Z1 900 making my dads old bike look new *now Pics*

In 1975 my dad was 25, and had a new kz 400. Then one day his best friend came by on his z1. My dad took it for one ride and that was it, he gave his friend his kz 400 and 1000 bucks and the mighty z1 was his. He loved riding it but said it felt more comfortable at 100 mph plus.

He rode it cross country to colorado for the bicentenial in 1976, he said it was the best time of his life. About a year later he was out on I-57 in rochelle, illinois comming back to the chicago area, and decided to open up the z1 for everything she had. Well needless to say he lost visability around 140ish he said. That scared the piss out of him. He pulled over at a rest area, and said he would have given that thing to anyone that wanted it. So he didn't ride it a whole lot after that.

Fast forward to 1982 he got married and my mom didn't want him to have it so he sold it to my nimmwitted uncle tommy. Now don't get me wrong i love my uncle tom, but he just isnt all there, he didn't know how to ride, but he had 1000 dollars and my dad was tired of my mom nagging him to get rid of it. He rode it once and dumped it and then it sat........sat.......and sat some more.


Then in 1992 he moved, the original owner of the bike wanted to ride it one last time, now mind you it sat for 10 years without moving from the same spot. They put a new batter in and some gas and the old z1 fired up, running rough but running none the less. Rode it about 30 miles to my uncles new place, by the time the original owner got there, he said the header was gloewing cherry red:ohmy: :ohmy: :ohmy: . He said the old girl still got up and walked to 100 mph.


Then the bike sat till 2004 when i got it. I was 18 years old and a senior in high school, and wanted to get a bigger street bike, my uncle nimwitt called me and said he needed me to help him load a bike in his truck and bring it to the junkyard. When i got there my heart dropped when i seen my dad's z1 sitting there covered in dust, rust, and a cover that had molded it self to the bike. I said there is now way you are junking this bike. He said give me 200 buck's and it's yours. Got it home and started working on it. It was a mess, carbs were stuck closed, tires were deflated, the chain was rusted in place. But i seen pics of it when my dad had it, and i wanted to make it look that way again. Later on my dad came home, walked in the garage and said what he hell is that POS. I said its your old pos, dumbfounded he looked at it and said no not my old z1?????? I thought your uncle got rid of it years ago. I said nope, but im going to het it running. I spent day and night on that bike. Then about a year later i was at a motorcycle salvage shop, and seen a set of original Z1 4 into 4 pipes, i bought them sight on seen for 150 bucks. I put them on and started it, it was puffing out all kinds of white smoke, then it callmed down and idle'd pretty damn good. I decided to take it for a ride around the block, and i passed my dad on the street, i thought he was gonna hit something the way he was staring at the bike. Pulled in the drive way and before i could even get her in neutral my dad hopped on and wheelied that thing down the drive..........he was in love again.

Since then she has been my daily rider, but this winter i want to redo her to the way my dad had her in the 70's.

He painted it glossy black, pollished the front forks, and had a set of 4 into 2 jardine pipes on, which i still have.

So thats my plan this winter, along with redoing the top-end, like the valve seals, springs, check the valve clearence, get the exhaust studs fixed, and possibly new rings and a new head gasket. Then pownder coat the frame and swingarm gloss black. Im also going to upgrade to mag wheels from a 1979 ltd 1000, that i got for free, its going to have dual discks up front and a single in the rear.

You truly are a good son...

Your old man should be quite proud of you, very honorable thing for you to do... Way to go!

OMR

Great story. Loved reading it. Good luck with the resto.

Cool, I'm glad your saving the old bike. Your dad will love it.
Mark

Wooooooooow. Sorta got a little choked-up there for a second...cool.
Keep us posted...starting with pics!
-KR

Ya it got me a bit choked-up writing it. Il post some pics of her the way she is now. When i done redoing the bike...i think its only right he takes her for the maiden voyage. If i can get in done in time, i wanna have him ride the z1 and im going to take the kz 650 to Mid Ohio bike days next year.. For a father and son road trip.

Here she is now

Here is a pic of a pic the day i brought her home in sad sad shape.

Here is the mileage, 11,348 in 2004. It now has 29,497.4 miles in 2003

good story. that was funny when your father asked who's pos is that! lol

Nice Z-1! Who need passengers, right?!!! Great looking pipe!
-KR

Bad Kaw wrote:

Nice Z-1! Who need passengers, right?!!! Great looking pipe!
-KR

Thanks BadKaw, i actually made a bracket for the rear peg. But im taking the pipe off this winter to put the 4 into 2 jardines on her. I will try and make a movie of the pipe to show you all what it sounds like.