Z1OwnersClub GB

Hello, I owned JTV 648N from 1977 - 79 when I reluctantly sold it to finance my hitchhiking travels around the world. Seeing all the Zeds on Facebook gave me hope that my bike (sorry to the present owner ) was still out there, which was confirmed by a visit to the DVLA Vehicle enquiry page. It is MoTd and taxed until summer this year.
If anyone out there knows the present-day owner or if they are a member on here, I'd love to know how it is running.
For the present-day owner here's a list of all the things I had done to it between 77 and 79:
The engine tuning was done by Russell Savoury of S+S Performance fame: R&T cams, valves and springs, head polished and ported, 1015cc, crankshaft welded up. K&N air filters, Boyer electronic ignition, oil cooler. The exhaust system was the 5th I tried: original, S+S, Marving, Devil, until finally I used the Devil headers and had my own "silencer" made courtesy of Dunlop Aviation Coventry.
1976 or 77 Z900 fork legs to do away with the reflector bosses. Rear-mounted calipers. S&W shocks and front fork springs and valving. Steering damper. Mick Grant 7 Star mag wheels. Dresda box-section swingarm. Gussets welded in strategic places on the frame. Tapered roller headset bearings. Lockheed twin cast iron drilled discs. Rickman rearsets. Guiliani seat.
Photos show the development from when I bought it with the Rickman fairing, rearsets and 4-4 exhaust.

Very nice, but bet you couldn't part with those groovy strides man.

That's my mate from that time, Brian. the owner of the Z900

This is me, standing behind my Z1B. Also some shots of my custom sprayed Griffin Clubman helmet.

Welcome, great pics and story. JTV 648N is still taxed and tested. Anyone have more information?

Proper old school, always nice to see a Griffin Clubman although I do have to admit I thought they were horrible at the time....

Welcome along... would you buy it back if you had the chance?

Hello and welcome, good luck with the quest.

Jay1969 wrote:Welcome along... would you buy it back if you had the chance?

Jay1969, only if it was still in exactly the same trim as it was on the day I sold it. The engine was in such a state of tune which is why I always suspected it to have passed away. If it still has the same engine (cams, cranks etc) then that is credit to the Kawasaki engineers for designing an engine that could withstand such every day abuse. Russell Savoury told me the day I picked it up from his workshop in Stanstead Abbott that it was the best engine in terms of original power output and construction that he had worked on up to then (1978) and reckoned it was putting out over 100BHP with all the mods.

Welcome great pictures and story

Great pics and great story. My biggest regret (other than selling my z1,s) was that i never took any pics of the bikes or mates . Love to see the 70,s style ,lack of cars and the fact it nearly always seemed sunny!

Lovely looking bike! and great pics ,you must have lots of good memories!

warren3200gt wrote: bet you couldn't part with those groovy strides man.

They were 1970's 'High Viz'......

Heart-warming story

The money lavished on the engine must of been ruinous though

I hope you find her

drew

trikerdrew wrote:Heart-warming story

The money lavished on the engine must of been ruinous though

I hope you find her

drew

The bike cost me 1,075 GBP when I bought it in 1977 and then I spent another 2,000 GBP over the following two years on the engine (mainly) and wheels and other bits and bobs. It was well worth it though. Even more worth it one day when a GS1000 decided to give me a race - the look on his face when he eventually pulled into a pub car park after about a 5 mile race was worth every penny.