KZ900 winter project

I just picked up this KZ900 yesterday for 4 g's. Little high on the miles, 38,000, but nice thing is it's almost all original... rims numbered and fit the year, handlebar controls also appear original and numbers match the year. Also seat appears original with just a small 1/4 inch rip or puncture that someone clumsily tried to fix but that I think I can make barely noticeable. Also original gages, which are in decent shape but do show their age. I've seen this before where gages get water spots on the inside of the glass... which I imagine is from condensation even though I don't understand how that much moisture can get inside them to cause this much condensation. So I'm wondering if it would be better for resale down the road to change out with new aftermarket's or keep the originals. Also I'll be repainting this fall and am trying to decide diamond dark green or root beer. I'm a little tired of looking at green KZ900s, seems like every one you see that's been restored is that color but am wondering if that's just because the root beer is the less sought after color? Last thing... bike runs and shifts very good, no smoke, no strange noises, will be checking the valves first thing but am wondering with 38,000 miles how beat is that motor? How many miles are those Z motors good for with average riding?

It looks to be in excellent shape! I've heard stories of engines going 100k miles without a rebuild but I suspect that's unusual.

I have 35k miles on one of my Z1B's and am starting to hear a whine in the engine that I think is coming from the cam chain tensioner. I've changed the top idler but I can still hear the noise. Compression is still good. It weeps oil very slightly from the plugs in the head oil gallery. It will be my winter project to take it completely apart and restore it.

For gauge restoration see zresto.com . That would be far better than aftermarket.

Regarding the mileage - 35k is still a baby unless a previous owner damaged it. My 1977 KZ650 has 62,000 miles, has never had any engine work done, and still runs strong. I would not fiddle with a 32k mile engine unless there is an obvious problem. Just perform the normal scheduled maintenance (assume none has been done before) and it should be fine. Ed

I'd restore that one.

A friend just looked at the bike and said he could see where the head's been off and suspects it may have had a top end done since it runs so well. So yeah, don't fix what ain't broke. I am going for a full restore. Good suggestion on Resto. I thought they charged a lot more... pretty reasonable.

Finished up the paint this week. Took it out for a test ride today after having the carbs dunked and had air leaks on the carb boots. So it's got that to do and change the rear tire but for the most part it's done. Now it's too cold to ride. Maybe we'll have an Indian summer.

Looks good

That turned out really nice!