Kool Kawasaki 1015cc

Isaac Hayes was a motorcycle guy!  Checkout his KZ1000 chopper from back in the day.

Bored to 1075cc with 29mm smoothbores, extended swingarm, custom wheels, nitrous and other good stuff!

Here’s an ad from 1981 - it’s Russ Collins of RC Engineering with his KZ1000 Mk2.  It’s turbocharged!

It’s got an MTC block, there’s a good chance it’s big cc’s like 1260 or so. Extended swingarm, this bike must burn rubber!

Terry K has owned this KZ1000 since 1983.

The swingarm is adapted from a Suzuki GSXR along with the rear brake and caliper.  The rear rim is a WM6, that’s about 50% wider than the stock WM3.

These guys in France are doing some pretty cool work with KZ1000′s and other bikes.

Here’s a Japanese motorcycle magazine cover with a J model and an ELR.

This picture show two bosozoku riders from the 70′s.  A kind of Japanese bike gang.  I don’t know enough about them to explain it.

These pictures were on Facebook.  Zenshin is a shop in Japan that does some fantastic work.  They don’t seem to have much of an internet presence and most of their info is in Japanese, making it difficult for the rest of us to figure out.

Here are two 1100 Zephyrs.  If you remember, the Zephyr was kind of a dog in the U.S., not very much in demand.  When the ZRX was introduced here the 1100 Zephyr probably reached its low in popularity.  Years have passed and Zenshin has done some great work.  This black and gold 1100 pays tribute to the Z1.  Upside down forks, ti pipe, Ohlins shocks, custom swingarm and carbs and the engine is blacked out.  Nice!

The green Zephyr’s paint scheme looks similar to the KZ1000A model of 1978. Nitro exhaust is similar to a Kerker race pipe.  Custom swingarm, Ohlins shocks and new carbs.  These are the best Zephyr 1100′s I’ve ever seen.

Here’s a pic of the guys getting ready for a ride.  At the front is a Kawi H2 with a ‘78 Kawasaki 1015CC just behind it, painted black.  Two Z1′s are also in the background.

And here’s my dream motorcycle shop, presumably Zenshin.  There’s that H2 again, with a Daytona Special behind it. Behind the Daytona is a Z1.  To the right there are at least two KZ1000′s plus a Honda with a half fairing in the background.

And finally here’s a Z1R inside the shop.  It has the Ohlins an custom swingarm treatment.  Nitro pipe, newer carbs and different wheels/front fork. The original Z1R paint scheme was called Metallic Stardust Silver and it had a bluish green flavor. This bike is silver and while I tend to like original paint schemes, I could get used to this paint job easily.

Bluej58 from Wiredgeorge’s forum provided these pictures of 1974 Kawasaki Z1′s along with some other Kawi’s.

When Kawasaki first introduced the ZR1000 in 2003 I thought what is this mess?  Do people actually buy bikes that look like that?  Apparently they do, look at all the weird looking bikes on the road today.  Okay I’m old and I like round headlights, among other things.

Somehow I stumbled on the Deals and Wheels website.  Sounds like a used car or motorcycle dealer doesn’t it?  Actually they make some really cool body kits for ZR1000′s and ZR750′s.  They aren’t cheap - about $2,800 U.S. (converted from euros) but the gas tanks are made of steel - that’s a plus for safety.  Unpainted prepare to spend more to suit your taste.

Why don’t manufacturers make bikes that look like this now?  Sure, the ZRX was a nice bike, I had two of them.  One of the problems for me was they were just a little too big.  I feel more comfortable on a KZ1000.