THE MITZEL BUILDERS MOTORCYCLE COLLECTION - PRESENTED BY LEE MITZEL In the late ‘60s, engineers at Kawasaki were working feverishly on secret project New York Steak—a new bike powered by a big-bore, 750cc, inline-4. Unfortunately for Team Green, crosstown rivals Honda dropped the earth- shattering CB750 in 1969 before Kawasaki’s steak was even off the grill. Not content to take this lying down, Kawasaki went back to the drawing board with the goal of blowing Honda’s new superbike clean out of the water. In 1972, the company did just that with the launch of a fire-breathing, 900cc, inline-4 monster called the Z1. The Z1 was, at the time of its launch, the most powerful Japanese 4-stroke, 4-cylinder motorcycle ever produced. The bike’s big, air-cooled, 903cc, 4-stroke, dual overhead cam, inline-4 produced 81 HP and 54.2 lb-ft of torque at 8,500 RPM and had a claimed top speed of 132 MPH right out of the box. It set the world FIM (Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme) and AMA (American Motorcycle Association) 24-hour endurance record at Daytona in 1972 with an average speed of nearly 110 MPH over the course of 2,631 miles. A special Yoshimura-tuned Z1 posted a one-lap record of 160 MPH at Daytona the same year. It wasn’t just raw power that made the Z1 successful. It had full instrumentation, an electric starter along with the standard kicker, a comfortable saddle, and long legs that could handle high-speed stretches of freeway riding as well as canyon carving. Contemporary motorcycling media praised the big new Kawasaki for its smoothness, vibration damping, straight-line stability, accurate steering and cornering. It was the complete package and a rousing success for Kawasaki. The Z1 remained relatively unchanged from its launch in 1972 until 1975. Colorways came and went, and slight tweaks were made to the styling, but all the mechanical underpinnings remained the same. The bike got a host of upgrades for 1975—a stiffer frame, better suspension, more power, new styling—and a new designation as the Z1-B. The Z1 was replaced in 1976 by the KZ900 and, ultimately, by the KZ1000. The bike offered here is a 1975 Z1-B from The Mitzel Builders Motorcycle Collection. It’s painted in a handsome dark blue livery with gold, white and black stripes along with the usual Z1 splashes of chrome. It’s in excellent condition and seems to have been very well cared for over the past 50 years. The paint is clear, the brightwork is free from pits or rust, and the saddle shows no sign of scuffs or tears. F161 1975 Kawasaki Z1 900
