Where’s the beef? It’s right here, in this amazing 1979 Kawasaki KZ1000 MK2 Custom. The Kawasaki KZ1000, introduced in 1976, was a second-generation upgrade from the groundbreaking Z1 model of 1972, the first truly big- bore, 4-cylinder, super sports motorcycle from Japan with a 900cc, 4-cylinder, DOHC motor. The Z1 was Kawasaki’s answer to the Honda CB750, but bigger. The 903cc engine capacity and DOHC valve gear proved the superiority of the new Kawasaki 4-cylinder over the Honda CB750 and instantly made the Honda look ordinary by comparison. The styling of the Z1 was big and bold with well-designed curves on the gas tank and tail section, emphasizing the “beefiness” of the bike code-named “New York Steak” in prototype form. It had plenty of sizzle, too, and won Bike of the Year from many magazines for several years running. It also set off an arms race in the motorcycle world, with ever-bigger, ever-more powerful machines vying for “world’s fastest” honors and shortest quarter-mile times. Luckily, straight from the factory from its 1972 introduction, the Z1 could handle its power with a good chassis and decent brakes. The KZ1000 engine was even beefier than the Z1, with a heavier crankshaft giving a smoother motor, a larger bore for a 90 HP motor and a disc rear brake, among other smaller changes. This machine has been upgraded with more modern equipment, including a big-bore 1175cc engine, Yoshimura stage 2 cam, twin plugs, reinforced clutch, a rebalanced crankshaft, a Yoshimura TMR 10-stage oil cooler, inverted Ohlin forks in the front with Brembo calipers and double discs, Ohlins shocks in the rear, 17-inch mag wheels front and rear, an enlarged 190 tire size on the rear wheel, a special Over Racing alloy swingarm, a one-off titanium muffler, and more. The cost for all of this work exceeded 10 million Yen ($66,500) and produced an extraordinary motorcycle: a beefier, faster, better-handling, better-stopping and perhaps even better- looking version of the ultimate power machine of the 1970s. It’s clean, it’s fast, it’s a no-nonsense beast. S220 1979 Kawasaki KZ1000 MK2 Custom
