Up for auction againThis bike was auctioned off in Aug on BaT and according to the seller’s description, the winner was not able to come up with the funds. So here it is for everyone to get another shot. The bidding was competitive in August and it ended at $22,000. Let’s see what happens in…
Update 3.15.2019: Now relisted on eBay with a buy-it-now of $37,900. Good luck to buyers and seller! Links updated. -dc Before Honda and Suzuki engineered machines with turbocharged engines in the early part of the 1980s, Kawasaki pioneered the idea by using forced induction to make their musclebound Z1R a truly brawny street machine. By…
Update 7.26.2019: This bike has SOLD! Congratulations to buyer and seller! -dc By the time the 1978 Kawasaki Z1-R rolled around, the Z1000 platform on which it was based was getting a little dated, though it still enjoyed a solid reputation for being a hard bike to tangle with on a street or track. Others…
In the 1970s the Kawasaki Z1 was the big dog of the sporting world. Long in the tooth as the decade neared to a close (the Z1 platform was introduced way back in 1972), Kawasaki introduced an updated model – the Z1-R. Largely a warmed-over refresh rather than an all new design, the R model…
Turbochargers are pretty ubiquitous these days, allowing for insane levels of reliable performance and fuel economy, especially when coupled with modern electronics permitting compression ratios that early adopters of boost could only dream of. Modern cars offer flat torque curves and seamless power, but older turbocharged set ups were notorious for lag that felt like…
Update 12.12.2017: Seller confirms this bike has sold. Congratulation to the new owner! -dc Kawasaki pushed out more than 17,000 Z1-Rs over the model’s three-year life, but the majority were built in ’78 and ’79, and the vast majority of those wore Stardust Silver paintjobs. Today’s featured bike bucks both those trends: It is a…
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…