Z1OwnersClub GB

Folks
New to the site but still have the Kustom Kawasaki patch somewhere and my Z900 bought from Hednesford Kawasaki back in 1976.
Bought this bike for rallying so clocked up loads of miles here and abroad. Old timers will know what it meant to do the Elephant rally on a solo two up with camping gear in February. When the Elephant moved to Austria this bike pulled three people and sidecar and it was bloody cold.
She has been in many guises over the years so I make no apologies for the mix of parts. What you see is what it is and the only change I would make would be to go back to the original paint scheme

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Welcome!
That's a very tidy (especially for the mileage) and no need to apologise for how it looks, it's your bike!

Alright Hank not turbo'd this one yet

Hi Tony
welcome to the club! It's an honest bike and she's looking good for her age and mileage.
That's a keeper, definitely!
Greetings from Belgium
Philippe

That's a very nice UK Z900 - you can't beat a bike with history like that!

Any photos from the past?

My Z900 (PRE 2R) also came from Kustom Kawasaki (see sig block) new on 1 August 1976 - our bikes were probably PDI’d by our Pres, Jerry, who worked at Kustom Kawasaki at the time.

In '76 I was on the Chase rally on a bonnie and got stomped by a Zed so called in at Hednesford Kawasaki and took the demo bike out. A week later here it is complete with the rack that I had fitted. Tank and exhaust were modified early '77 on ice and a more radical change when dropped it on diesel destroying the clocks, headlight and denting the tank on the other side. a year later got hit in the side by a prick who ignored a red light. One day it might go back to original colours but tank has a fair bit of filler in it now.

Would be nice to see a few history photos of this bike as you’ve been together some 46 years And 120,000 miles I’m sure you’ll have some great memories.
A bit of maintanance and evolutionary history would be nice as well.
Welcome to the club Hank

here's a couple of pics.
one is the Paaseitreffen in Holland 1977 and shows exhaust still in one piece.
The other is extreme. I had been to the Elefantreffen at the Nurbugring on the Z but the rally was cancelled for the following year. However my German mates found out that it was to be held at the Salzburgring Austria in February '78. We knew the snow would be bad so three of us went on this home made lashup and raised £500 for Shrewsbury hospital. Rider is Klaus bloke in sidecar is camel and I'm the ugly bugger pillion I think it was 2k round trip.
last pic was 1979 just back from Elefantreffen Austria again. cut the sidecar down to make a box.

Cool pics Hank,

Excellent set of photos, it's great to capture memories like that - wish I'd taken more photos in the 70s and 80s!

Great story still got my original a4 that i bought when i was 19, unfortunately mines in boxs

I was a member of Kustom Kawasaki Z1 owners club for many years and attended 3 rallies in the 80s ran by the club

It's great to see old photo' s of past (and in your case present Zeds) and, as Andrew S says, I wish I had taken more back then. I'm guessing the Suzuki jacket worn in the photo is homage to the late, great Barry Sheene?

The chap in the Suzuki leathers is a mate 'stick' from Telford who rode a GSX1100 and used my bike to pack his luggage.
Realised that this was the Mollentreffen in Holland. It was a popular rally for us cos the weather was always good, the locals excellent and the also the ride out.

Good to have you here, a true Zed rider.