1977 Z1000A1

[dwhitehouse]

Seems to be the only thing I post on here but….
I’m considering selling my 1977 Z1000A1, again. Originally from the US but imported and UK registered in 1994.
I have owned since Jan 2009 and did a major restoration between 2009 and 2010. This included a complete strip down and rebuild with all of the following work being done:
• Powder coated frame and swing arm
• New swing arm bearings
• Wheels rebuilt by Central Wheels with new British chrome rims and stainless spoke front a rear. Hubs powder coated in black. New bearings front and rear.
• Brakes rebuilt with stainless pistons and braided lines.
• New Hagon shocks on the rear and variable springs on the front.
• New avon road rider tyres front and rear.
• Many electrical parts repaired and replaced.
• New copy chrome front and rear mudgards from Zed-Power.

I did very little to the engine and gearbox as it runs fine. I replaced the cam chain top idler gear with a metal replacement from Zed-power. Checked and replaced valve shims as required, rebuilt the carbs with Keyster carb kits and put it back in the bike.
I’ve run the bike since 2010 but put very little mileage on it and right now it’s going to be put into storage. It’s far from original but rides nice and would make a great riding project for someone ?

The reason for putting it in storage is that I have taken on a project that has consumed my garage and I don’t have the space or time. Right now it will need some polishing up but I’m 100% confident it will fly trough an MOT with a days’ worth of attention. It’s registered as historic so no tax required.
I think I may regret selling it once I have the garage space back but for the right money I think it makes sense to let it go to someone who can devote some time to it.

To me the right money would have to be £5,950. They seem to be fetching almost double that in top condition and it’s not a million miles form that condition with some time, money and effort.

[JohnC]

I'm in the same boat m8, similar bikes and similar provenance, mine is a US import as well, bought by me in 1992.

Your bike looks lovely btw!

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I was hoping for about £7K - £7500ish given the sensible mods I've carried out, mainly for reliability but also for a wee boost in performance from Debbens with the Wiseco 1075 along with the Smoothbores etc, and for safety, the OEM brakes are pretty scary if you want to use even 3/4 of the performance of such a heavy bike in today's mad traffic and crap roads, but I'm guessing you're like me and thinking is this a bike to be used as a future 'coffee table' like ZedHead says, or is it to be used as it should really be!! Like a (slightly less powerful ) modern day Z900RS (although 115bhp with decent brakes and all the top spec modern goodies like ABS, rider modes and TC), that is the question. Fully restored bikes are 'asking' from £10 - £25K, whether they ever will sell and get that price needs to be taken into the mix.

I've every receipt (I shudder to add them all up but it's deff circa £6K - £8K since I bought the bike in 1992), and I've all the mot's showing the mileage since I've owned the bike for provenance. I was actually really surprised how few miles I've done every year (hence the decision to sell), hopefully just enough to let a new owner know it's not been parked up for ever. Even when off the road I turned the engine over regularly as I heard somewhere they can suffer from crank park.

So we can keep each other posted re any interest. I'm getting the tank repaired as it has two small bubbles and putting on a load of new parts. I just dont know how much further to go before I'm losing out as any new owner might have their own ideas where they want to take things. Lets face it, there's not a lot of 40+ year old Z1000's still kicking about in good nick, so who knows, and with Kawasaki now pushing retro bikes like the Z900RS for the first time since the luke warm Zephyrs ( the RS with the same paint job as your Z900 themed look seems to be the one to buy ), and it developing a great cult following already with fantastic reviews, I think you just might get more than you think for the real deal ;)

J