Unexpected barn find

Had another Kaw find it's way to my stable with a little twist to it. Typical phone call from an old neighbor that has a KZ1000 that his buddy was going to bobber so he persuaded him not to and he bought it. Sat in his barn for a couple yrs. We went and picked it up, bs'd and admired his collection of 2 smokers, he has 48 Kawasaki triples, a real heart stopper going to this guys place! I get the paper work and bike loaded and go my way. Had a guy stop by to look at some of our work when he started asking how he could tell what bike was what so I showed him some physical things to look for and showed him the Vin#'s and that's when it dawned on me! I just bought a 750, not a 1000. A real Z2750, I found it somewhat ironic that I had just built a Z2750 clone.
Here's a couple pics and 1 of his 2 smokers.


Polaris 1000 snowmobile engine in this S3 chassis, note the little Falcon in the background! 427 highrise dual quaded 4 speed


Les Holt

Wow - that really is a great barn find of a really rare bike! Do you plan to restore it close to original condition? Ed

Nice find Les !!!
I want to see the 1000 Polaris run . What is it using for a transmission ???
Im sure that 750 will be a keeper
Hope to see you soon
Dave

Ed, I plan to restore best I can, it doesn't have the correct engine, has a MK2 in it but I may have a line on an original Z2 engine.
Dave, that polaris bike spanks his ZX14 by almost 15 bike lengths! Using the polaris clutch set up with a jack shaft to drive the back sprocket. Weirdest part is, watching a guy pull rope start a bike!
another Pic of it



Les

Wow, Motorcycle classics just ran an article on the Z2, I'd never really heard of the bike although I guess I knew they had the 750 limit in Japan, so probably knew of its existence at one time. It made me wonder if that was another reason Kawasaki made the Z/KZ650 and not a 750, as they already had this 750 in Japan.

Definitely a rare find, I forget how many Motorcycle Classics reckoned existed in the US and I left that copy in my Travel Trailer, but it was very few. It's not often discovering you'd bought 250cc less than you thought would be cause for celebration

As per information I'm finding, the little glovebox is original, Z2's had all the labeling printed in Japanese. This turned into a nice little surprise!


Les

That two stroke hot rod is wicked! Stock forks and brake, with about double the stock power?:evil:

As redhawk4 mentioned, the curent issue has a story on the Z2. I think they said less than 50 made it to the U.S.

www.motorcycleclassics.com/classic-japan...saki-z2-zmsz17jazhur

Can't wait to see it done up right.

I think it would be more accurate to call that thing a snowmobile with wheels. :0

Can't wait to see it done up right.
I'm gonna try to stay pure with this one, very hard for me to do when I know the Japanese pay big for them but then they turn around and do their sanctuary/bull dock builds so to be honest, they don't value stock as much as we do.
I think it would be more accurate to call that thing a snowmobile with wheels. :0[/quote]
Yeah, this guy has some serious toys and has been in more than a few magazines over his mustang addiction!! He has a side oiler 427 pinto, an all aluminum 490 something motored bobcat that goes low 9's in street trim, working on putting it in the 8's this year. Has a duster in another bay doing a V-10 viper transplant on. Mazda Miata with a nasty small in it. It's just not comprehensible until you see this stuff!!!!!

Les

The complete story of the Z2

www.freewebs.com/750rs/



Your frame # is one of the last Z750-A5

Research has led to what I consider to be a fairly accurate conclusion that the frame number start was in the region of Z2F18403, and certainly not Z2F19583 quoted in other publications.This was the last of the models to have frame numbers quoted as Z2F…… Production continued until May 1977 when the last model rolled of the production line at frame number Z2F20300.

I did a double take when I saw this one at the annual CMVG meeting in Paris Ontario in 2013

Congratulations!

I also saved a Z2A (1975) from a barn-find fellow who was going to bob the Z2. I have been collecting parts for my rebuild for a few years now and found the owner of the Z2 site (mentioned above) as very helpful (John Brookes). He is currently active on the Kawasaki-Z-Classik site.