Restoring my 72 Z1, Well maybe some day!

[Davy Doherty]

So here's a shot of her before i start tearing her apart, As you can see it's all there and original including the original exhausts!! it's even got it's original owners manual in the tail. Anyway i'll hopefully be posting my progress over the coming months..

[london calling]

I'd take it as it is Davy if I had the £££$$$

[Pigford]

Thats a cracker.....
What colour was/is it

[Davy Doherty]

It's actually the candy brown and orange (jaffa) Mark, but faded to buggery after laying in the Utah sun for 25+ yrs.

[mikey]

Apart from the paint work davy dosent seem to have sufferd the ravages of time to badly

[Davy Doherty]

I think the dry sunny climate of Utah helped, theres very little rust anywhere on the bike most of the bolts are still like new just a wee bit dull but the chrome is really good espically the wheel rims and spokes.

[TheBogieMan]

It seems a shame to ruin it by restoring it to be honest, personally I think its pukka the way it is

[Ed Z1-R]

Im sure this topic has come up before but........



DONT DO IT


But i guess y' gonna get a kick outta the refurb.

[GEZ635]

Great bike..why restore a piece of history? It looks great as is and trust me, once the obsession with restoring z1's dies out everyone will want unrestored bikes. You have something unique there. Anyone with enough money can buy/restore a z1 but to have one that is all original is priceless. I would buy that bike over any vapour blasted, powder coated re-zinced z1 out there.Being an original bike, and looking like one are completely different and while I appreciate the work that goes into a nut and bolt restoration(just done 2 more) and how great they look, I still come back to the same conclusion...they are only original until you start replacing parts! What ever you do I am sure it will fantastic and good luck with it.

[RALPHARAMA]

Sorry to be controversial, but I don't see why restoring a bike to it's original condition is making it not original. All machines are fitted with new parts as they wear out. The bike didn't leave the factory with shitty paint - it degraded with UV from the sun, so needs re-painting.

Davy paid the dosh for the bike, so it's 'is bike and he can do as he pleases with it.

I am some what perplexed as to why anyone would do a painstaking resto only to sell the bike when finished. But each to they're own. I guess it puts nice bikes in the hands of those who are better at making money than restoring bikes - I'm from the other camp I wouldn't part with the Old Gurl for all the tea in China

[Davy Doherty]

ed is correct this has be covered before,

I totally agree with gez in every respect, and have pondered over this very subject long and hard for a few years now, but here's the thing,
This bike is for sale and unfortunatly i believe it will fetch more if restored, i would gladly sell it as it is but there are probably only a few who would appreciate it for what it is, A true survivor,

Every nut and bolt is original and unmolested, every date code is correct and it's got quite a few of the very "dare i say it" rare items still there and all working as they should,

For now at-least the engine is with our very own guru Iain Marshall who will be doing a full engine strip and rebuild using all original Kawasaki part's which i've sent to him via GBH, George in Japan who has been an enormous help in both supplying most of the parts and loads of sound advice over the years.

[Iain marshall]

Davy ,been a while but the engines nearly finished,head should be on this weekend and engine running soon.

[Taffus]

Hmm
been through this one
picked up a lovely z650 (ok kz 650) 6900 genuine miles, a minter apart from the patina of being 29 years old. Bought the guilari seat, cma wheels, dual disks ,etc got me spanners out and..... couldn't do it it is (at present) a piece of history, maybe only to us zedheads but it is just like the one I wanted when I was brassic... now I have got and I smile when I look at it and grin like the cat that has the cream when I ride it !
I know the 650 isn't everyones cup of tea but hey can't help myself......

[RALPHARAMA]

It looks ab fab Taffsu

[chrisNI]

It seems a shame to ruin it by restoring it to be honest, personally I think its pukka the way it is

We certainly have had this discussion before. When the bike was on our stand at Ballymena a few years ago it was the talking point of the show. It was sitting beside a mint Z1A and Z1 which nobody gave a second glance to. All everyone wanted to talk about was the "desert rat". It's like varnishing an antique oak table.