French Z1- a lesson from the past
Posted: Mon Nov 05, 2018 8:21 pm
A bit of controversy here ?? or maybe everyone else knows this
Just bought a Z1 from France ( she has been named Frenchy, is that PC?) and learned that every picture perfect , flawless, 15k, 20k, 34k resto you name it - is ----nearly correct!!!
I was hoping to answer my own query as to what is the correct engine paint , is it satin , is it flat or is it a satin/ gloss, of course its black its what finish ....
no its , well nearly all of those finishes - great what do I do now . Like the magazine articles of today with younger guys writing about older bikes getting it wrong, the fiction becomes fact , just in the same way that flawless totally black engine and cases were never all totally black at all - the paint on the case never matched the the barells or head ! , boy I must really be in the sticks as everyone else must know that but never says
crank cases are satin / gloss black , barrels and heads are very dark grey , near matt
so doesn't help me at all in my question. the bike is nut and bolt correct , apart from z650 speedo , every bolt , seat hinge, black foam, grey insert plugs etc, long back mudgaurd , a bit rusty in places yes -
The bike is one owner and been been in a basement for over 30 years in south of France so not exposed to sun or rain , just some damp with some chrome corrosion and a naff 70s paint job ( it was green/yellow)
Why did kawasaki do this - the barrel & head finish is more akin to heat treated finish (like a french wood burning stove ?) , like the dark grey on gs750 diamond cut mag wheels - the head is finished and baked and then machined - as the machining marks are visible -
you could say this bike is wrong , but I really dont think so as its here untouched in 2018 since the late 70s, infact the finish on the fins looks like it maybe able to be kept ...
maybe it was converted to run on hardwood logs , had the engine on the Plockton bike not been so corroded then it might have corroborated ...does anyone else have an original unpainted engine ?
Just bought a Z1 from France ( she has been named Frenchy, is that PC?) and learned that every picture perfect , flawless, 15k, 20k, 34k resto you name it - is ----nearly correct!!!
I was hoping to answer my own query as to what is the correct engine paint , is it satin , is it flat or is it a satin/ gloss, of course its black its what finish ....
no its , well nearly all of those finishes - great what do I do now . Like the magazine articles of today with younger guys writing about older bikes getting it wrong, the fiction becomes fact , just in the same way that flawless totally black engine and cases were never all totally black at all - the paint on the case never matched the the barells or head ! , boy I must really be in the sticks as everyone else must know that but never says
crank cases are satin / gloss black , barrels and heads are very dark grey , near matt
so doesn't help me at all in my question. the bike is nut and bolt correct , apart from z650 speedo , every bolt , seat hinge, black foam, grey insert plugs etc, long back mudgaurd , a bit rusty in places yes -
The bike is one owner and been been in a basement for over 30 years in south of France so not exposed to sun or rain , just some damp with some chrome corrosion and a naff 70s paint job ( it was green/yellow)
Why did kawasaki do this - the barrel & head finish is more akin to heat treated finish (like a french wood burning stove ?) , like the dark grey on gs750 diamond cut mag wheels - the head is finished and baked and then machined - as the machining marks are visible -
you could say this bike is wrong , but I really dont think so as its here untouched in 2018 since the late 70s, infact the finish on the fins looks like it maybe able to be kept ...
maybe it was converted to run on hardwood logs , had the engine on the Plockton bike not been so corroded then it might have corroborated ...does anyone else have an original unpainted engine ?