Peter wrote:You can't call an 1100R a 'Genuine Lawson Replica' as he only raced a 1000! If you want to dismiss the 1000R as a J3 you could say the 1100R is a GPZ1100 with a few changes, they all share many interchangeable parts. Lawson had moved on to Yamaha after 1982, so Kawasaki dropped the reference to Lawson and is one of the reasons given for painting the 1983 UK bikes white....
The only real Lawson Rep is the one that the US got for 1982... We Europeans had the 1983 Z1000R2 Superbike Replica (commonly referred to as the Lawson Replica, but not by Kawasaki), which was more than a J3 with a fairing and seat change. In addition to those items, the front discs are 10mm larger, yokes, handlebars, clocks, rear shocks, cams and carb jets and I'm sure a few more things differ. As the owner of a 1000R2 for 20 years, I've spent considerable time looking for parts, only to find many J parts aren't compatible....
This was followed for 1984 by the Z1100R, which Kawasaki didn't refer to as a Lawson or even Superbike Replica.
I can't understand why people think the 1100R is 'more desirable' than the 1000R, when the Lawson association and race heritage (if there is any) doesn't support that line of thinking.
I'm amazed at the asking prices of all Zeds, with some 'standard' 900 & 1000's into 5 figures! Glad I bought mine before people thought of them as investments... still, they're all only worth what someone else is prepared to pay for them and how strong their rose tinted specs are....
Sold my CBX6 (£3,000) to buy the Z (£1,600) and previously sold my lovely Z1R (which at the time people thought ugly) for even less and struggled to find buyers for either.... oh how times have changed!
Enjoy a safe summer riding...
The Z1100R has a vast amount of differences compared to a standard GPZ1100 and a better bike to ride compared to a Z1000R as I have owned a couple over the years. The Z1000R has just as much or just as little race heritage going for it as a Z1100R! In short, if you have actually ridden one you can only agree that the Z1100R does handle better, goes better and rarer than a Z1000R. IMHO it is more desirable and if people in the main think its more desirable then it is. As its an opinion it can't be right or wrong.