1977 Kawasaki Z1000 Motorcycle

Description

A pioneering industrialist, Shozo Kawasaki’s company was founded in Tokyo (Japan) and manufactured everything from locomotives to steel components, diversifying into aircraft in 1937 and, from the end of the Second World War, motorcycle engines. In 1960 Kawasaki merged with Japan’s oldest motorcycle manufacturer, Meguro Works, and the company’s first foray into four-stroke design combined the resources of both, with Meguro’s engineers taking charge of the chassis design while Kawasaki developed the engine. Kawasaki engineers had been well underway with a mocked-up 750cc 4-stroke engine in the late ‘60s when Honda burst on the scene with its now-legendary CB750. Work stopped on the project initially, but Kawasaki picked it up again in 1970 and created the Z1 for 1972. It was the most powerful Japanese four-cylinder four-stroke motorcycle ever made. Kawasaki launched the Z1000 (also known as the KZ1000) in late 1976 for the ’77 model year, replacing the 1976 KZ900 which in turn had replaced the Z1 launched way back in 1972. The Z1000 was touted by Kawasaki as being smoother and better than its predecessor with a host of evolutionary changes. The updated air cooled DOHC in-line four cylinder engine producing 90 bhp thanks to a heavier crankshaft and increased cylinder bore, a lighter 4 into 2 exhaust setup and five-speed transmission, in a 'one down and four up' configuration along with rear disc brake for fade free stops from the low 12 second 100+ mile per hour quarter mile runs it was capable of, which is why the Kawasaki Z1000 was known as one of the fastest production motorcycles of its era.