1973 Kawasaki Z1 hits record $50,000 at Mecum

Wookie58 wrote:

Unfortunately as with the classic car world, the wealthy have in many cases taken things out of the reach of "true enthusiasts" with "got to have it" bidding. Great for sellers 

 

I get around that by not being interested in any traditionally-popular models.  No one is going to create a ridiculous Z1-style market for an XT250 or a KZ440. I hope.
 

This could be the result of having that one beer too many at dinner. It happened to me recently when we went to a consignment shop after we ate.
But it only set me back $26 bucks. It’s a 1942 first edition. The included (eighty year old) slide rule pushed me over the edge.

 

fb.watch/in3v_vMzQ7/

Mikaw wrote:

fb.watch/in3v_vMzQ7/

I cringe when I look at that bike - there is a shit load of work required to bring that thing back from the grave.
I'm surprised a shop has taken it on, they like to make at least $100 a shop-hour or more, and there is a lot of billable hours there.
That thing is exhibit A in why people pay top dollar for frame up rebuilt bikes - they dont want to deal with that rusty bullshit for any money. 

tfh903 wrote:

I personally know the buyer, he is not rich, it took a large amount of his savings to win the bike. I'm sure that it will be on the road as soon as it arrives. This bike is to replace the one he was riding when it was in a "crash-n-burn" (literally burned car and bike) about 3 1/2 years ago.He has been looking for one since wreck, found a lot of scams and several missed deals. Got tired of looking.

This is a fair point and I believe demonstrates how things differ around the world. I watch a lot of restoration/ modification shows on the TV. In the US  there seems to me a never ending supply of customers who can commission "high dollar" builds of cars and bikes, I know very few people in the UK that would have these levels of savings or be able to raise this sort of cash without re-mortgaging their house. I guess it all comes down to the differing economies of our homelands.

blipco wrote:

This could be the result of having that one beer too many at dinner. It happened to me recently when we went to a consignment shop after we ate.
But it only set me back $26 bucks. It’s a 1942 first edition. The included (eighty year old) slide rule pushed me over the edge.

 

I have two slide rules!  I would have sold you one!

blackozvet wrote:

Mikaw wrote:

fb.watch/in3v_vMzQ7/

I cringe when I look at that bike - there is a shit load of work required to bring that thing back from the grave.
I'm surprised a shop has taken it on, they like to make at least $100 a shop-hour or more, and there is a lot of billable hours there.
That thing is exhibit A in why people pay top dollar for frame up rebuilt bikes - they dont want to deal with that rusty bullshit for any money. 

That was the condition of one of my Z1B restos when I started.  Took me two years to acquire the necessary parts but when I was done it cost me about $20k to $25k.  But it was back to original, including painted bits and pipes.

blipco wrote:

This could be the result of having that one beer too many at dinner. It happened to me recently when we went to a consignment shop after we ate.
But it only set me back $26 bucks. It’s a 1942 first edition. The included (eighty year old) slide rule pushed me over the edge.

 

That's excellent! What a great find!

I picked this up at Mid-Ohio last year. It cost a bit less than yours but I didn't get a slide rule with it.

 

Mine was an impulse buy no doubt as a result of that extra IPA I ordered. Back in high school electronics class I got quite good using my slide rule, which I still have somewhere. I just want the magic back.
It may have been the bright orange cover or the old time graphics, or both. But definitely the IPA.

The Mecum listing says "restoration".  Getting into semantics but, to us, the evidence of many repops, and the listing clearly indicating repro rims for instance, along with no NOS items being listed would make it more of a rebuild than a correct restoration.

OEM Kawasaki parts are date coded on the paper tags within the bag with a two character (digit-alpha) code.  We know of a gentleman in UK who spent years obtaining correctly date-coded parts to restore a 750 Z2.  Correct can be done.

We've seen many very nice Z-bikes in shows wherein a bike has been far over-restored with, for example, the aluminum motor covers, fork legs, brake backing plate etc. being polished to a mirror finish instead of the glossy satin OEM finish.  It's easier to achieve a chrome-like mirror finish on said polished motor items than a correct OEM finish.  Put a bike with correct finishes next to an over-restored/blinged-out example, and almost always the bling bike will win because bling & shiny baubles (ooohh... PRETTY!) turns heads.

The $50K+ bike is likely an anomaly, as mentioned by others; it's not even a rarer '72 build.  A knowledgeable buyer would be perusing date codes all over the bike, looking at the tools in the kit to make sure they were the correct forgings, checking the owners manual for originality.  Is the "JAPAN" molded correctly into the ends of the handgrips?  Are the turn signal stalks OEM or repep (the difference is obvious of one knows what to look for)?  Things like that.  One pic of the bike even shows no info labels on the inner fender.  Date codes, correct finishes  and fine-point details should be driving perceived value, not repop dazzle.

The Z1's that sold for $20K less are likely more in line with correct valuation of Z1's as a whole in today's market.  If the buyer who paid $52,000.00 for that bike is happy, well... at the end of the day that's what counts.  Hope the buyer looks at the bike as a toy, not an investment.

Correct Z1's might go the way of Brough Superiors and Vincent Black Shadows, the Z1's of their eras, in terms of valuation in the not-too-distant future.  Thoughtful & knowledgeable enthusiasts and collectors will likely be looking for correct details and originality of restoration, or even honest un-restoired patina of age on an original bike, as in it's only original once.  Repop catalog bikes, although pretty, are liable to languish behind in value.  They would however, make a good platform for a correct resto.

Good Ridin'
slmjim

blipco wrote:

Mine was an impulse buy no doubt as a result of that extra IPA I ordered. Back in high school electronics class I got quite good using my slide rule, which I still have somewhere. I just want the magic back.
It may have been the bright orange cover or the old time graphics, or both. But definitely the IPA.
 

Sure, blame the innocent beer...

I never learned to use a slide rule but have at least one that belonged to my dad, along with his drafting tools from when he was a young man.

Regarding the Z1 - I get that people want to have the new and shiny, but I would much rather have a patina-ed model that I could ride.

blackozvet wrote:

Mikaw wrote:

fb.watch/in3v_vMzQ7/

I cringe when I look at that bike - there is a shit load of work required to bring that thing back from the grave.
I'm surprised a shop has taken it on, they like to make at least $100 a shop-hour or more, and there is a lot of billable hours there.
That thing is exhibit A in why people pay top dollar for frame up rebuilt bikes - they dont want to deal with that rusty bullshit for any money. 

I’d be out buying lottery tickets feeling like a very lucky guy to have bought a bike like that. “IF” frame numbers and engine number matched. As slimjim says, the Z1 is full of date codes, regardless I’d buy that bike, then once home start looking for date correct items. Personally if the frame, swing arm, engine, and rims match your standing in tall cotton, and would be a fool to not buy it.