1977 Kawasaki Kz 1000 on 2040-motos

Moto blog

New 1972 Kawasaki Z1 only £720

Looking at the pictures of Japanese firm Yamato's new Kawasaki Z1 you'd be hard pushed to tell it's not the real thing. But in fact it's a scale model only just over a foot long, made with incredible attention to detail with several years of development to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the original 900cc Z1 of 1972. Using 3D scanning of real parts, the bike was scaled down to create this model, which has now gone on sale in Japan at an eye-watering £720 apiece.

A Weighty Issue

For as long as I can remember, motorcycle manufacturers have been playing fast and loose with regard to what they claim for the weight of their bikes. The “dry weights” they foisted upon us had little basis in reality. The “dry” part of that claim meant that listed weights on a spec chart were the result of all fluids being MIA from the bike, including necessities like engine oil, coolant and fork fluid (not to mention fuel), but even that didn’t fully explain the overly optimistic specs.

ZX-10R. Worth the weight?

The whisper on pit lane is that 2011 will be a good year for the green K. Our moles within the racing circles tell us that apart from more power and less weight (always handy), the new ZX-10R's main advantage is not these two factors but rather its improved weight distribution, weight transference qualities and grip levels. Studying Tom Syke's lap time data from Kawasaki's public test sessions it seems it's much easier for him to maintain consistent fast lap times back-to-back over the whole range of tyre degradation and fuel load changes.