Topic: Z1s can pull a wheelie?

[PxTx]

http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=SlwqfyC7-qE

I've suspected the Z1 is faster than a CB750 though I've never ridden one.  Do they really stand up this easily?

http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=SlwqfyC7-qE

[nickjtc]

Excuse me while I go and cry in my cornflakes. An interesting start up procedure...whacking the throttle whilst on the choke. So it will wheelie......why?

GHOF, out.

[RRRToolSolutions]

I have both and no, the Z1 will not stand up easily. He would have slid to the back to weight the wheel then using a lot of clutch - brought it up. Back in 1977~78 my roomate had one with Kerker, K&Ns, a 16" tire laced, and had been well set-up by our local Kawasaki performance dealer. I would hammer the bike in 1st and 2nd leaving black marks at will, but never a threat to wheelie.

Now, every stock Z1 I've ridden including my 76 KZ900 will eat a stock CB750. The numbers say it's 81 horses against 67 - weights are about the same. Last summer we dragged my fresh 900 with new valves, bores, rings, and clean-up porting against my 836 and the 900 could not win that battle. I was on the Honda and never ran it above 9,000 rpm. The Z is only fast if you wind it up to redline (9,000), but it would not catch the Honda.

What the Z does better than the Honda is comfort. I give Kawasaki credit for a few things - the CB750 is a bike you "sit on" the Kawasaki is one you "sit in". Don't ask me why, but the Z1's, H1's and H2's all did a great job of giving it's operator a sense of inclusion - you're a part of it. With the Honda, I feel I'm sitting on top of it.

Gordon

[toycollector10]

That's no way to treat a cold engine....

[Bodain]

You suspected a 900CC Kawasaki was faster than your 750 Honda

In 1973 I purchased my dream super bikes. A brand new CB 750. I rode it 10,000 miles then traded it in on a Kawasaki 900...

Never touched a Honda again until about 2004... I really like the old Honda's now that I'm much older!

[Really?]

I have both and no, the Z1 will not stand up easily

I would of thought the Z1 had the uumph to lift itself on it's back wheel with the right clutch/throttle combination and doable upon command.  Interesting.

My XS Eleven I had as a teen was doable everytime I asked and figured the Z1 and my XS Eleven were close to each other in power and doing the do.

I can stand my XVZ12DN on it's back wheel without much trouble that is a whole lot of weight to play with.

[toycollector10]

I'm restoring a 1973 Z1 at the moment. I'm getting all sorts of mixed messages from people who rode that model once or so.

Yeah, once I've put a few thousand miles on it I'm going to write up a comparison essay. I'm thinking the Honda will come out on top from what I've been hearing. Horses for courses though, the Big Zed was designed for highway cruising and not for the twisties and fanging it. Right?

[HavocTurbo]

I have both and no, the Z1 will not stand up easily

I would of thought the Z1 had the uumph to lift itself on it's back wheel with the right clutch/throttle combination and doable upon command.  Interesting.

My XS Eleven I had as a teen was doable everytime I asked and figured the Z1 and my XS Eleven were close to each other in power and doing the do.

I can stand my XVZ12DN on it's back wheel without much trouble that is a whole lot of weight to play with.

You don't like lite bikes do you???

ROFL.

May I ask for a few pics or even a video of that venture on one wheel?? I would gladly put you up on a platform as the coolest mofo here!!!

[bryanj]

Anything can be wheelied if its done right as an ex boss of mine proved on a BMW 900 boxer back in the late 70's on Douglas prom in I.O.M. ------ everybody told him BM's just wouldn't!

[Retro Rocket]

Its got nothing to do with the power, its all technique, almost any bike with an engine can be wheelied.

Mick

[jeepurz]

had a kz 650, it was a wheelie machine that was back in 77-78, rode with this cat that had a 900, it was a wheelie machine , but I actually think it was youth and stupidity more than the bike.

[754]

A CB 750 will wheely pretty easy, I think a Z! would have to be easier..

[RRRToolSolutions]

The CB750's weight bias must be closer to the rear with rider and distribution-wise is the machine that with power - will come up. I've got a 120x90x18 Dunlop on the rear of my built CB750 K4. The bike lifts the tire on power in first and 2nd. If you are going to hit 2nd hard at anything 8,000 or above it is coming up and will do so violently - it will not spin that tire on the 1-2nd shift. The Z on the other hand will spin the tire - it used to leave some very nice marks with the huge 16" Harley tire laced to the rim. I've ridden 100+ horsepower modified Z'1 and never found them to be wheelie prone - just blister the rear. I am a whole lot more comfortable launching the Z1 than I am the K4 - simply because the Honda hooks-up. The weight of the Z is farther forward.

I'm like you guys - no way to treat an engine -

Gordon

[754]

I think it was warmed up.

I rode mine like that most of the time, after warming up!

Not every year all the time, but that 836cc was together for 25 years..the last 13 or so without aircleaners, and i rode it in the dirt too.

As I have tried to explain a few time, they really are tough, and quite hard to break, if you keep clean oil in them, and warm it up first..

[speedracer741]

A few years back I had both a '74 CB750 and a '77 KZ1000 set up exactly the same. Both had rearsets, clip-ons, solo seat/tail section, equivalent suspension mods, stock engine internals, pod filters, jetting and 4-1 exhaust. Both had the same Bridgestone Battlax BT-17 tires (replaced by the BT45). There was a HUGE difference in they way they take to wheelies. The CB750 would do it just fine, in fact it was hard to do a burnout without the locked front tire sliding along the pavement. The KZ on the other hand was much more tire smoke friendly but it would do massive wheelies with the correct rider input. It was actually right on the balance point of either lifting the front end or smoking the tire, and sometimes it could not make up it's mind which one it wanted to do! A hard launch would have the front end lift a few inches just to loose traction on the rear and drop it again, then it would grab and lift. It would do this violently to the point that it was all I could do to hang on the that bucking bronco. Of course my 145 pound body (at the time ) pretty much made me a passenger. The Honda has a much more even weight distribution. The cylinders were inclined forward to move the crankshaft closer to the rear, a common Honda practice back in the day with their GP bikes. This and the fact that the Honda has a shorter wheelbase that big zed. The Kawi is a front heavy massively long thing, but has an unmatched midrange punch and an induction roar coming from the pods that makes your family jewels retract in fear of getting sucked in. The Honda had more of a pronounced top end rush and is a more refined machine overall in terms of fit a finish. Just my little story

[mrbreeze]

I had 2 Z bikes..........It wasn't hard to wheel stand either one...the 77LTD 1000 was totally easy.The Honda won't do er but will break the tire loose purty easy. Its all in the way the weight of the engine sitting in the frame.I'm sure it can be easily overcome by jacking the gearing,clutch,displacement of the engine,etc.