Description
Additional photos of this Kawasaki are available here for your perusal.
This heavily-customized motorcycle started as a Kawasaki Z1, one of the most important bikes of the 70s. The Z1 has a fun story – Kawasaki thought they were going to be first to market with a 4 cylinder 750cc sport bike…and then Honda blew them away with the CB750. Kawi wisely decided to go bigger instead, and the 903cc powerplant impressed the press and customers with 82 horsepower. In their home market of Japan, the government mandated a displacement limit of 750cc, so Kawasaki created the smaller Z2 instead.
This example is VIN: Z1F505443.
The odometer shows 35,100 miles, however “since the full Pro Street Build and the new engine, the bike has less than 100 miles.”
The seller is Johnny Bohmer of Johnny Bohmer Proving Grounds. He notes that “the engine, carbs and chassis setup was done by me in house and has less than 100 miles since completed. The first head torque, valve adjustment and oil change was done at 60 miles. The next service should be performed around 1,000 miles.”
Modifications:
“Freshly built 1,260 cc engine with the following:
New MTC pistons and rings, pistons and cylinder head properly CC’d with necessary gaskets to have a final compression ratio of 10.5 to 1 creating optimal squish rate for this setup at .040
Block had custom bushings made for cylinder head studs to alleviate oil pushing through the stud area, this eliminates the need for epoxy on the block
Ignition timing set across the board at 39 degrees with a Dyna S ignition
Ported and polished J model cylinder head, 32mm stainless steel intake valves and 38.5mm oversized exhaust valves sunk to the proper depth so there is .050 valve to valve clearance.
Andrews 440/450 lift cams. Intake degreed at 111.5 and exhaust degreed at 112.5 with proper, under the bucket shim valve adjustment.
Intake cam is 450 lift/263 duration
Exhaust cam is 440 lift/265 duration
Welded and balanced, Pierson crankshaft
Backcut transmission
Offset countershaft sprocket with outer bearing support cover
Hydraulic clutch, APE performance clutch pusher bearing, APE KZ extra plate heavy duty clutches and springs.
Brand new 34mm Mikuni carburetors with brand new K&N filters, carbs jetted properly for the engine with custom needles and jets.
Front end raked, custom drilled front wheel.
Custom rear shocks, custom welded 18” Kosman rear wheel with brand new 200 Cobra tire, new chain and sprockets.
Grimeca rear master cylinder, custom drilled rear rotor, Brand new, custom DG rear chromoly 4” over swingarm.
Brand new fuel tank, fender and bodywork with stunning new candy dark red paint, powdercoated black frame. Vance & Hines sidewinder 4 into 1 exhaust. This bike is loaded with lots of stainless mounting hardware, billet footpegs and many other billet aluminum parts.
The seller sums up his bike by saying, “this Pro Street motorcycle runs and rides fantastic and is very fast. The engine is making approximately 135 RWHP and should send the bike through the ¼ mile in 10.5 seconds with a good rider. This is an old school motorcycle pro street build that is not designed for daily commuting. The engine should be used mainly for evening, cool weather use, or the drag strip. If driven in extremely hot daytime conditions, the bike should keep moving and not sit at long traffic lights running for extended periods of time as with any big CC air cooled motorcycle. This bike really turns heads and is not just for show, it has plenty of go!”
Cosmetic Blemishes:
The seller notes “minor surface rust on #3 Vance & Hines header pipe near the collector and a small drop of superglue spilled on the right hand side of the seat towards the rear that needs to be removed, I left it for fear of damaging the upholstery upon removal.”
He adds that the tachometer is not working, it needs a new cable and drive.
Currently located in West Palm Beach, Florida, this Kawasaki is offered on a clean Florida title. Have any questions about this listing? Let us know in the “Comments” tab!