Topic: Yes, a Z1 & H1- unofficial Kawasaki thread - H2 is now a rider!!!

[754]

Canyou put the seat on a cb 750, and check the fit on the front.. I have run the kawi tails on my 750.  I like the 125.00 part.

 18 front on the Rickman, that makes sense..

Seriously, if  my 836 was being shamed by a stock Zed.. I would not have stuck with Honda 754s.

[Terry in Australia]

Ha ha, I think you have to remember why we bored our 750/4's out to 836 (or 900, if we could afford the kit) Frank, and that was to keep up with stock Z1's!

Until the big Kawasaki's arrived, the CB750 guys all thought that they were unbeatable, until those pesky Kawasaki's came along and blew them into the weeds! Cheers, Terry.

[Stev-o]

Hey Guys - I love all of the stories of the "back in the day" of the Kaw vs Honda, keep em coming.
From what I have read, Honda beat them by putting the CB750 out first so they had come put with something bigger and faster. Not much is written about the H2, Kaw's 750, obviously didn't stack up against the CB750. But they are becoming very collectable and nice examples go for good money on eBay.  Personally, it is not as visually appealing as the Z, so I never did consider buying one. I could see me restoring an H1 one day though.

Frank - I'll fit the Z seat on the K4 later.

Drag - I hope to see you put your Z roller back together. Parts are plentiful and reasonable, unlike the Sandcast stuff which I have no interest in (unless I see a barn find!)

[Retro Rocket]

The H2 blew the doors off the CB in a straight line Steve, they just handled like a hand full of cooked spaghetti....    I had a friend with a beautiful gold H2, i used to ride it a fair bit and there's no way in hell a stock Honda/4 would come close to the mad wheel standing, vibrating, wobbly Kawasaki, all it wanted to do was throw you off the back in a straight line and high side you accelerating through a corner, a real bucking Bronco but exhilarating at the same time...   Well i thought so when i was still young and silly... {not young any more} 

[Terry in Australia]

The H2 was a weapon, probably quicker than the Z1, but as Mick has attested about his experience on H1's, they were pretty awful handlers.

We called them the "Widowmaker" here, althought to be honest, I don't know anyone who was killed on one, but several of my friends died on CB750's and Z1's, so maybe we had a false sense of security about these bikes because they handled marginally better?

In 1979, I was bike less. I'd sold my F0 (POS) and bought a car. A friend of mine was keen to buy a bike, so I took him shopping, and we bought a 1976 Suzuki GT750M. (or it might have been an L, I don't remember) He took it for a ride, #$%* his pants, and so we swapped, I took the Suzuki, and he took my Ford. We were both happy.

I rode the Suzy the 200 miles to my folks place in the country one weekend. I was on the old Mulgrave (now Monash) Freeway, tooling along at around 70 MPH, when a guy on a H2 with 3 separate expansion chambers screamed past. I chased him, and sat on his backside @ 100 MPH, but he easily pulled away from me, and I lost him in a haze of blue 2 stroke smoke.

I caught up again with him in a little place called Yarragon, he was on the side of the road doing some work on his bike, so I pulled in to say "G'Day" and have a look at his bike. He said G'Day back, and continued replacing his spark plugs. he was wearing an old army "Greatcoat" (we didn't have no fancy motorcycle clothing back in those days) and had a dozen or so spark plugs in his pockets, and he'd just keep cleaning them and swapping them as they fouled up. His bike was amazing, it was virtually a race bike, and he told me that it actually handled as well. It had Koni shocks, and the frame was braced, it had a multi-adjustable steering damper and Pirelli tires, and he'd braced the frame up too.

We rode together to Sale, where he peeled off, and I continued on to Bairnsdale. (my home town) In the 200 mile ride, I'd had to fill the tank 3 times, their fuel economy was pretty bad when ridden responsibly, and a hell of a lot worse when riding them at 10/10ths. Great fun though. The GT750 was about as quick as a CB750, but was no match for a H2, even a stocker was probably 100 pounds lighter, and much quicker. Cheers, Terry.

[dhall57]

Yeah the Kaw 2 stroke triples were rockets that had 2 wheels and handle bars attached to them

[Stev-o]

Canyou put the seat on a cb 750, and check the fit on the front.. I have run the kawi tails on my 750.  I like the 125.00 part.

 

Here ya go, Frank. It wouldn't be a direct bolt on but you could do it. Biggest differance is the seat latch, differant location. This seat does have a metal pan.
Another thing I noticed right off is the large gap between the seat and fender - obviously for the tail on the Z...

[Stev-o]

It was another good afternoon working on the Kaw yesterday. Stopped off at my buddies house after work, he has a tire mounting machine in his garage as well as an awesome new Moto Guzzi. Wow, that bike is a work of art!
Anyways, he mounted the new Avon on the front rim and balanced it, I give him some beer money and everybody is happy. Looking closely at the spokes, noticed they look like crap. I cleaned em along with the hub, but I've put replacement ss spokes on the list. The rim has a few minor scratches and I will most likely replace that too - a DID to match the rear rim I ordered. Speaking of, another box on the porch when I got home, was the rear rim I ordered just a few days ago. I need to order a rear Avon, tube and ss spokes, so it will be a couple weeks till I get to that.
I'm trying to keep the bike a "ridable project" as much as possible since it is still new to me.

Here's the newly mounted Avon and the rear rim, front wheel is now back on the bike.

[crazypj]

The H1 blew the doors off the CB in a straight line Steve, they just handled like a hand full of cooked spaghetti....   

 That really got me laughing.
H2 was even quicker with just as bad handling.
I remember seeing one about 2~3 days old cartwheeling into an embankment after getting into terminal tank slapper (and this was an experienced rider, production racing)
Rob North Trident on the same corner got a little bit wobbly, no CB750's in race so can't comment on their handling

[754]

That seat fits tank good, looks like the  front of sidecover has some space.   Like to see the side. Does anyone know if the Kawi seat has claws on lower edge like honda?..like a thinner seat..

[Stev-o]

That seat fits tank good, looks like the  front of sidecover has some space.   Like to see the side. Does anyone know if the Kawi seat has claws on lower edge like honda?..like a thinner seat..

Frank - you interested in the old Z seat? I'd sell it to you for $50 (plus ship). Appears to have marine grade vinyl, no damage. Pan is solid with minor rust. 
Plan to list on eBay tomorrow.

[754]

Not right now.. Too much on the go, thanks though..

[Stev-o]

Spent a few hours with the Z today. Fitted the new bars, stripped/polished the clutch perch, and changed out the left and right controls. Removed and inspected the throttle cables, there are signs of wear so they have been put on the "order" list. Also installed new Pro Grips, not OEM style but are my fav.

Old LH:



Now:




Old RH:




Now:





Does the MC cap look familiar? Yes, off the shelf from a CB, the one it came from had some road rash.  And check out that front brake hose. PO must have had some chopper bars on it at some time. I have the correct hose but need the boot, am ordering, then will change out. Need to keep it ridable!


Fitted the seat and went for a short ride but saw the rain coming so heaeded back home.





The oil pressure light came on and I turned the motor off. Started it back up and the light went off. Could be the switch going bad?

[Terry in Australia]

Looks fantastic Steve, get rid of those poxy mirrors and fit some proper black Z1 mirrors mate, and that will set off your new switches and grips, very nice.

Your oil pressure switch might be clagged, but remember, with the roller bearing big end they only run around 15 PSI max, so you need to ensure that you keep the oil level up. If you're at all worried that your oil pump might be on the way out, just buy an oil pressure gauge on EBay that you can permanently mount on the engine.

I run one on my Suzuki GS1000, and it's good to just look down every now and then and confirm that my oil pump hasn't crapped out. Cheers, Terry.  

[crazypj]

oil light comes on if you brake hard, scared me the first time but never worried about it afterwards.
Probably a good idea to measure oil quantity rather than rely on clutch cover sight glass

[BLUE71TURBO]

Here is a simple solution for the oil starvation problem on Kawi's.  I used this on my first 1978 KZ1000 LTD back in 1980. Then i installed a deep sump later on.      
                                                       
  http://www.ebay.com/itm/Z1-Z1900-KZ1000-Kawasaki-Oil-Pan-Trapdoor-Vintage-Dragbike-/171031729045?hash=item27d2491395&item=171031729045&pt=Motorcycles_Parts_Accessories&vxp=mtr

 P.S.  I never had the oil light come on when braking, only on accelerating.  After that i added 1/2 quart more oil and installed the trap door in the sump pan. Never had the problem again.  Bored to 1132cc, RC cams, 29mm smooth bore mikuni's, port work, etc. Ran like a striped a$$ ape !

[BLUE71TURBO]

 Stev-o, if you do any modification to your Kawi, $hit can the swingarm " keep it for later "  and install a factory aluminum Suzuki GS 1100 swingarm.  It's a great improvement over stock.   

    Read up on this conversion here......... http://www.kzrider.com/forum/5-chassis/342768-gs1100-swingarm   
 

[Terry in Australia]

Good Stuff Jon, I has a GSX1100 swinger on my first GS1000, more for looks than effect, as the GS1000 was probably the best handling big Jap bike of the 1970's. On a Kawasaki though, it's a mandatory add-on if you wanna go fast in the canyons. Cheers, Terry.

[Stev-o]

Yes, the light came on after fast acceleration. I also had an 1000 LTD, great bike, never had the oil light come on though. 
Will install the trap door, thanks for the info and link, Jon. 

The swing arm will be coming off at some point, at least for restoration, as it is battery acid scarred pretty bad near the pivot point.  I could pop that Suzi swinger on there.  Bike now has a sealed unit.
Thanks again guys, appreciate the info, tips and links.

[toytuff]

Those bars and controls look fantastic.

I like the stock MC cap but that is just me. 

tt

[Stev-o]

Those bars and controls look fantastic.

I like the stock MC cap but that is just me. 

Thanks Toy.  I actually do too, but it was damaged.  I will order one for you and black OEM style mirrors for Terry!

[crazypj]

oil pick up is at rear of sump so light shouldn't come on when accelerating if you have enough in there
Twin disc conversion is something else that's really needed if you don't already have it

[BLUE71TURBO]

oil pick up is at rear of sump so light shouldn't come on when accelerating if you have enough in there
Twin disc conversion is something else that's really needed if you don't already have it

                    The oil pickup is at the front of the oil pan ( sump )  Which is at the front of the engine.  It's part of the oil pump housing.   
               

[Retro Rocket]

The H1 blew the doors off the CB in a straight line Steve, they just handled like a hand full of cooked spaghetti....   

 That really got me laughing.
H2 was even quicker with just as bad handling.
I remember seeing one about 2~3 days old cartwheeling into an embankment after getting into terminal tank slapper (and this was an experienced rider, production racing)
Rob North Trident on the same corner got a little bit wobbly, no CB750's in race so can't comment on their handling

Sorry guys, i edited my previous post, the Gold bike was a H2 750, never ridden a H1   

[BLUE71TURBO]

Damn it Retro, I told you to lay off the combat juice !!