kawasaki kz 1000  the king

da busa guy

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looking through a  old december 1976 cycle world they had an article about the KZ 1000 the fastest stocker ever, boy was it ever  12.19  at 107 mph in the 1/4 and 120 mph in the 1/2 mile. wow we have come a long way. heck every 600  now is faster than that. they also had an ad for a Wankel Rotary engine Suzuki RE-5 i think they were made for 1976 and 77,not too popular (poor gas mileage and high 13s in the 1/4, 110 mph top speed) the engine was so smooth it did not need rubber mounts. has any body seen one?



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I have the same magazine. Yup, the KZ1000 was the king back then. Most of you guys are probably too young to remember them.
I had bought a new 1978 KZ1000  back then. Put in a 1075 kit, different cams, smooth bore carbs, slick, and wheelie bars.
I ran consistant 10.8's, a little over 120 in the 1/4 mile.
Bikes have come a long way since then.



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they also had an ad for a Wankel Rotary engine Suzuki RE-5 i think they were made for 1976 and 77,not too popular (poor gas mileage and high 13s in the 1/4, 110 mph top speed) the engine was so smooth it did not need rubber mounts. has any body seen one?[/QUOTE]

Yep. The guy I bought my CX500 Turbo off of had one. He had an impressive collection of rare bikes and was the original owner of all of them.

RE5 is quite possibly the ugliest bike ever made (ok maybe not as bad as a ZX12).
He said they eat up spark plugs which cost over $100 each so now he sends them out to be rebuilt. Smooth bike but slow and tempermental.
I see another guy out riding his around once in a great while.
Cool piece of motorcycle history that has a dirt cheap market value right now but will be worth major $$$ in the future.

Here's one that recently sold on ebay:

<a href="http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Suzuki-Suzuki-RE5M-1975-Suzuki-RE5-RE-5-Rotary-Wankel-Rare_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQcategoryZ6027
QQitemZ4568820894QQrdZ1" target="_blank">link</a>

From the sides they look ok, but check out that front view!
 
I was just lookin' at picking up an older bike...... was thinkin bout a GS1150E, 1986 or older. Sweet arse bikes!
 
quick back then. my first streetbike was a '81 LTD1000 (KZ1000K powerplant)
you rode a kawi?
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I had a 1978 KZ1000 as well. I road the hell out of it. You can still find old KZ's (even an occassional H1 or H2!) sometimes on eBay.
 
Here's my 78.  I was 19 and crazy.  Paid $4999 Canadian for it brand new.  My best friend had a new Z1R.  Loved it back then.  Love the Busa way more now!!!

78kaw.jpg
 
Besides my busa I have a '77 KZ1000. It's nice to ride the KZ once in a while but jumping off it and on to the Busa is like night and day. The KZ feels like a moped.
 
I had a 78 KZ650 for a while. back around 89 or so I would have sworn it was faster than low 12's just from memory but obviously it wasn't if the 1K's were just running those ET's. Hmm, funny how you remember some things as better than they actually were.
 
I had a 73 z1 900 I remember it had a nasty high speed wobble at about 110 but a fork brace helped that.
OH and I really loved that front drum brake(not).
 
you boys are talking my era now.....the 1970s...I had a Norton 750 Commando and I regularly smoked the KZ 900s. Only smoked a few KZ1000s though...wicked bike at the time. But the only serious race I lost was with the 750- H3....the 3-cylinder 2-cycle Kawasaki. Sounded like #### but looked cool and was very very fast off the line.
It doesn't surprise me that the front end came up in 3rd gear...the thing from 0-60 was mean.
 
you boys are talking my era now.....the 1970s...I had a Norton 750 Commando and I regularly smoked the KZ 900s.  Only smoked a few KZ1000s though...wicked bike at the time.  But the only serious race I lost was with the 750- H3....the 3-cylinder 2-cycle Kawasaki.  Sounded like #### but looked cool and was very very fast off the line.  
It doesn't surprise me that the front end came up in 3rd gear...the thing from 0-60 was mean.
Those H-3's are still reasonably popular drag bikes.....not like the kz/gs, but there's still a few floating around.
 
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