kawasaki used.

Based on Scirocco's input with the right hand side upside down VIN# stamping compared to domestic bikes, and a complete lack of title record history, I'm wondering if this bike was exported to Mexico and then found it's way back to the USA. With that said, It's just darn odd that it has a bore kit from a shop that was located in Maryland.

They gray primer frame was the original LTD frame, with that rear master bracket.
The black frame, that bracket was homemade and welded on. And that aluminum body master cyl. is from the 76 LTD.

These old frames are so easy to stamp #'s in. over 40 yrs. I have done this dozens of times.
I wish I had pictures. I made a jig with the 1/4" stock. Rectangular. Factory used basic industrial 1/4" stamps. So I would tack weld the jig on the neck after it was ground smooth. line up 1/4" spacer pieces. put 1 letter & number at a time. pound it. then remove and go to the next! Smooth it out. paint with primer. No cops ever scrutinized these old Jap bikes vin #'s Like they did with Harleys around my area.

z1kzonly wrote: They gray primer frame was the original LTD frame, with that rear master bracket.
The black frame, that bracket was homemade and welded on. And that aluminum body master cyl. is from the 76 LTD.

These old frames are so easy to stamp #'s in. over 40 yrs. I have done this dozens of times.
I wish I had pictures. I made a jig with the 1/4" stock. Rectangular. Factory used basic industrial 1/4" stamps. So I would tack weld the jig on the neck after it was ground smooth. line up 1/4" spacer pieces. put 1 letter & number at a time. pound it. then remove and go to the next! Smooth it out. paint with primer. No cops ever scrutinized these old Jap bikes vin #'s Like they did with Harleys around my area.

Very close to what I was doing back in the day.

Some of my number jobs looked better than what Kawasaki did!!!!