Description
Cold Start Video: you will note a little smoke when Olly started the bike. The cylinders were likely “fogged” for storage so what you are seeing is oil burn off from the cylinders. It will clear up a bit more the longer it runs.
Additional photos are available here for your perusal.
If you’ve been following Iconic, you’ll know that we’re big fans of the Kawasaki ZX-7. That’s why we’re excited about this example – the #1 ZX-7RR as raced by Doug Chandler, sent to us by Rob Muzzy himself! As Rob said, “this is the bike DC won his last championship on and the last bike he raced for us.”
We believe that this bike was last raced at the 1999 AMA Superbike race at Pikes Peak. That race was notable for several reasons: Doug Chandler gave Muzzy Kawasaki its last AMA Superbike win on this bike, Pascal Picotte gave Harley-Davidson their best-ever finish with the VR1000 (2nd place), and Nicky Hayden earned his first-ever AMA Superbike podium with a third place finish. Falling to fourth place was Mat Mladin, but that gave him enough points to earn his first AMA Superbike Championship.
There are several marks and inscriptions showing that this was last campaigned in 1999 – on the engine, wheels, and fork lowers, for example.
This bike has been on display for years in an auto shop in Arizona owned by a close mate of Rob’s. It was stored very well as there is minimal oxidation. The magnesium is in wonderful shape with minimal corrosion, making this a well kept, very special piece of history!
Frequently, bikes like these are stripped of parts once they’re done racing, however this one is still equipped with the deep sump motor with gear-driven cams, magnesium parts throughout, and the full electronics package.
It also has features like:
Magnesium fork bottoms, top-mount AP calipers with narrow band rotors.
Quick fill aluminum tank.
Special carbon fiber airbox designed to maximize the ram air effect.
Full titanium WSBK-spec exhaust with carbon fiber exhaust hangers.
Magnesium upper and lower triple clamps.
Kit Ohlins suspension front and rear.
Kit rearsets.
Magnesium rear shock link.
It also has an incredibly trick swingarm – when Chandler rode this bike in WSBK as the #1 bike (according to photos) it had a modified J model swingarm. But this swingarm appears to be the one that was equipped when it was raced in AMA as the #10 bikes. These swingarms were handmade by Harris in the UK for Kawasaki. With that said, we thinks it’s very cool that this bike has history in both AMA and WSBK.
This example is VIN: JKAZXDNIXTA000003. Based on the “T”, this would be a 1996 model, however the VIN is hand-stamped (as you’d expect with a race team) and it was last raced in 1999.
There is no odometer, true mileage is unknown.
Rob Muzzy claims to have a box or two of records and history for this bike, however he he has temporarily misplaced them due to a move. We will update the listing if they turn up during the auction and will continue to ask Rob for them as they would be wonderful to have with such a special bike.
The bike had been sitting for a very long period but we are quite sure the motor and bike were refreshed prior to it being parked as the tank, carb, and motor are in excellent shape. The oil was fresh and the bike was prepped for storage (gas was drained, cylinders were fogged) and put away perfectly. Olly spent three days cleaning out the dust from sitting, detailing what needed a polish, and prepping it to start. To our surprise, it started within seconds of going onto our bump starter and it idled perfectly! This motor is not only strong but once again, it looks quite new inside. Even a glance into the motor when the carbs were off showed exceptionally clean valves.
We put fresh antifreeze in the radiators, flushed the brake fluids, and drained the tank and carbs.
We still have new 16.5 inch Pirelli slicks on hand if the next owner wants to make the bike pop for display purposes, but we kept these slicks on it in case the buyer is looking for a more “as raced” appearance.
Cosmetic Blemishes: there are several minor wear spots from race usage. Please see the album up top for all known cosmetic blemishes. Here is a selection:
Inside of the tank:
The sale includes the rear wheel stand.
Information from our friends and followers keeps coming in from around the world about this bike and we’re careful to try and decipher what’s correct and what’s just guesses, but we welcome all feedback we can get about this incredible machine. As Adam puts it, “this is such an incredible piece of history and one of the most sought after, collectible, and memorable Japanese racebikes of our era!”
Currently located at our facility in Santa Monica, California (please make an appointment for an inspection), this Kawasaki is offered on a Bill of Sale only. Have any Chandler stories or questions about this listing? Let us know in the “Comments” tab!
