British Japanese FusionIt’s an oversimplification but, in some ways, the introduction of the Honda CB750 and the Kawasaki Z1 signaled the beginning of the end for the British bike industry. The engines that powered those bikes were powerful, refined, reliable, and relatively easy to tune for increased power, but the bikes themselves were often heavy…
Update 6.18.2023: Billy has reached out to get his bike on the homepage. His new price for RSBFS is $17,500. Reach him by email. Good luck to buyers and seller! -dc In the 1970s and 1980s the Japanese motorcycle manufacturers made huge strides in terms of technology, performance and reliability. The engines were more powerful…
Brothers Don and Derek were definitely on to something. Starting in the 1960s with off road pursuits, their chassis building exploits brought them into the realm of road racers. By the early 1970s they were offering frame kits for British bikes (Triumph & BSA primarily), but it was the Kawasaki and Honda powered models that…
Update 11.18.2019: This bike has SOLD! Congratulations to buyer and seller! -dc Eddie Lawson won the AMA Superbike championship in 1981 and 1982. That alone should be enough to cement his name in the history books. But “Steady Eddie” did not stop there. He went on to become a 4-time 500cc GP champion, bettering the…
Here’s a weird one. This seller in Oklahoma has two turbo’d Kawasaki Z bikes for sale in two separate auctions and in two very different states of disrepair. They wear identical paint schemes, and the seller says they come from the estate of a good friend. 1975 Kawasaki KZ900 Turbo for sale on eBay The…
I know that for many of our readers, RSBFS is all about the import smokers. And while we do love our grey-market popcorn poppers, variety is – as they say – the spice of life. Two-strokes did not always dominate the sport bike scene, as evidenced by today’s example of what ruled the streets in…
In the early 1990’s, Kawasaki had a nostalgic feeling for the 70’s, when the ground-pounding Z-1 ruled the tar pits. Standard bikes ( now called naked ) had a short-lived resurgence in the 550, 750 and 1100 cc models, with a 400 cc Japan-only variant. An editor at Sport Rider went through an orange/burgundy 1100…
This isn’t something we’d normally feature here on RSBFS, but given the effort that went into this restomod Kawasaki Z1 and the performance that’s likely on tap, it seemed like a fun bike to share. Keep in mind: “musclebike” and “sportbike” are general terms at best, not a specific category of motorcycle. And remember, they…