150-bhp Zed from Atlanta Motorcycle Works… When the original 903cc Kawasaki Z1 hit showrooms in 1972, it was the first large-capacity four-cylinder Japanese production bike to boast a DOHC design, outstripping the CB750 as the […]
Tag: Kawasaki KZ
Un-LTD-ed: Kawasaki KZ750 Street Scrambler
Slipstream Creations’ first Kawasaki build… When Honda released the CB750 in 1969, Kawasaki head engineer Ben Inamura didn’t focus on rivaling Honda’s 750cc four, but beating it. Three years later, the 900cc Kawasaki Z1 appeared…and […]
Zed’s Not Dead: Kawasaki KZ1000 “A16R” Restomod
KZ1000-Powered “A16R 005” from AC Sanctuary… Hiroyuki Nakamura and his team at AC Sanctuary are famous for developing some of the fastest, sexiest restomod motorcycles on the planet. Though they work with many different […]
King Zed: Kawasaki “KZ1135” MKII Restomod
Kawasaki KZ1000 MKII from AC Sanctuary… The Kawasaki KZ1000 MKII was the 1979-80 version of the liter-sized Zed. It received some nice upgrades over the previous model, including fresh bodywork, larger carbs, electronic ignition, […]
KZ Scrambler: Kawasaki “KZ400S”
Kawasaki KZ400 Scrambler from Bueno Co… In the early 70s, Kawasaki stepped up their game against Honda’s four-stroke dominance. First came the 900cc Kawasaki Z1 in 1972, aimed squarely at the CB750. While those four-cylinder […]
Big 650: 1170cc Kawasaki Z650 Street Racer
Introduced in 1977, the Kawasaki Z650 (KZ650 in North America) was sometimes known as the “Son of the Z1” — a middleweight version of the mighty 900cc Z, the “King of the Superbikes.” The 652cc […]
Main Force Patrol: Mad Max KZ1000 “Kwaka”
Goose’s “MFP1000” from Unik Edition… Mad Max (1979) remains one of the most influential films of the 20th century, as powerful today as it’s ever been — perhaps because a post-apocalyptic future seems a more […]
Alternate Reality: Kawasaki-Meguro KZ79SP Raven
CROWS Performance injects Meguro soul into the KZ1000… Founded in the Shinagawa Ward of Tokyo in 1924, Meguro was a prestige brand that supplied Japanese military and police motorcycles, coming to be known as the […]
Mark II Missile: Kawasaki KZ1000 MKII Restomod
AC Sanctuary’s MKII Missile… In 1979, Kawasaki introduced the KZ1000 MKII, which offered new angular styling and a slight power boost out of the 1015cc DOHC inline four engine, now making 93 bhp. The crank […]
Déjà Vroom: Kawasaki “KZ1165” Restomod
RCM-554: 1165cc Zed from AC Sanctuary… The Kawasaki KZ900 was the direct successor of the mighty Z1. At the time of its introduction in 1972, the original 903cc Zed was the largest, most powerful four-cylinder […]
