Is this original paint and pinstriping?

My friend has decided to sell his 1976 KZ900 and when another friend was there to look at it we were discussing if the paint and pinstriping were original. The color is brown..rootbeer I call it. It has two colors pinstriping. One stripe of orange and twin yellow striping.Yellows parallel the orange stripes. Who can tell me? The paint itself looks to be original to my untrained eye. So does the pinstriping but I am far from an expert. By the way he is asking $1200 and if you want more info I can give you his number. Send me a pm.Not a very good pic but best I can do.



Post edited by: pumps, at: 2006/11/20 20:03

Post edited by: pumps, at: 2006/11/20 20:51

Another . I know in this one the yellow stripes look like dashes but really they are parallel lines.

Post edited by: pumps, at: 2006/11/20 20:17

How come my pictures always look like..well bad? Bad photographer?:blink: Anyway I hope you get the idea of the color and stripes.

Post edited by: pumps, at: 2006/11/20 20:01

Well, you're right - Annie Leibowitz has nothing to fear regarding her day job...

Well, the color looks right - and so does the stripe.

And if anyone outside of the AMA Museum *ever* tried to duplicate that setup, I've never seen one.

Odds are that it is in fact original.

But yeah, better pics would help.

HEY I got a feeling you know! Somewhere I think maybe..
Ok NOT another Pulitzer Award winning pic..but a closeup tank one.It's a pretty hot ride, decent shape and if I had the cash and my wife wouldn't kill me and I had a place to store it and if I could lower it JUST a little..blah blah blah.


Post edited by: pumps, at: 2006/11/20 20:26

pumps wrote:

HEY I got a feeling you know! Somewhere I think maybe..
Ok NOT another Pulitzer Award winning pic..but a closeup tank one.It's a pretty hot ride, decent shape and if I had the cash and my wife wouldn't kill me and I had a place to store it and if I could lower it JUST a little..blah blah blah.

Yep. Original.

Looks like the paint's in nice shape too.

And has perhaps the utterly BUTT-FUGLIEST exhaust I've ever seen on a KZ...

Tell him about the exhaust, snooker him down a couple hundred, hide in in one of Wireman's labyrinths for a few years and DOUBLE your money.

No foolin'.

That's a Vance and Hines pipe. I could get the buddy price which is a bit cheaper but all that stuff above still applies. My neighbor wants one to make into a drag bike but this one is all original except for the handle bars and the pipes.I would kind of hate to see it torn down.

pumps wrote:

That's a Vance and Hines pipe. I could get the buddy price which is a bit cheaper but all that stuff above still applies. My neighbor wants one to make into a drag bike but this one is all original except for the handle bars and the pipes.I would kind of hate to see it torn down.

Oh, I've seen 'em. And they're even uglier in person.

Well, as to all the other stuff, ANYBODY that would destroy that machine to make a drag bike should get a guaranteed contract to be Mel Gibson's stunt double in the *Braveheart* sequel. There's too few left in that nice a shape - and too many unloved rolling basket cases around for a song as it is.

Really. Tell your better half that it's quite a deal - and a guaranteed money maker. You'll keep it 3 years, only ride it on sunny days, and she can have half when somebody offers you one hell of a lot more than you would pay for it.

Pumps:

That is not original (= factory) paint. OEM paint consisted of two stripes (not three) of the same approximate width with the darker (reddish) being the upper stripe and the lighter gold stripe the lower. Take a look at Dave Marsden's book 'Original Z-1'. The problem is that some kawasaki dealers, in order to boost sales, had some minor custom painting done on new bikes, so many people purchased these bikes thinking they came that way from the factory.

The pipes are V&H Sidewinders and only look good on a raked, stretched bike...otherwise they look silly... like on that bike

Post edited by: Mcdroid, at: 2006/11/21 04:25

Post edited by: Mcdroid, at: 2006/11/21 04:30

Mcdroid wrote:

Pumps:

That is not original (= factory) paint. OEM paint consisted of two stripes (not three) of the same approximate width with the darker (reddish) being the upper stripe and the lighter gold stripe the lower. Take a look at Dave Marsden's book 'Original Z-1'. The problem is that some kawasaki dealers, in order to boost sales, had some minor custom painting done on new bikes, so many people purchased these bikes thinking they came that way from the factory.

Wow, way cool catch, McD...

I was taking a shot from the hip there - sure looked original to my alzheimers-addled brain... :blush:

At least I got the part about the ugly pipes right!

NERSE! :woohoo:

McD is right......

The pinstriping on the side covers is also a dead give away that some thing is not original with the paint.

$1200 is a decent price....where is the bike located?

RP

Buy it and sell me the exhaust! I'll even throw in a Mac header!