Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

Kawasaki Z-l Ifus4varna "nd CZ owners: h"ve we fIOt " Millani earlnaretor eonversion lIit for ~u! Valerian's. The original Mikuni carburetor conversion kit for Huskys and CZs. And the only one that really works! The kit that improves efficiency, torque characteristics and fuel consumption. Stops loading up. Eases startups. And gives more docibility. The kit that comes with a complete range of jets good from sea level to B,OOO: The kit you can bolt on in less than an hour. The custom-designed kit that looks like it's "factory installed:' L.~~ ......~.~_-_":.J Order a whole kit and kaboodle, or just the parts you need. (InclUding our very own manifold kits.) Call (213) 475-4541 today. Or mail the coupon. ----------------------------S"': WCMtld like to ordtor the lollowine K,t Kit Descriolion - Type /SIze Pnce , 250 CZ - 32"1"1 .• 2 250 CZ - 34mm . . . . 3 360·400 CZ - 34mm 554.95 . ..... 59.95 . . .• 5'1,95 4360·400 CZ - 36mm ....•..•.... 5250 HUlky - 32"1"1 to replace 32mm 6250 Husky - 34mm 10 replacl J6mm 7 250 Husk V - 32mm 10 repl-ee 36mm 8 HUJky - 32mm 10 repl.ce32mm . n.50 .. . •. ,61.95 •.. , 65.95 . • .• .. 61.95 . ..•.• 61.95 Detcrlpllon - TYP4/Sllt PrICe 9 360 Hulky - 34mm to replKl' 36mm . . ... 65.95 10360 HUlky - 32"1"1 to repl.ce 36mm . , .•.•. 65.95 11 400 Huil(y - 34mm to replace 32"1"1 65.95 12400 Husky - 34mm to replace 36mm 65.95 13250 Husky MJ - 32mm 14250 Hul6r.v MJ - 34mm . 15400 HutIl.v MJ - 34mm 16 450 Husky MJ - 34mm . 17 125 Penton - 32mm • . . . . •. . ••.• 63.95 . ...•..•• 66.95 ...•..••. 65.95 . ....•...• 65.85 . •.•••••. SC.i5 •All priceS Dlus ShiPPIng ana handl'l'g california r~dents add 5" ".Ies tax Please sr.IO COO CharQe 10 = BankAmel'lcard: • MaSlerCtLarge -: MV accoyni numbef IS NAME AOORESS MAI~TO: , CITY U\\ ~ I VU • _ TELEPHON:_ST:::A:-:T:::E:~::~~-Z-'P:------~se area codel ~w~~c~!~ev~!!~~r~!"· Lo. Angeles, California 90064 - Telephone: (213) 475-4541 INVENTORY CLEARANCE SALE '~t, tb~ Everything in store reduced by 20% 30% 40% HELMETS LEATHERS GOGGLES GLOVES JERSEYS SHIELDS VISORS SOCKS TIRES TUBES 'FILTRONS FENDERS TIE DOWNS CARBS HANDLE BARS SPROCKETS GAS TANKS LEVERS CABLES SILENCERS CHAMBERS OIL PLUGS CHAINS AMERICAN RIDERS SUPPLY 22022 S. Main St., Carson, CA 90745 Phone 835~150 10-8 daily MAICO MON·ARK Continued from page 12 was not just by chance. We were all scheming and planning on il weeks before it arrived Everybody had a trip they wanted to take and everybody had their eyes on the Kawasaki. The big four strikes you as a totIring bike, both when you see it and when you ride it. The seat is long, wide and comfortable. Passengers always commen ted on comfort. Wind is kept off the chest by the instruments, which foil the wind like bug shields on some cars. The legs can also tuck in, at the back of the tank. Vibration is no problem except in the special Z-l mirrors, the elements of which vibrated badly at cruising speed. Cruising speed was what ever you felt like. The bike pulls effortlessly to well over any speed limit. First will go to an indicated 57 MPH at the 9,000 RPM redline. Second will indicate almost 80. Top gear finds 5000 RPM at 83 MPH. But the speedo is rather optimistic. That 57 MPH is closer to 52 and 77 means about 70. Out on the road we normally cruised at what the speedo claimed was ten MPH over the speed limit. We passed a Highway Patrol car in this manner and weren't paid any attention. One staffer was, uh, exploring the comfort of the Z-l at an indicated lOO MPH. It was fortunate that the speedo lies. The officer that stopped him would have had to take him to jail if he'd been going as fast as the speedo believed. The performance of the Z·l is complemented by little demand for . maintenance. We put about 3100 miles on it, and in that time all we did was change the oil and oil filter once and adjust the chain once. That's alL Thanks to the countershaft driven chain oiler, .we didn't even have to lube the chain. The carbs seemed to need 'some synchronization by the time we were done, but it still ran just Ime and even idled. ]t didn't ever Uke to idle when it was cold. All that metal takes quite a while to warm up and you have to ride a mile or so with the choke on, even after a two minute warm-up. Moving away from a stop reveals that the 903 has a fairly tall first gear and also the power band to cope with it. It will pull from two grand without lugging. Shifting pressure is light and engagement positive - usually. The only problem that we had with the bike was an occasional tendency to pop ou t of second, 'and, once or twice, first, gear when you were slowing down and making several down shifts. It was only inconvenient for us, fortunately, and seems to be peculiar to our machine. Something that wasn't pecuUar to our machine is bad shocks. These were different than the shocks that were on the last Z-l we" tested, and neither bike had anything like the worst shocks we've ever come up against. They just weren't what one expects from a bike that lOUts itself as King. These shocks had stiffer springs than the last ones we tested, so the lack of rebound damping was noticeable. This lack of proper shocks affected the bike in three ways. First, it would wobble sUghtly in high speed turns, but not as much as our previous test hike and it never got scary in norma1ly hard driving. Secondly, in bumpy comeR, you could get the rear wheel to begin to hop a little if you were in a hurry. Going real fast on a bike that heavy with only one wheel maintaining a Imn Specifications ENGINE Type HODAKA-BILITY 14 See your local HOOAKA deller Distributed by Tige< Distributing 853 W. Br08dwlly. Glendale. Ca. 91204 Hodaka Motorcycles f~;:~ 7flue.tIIUM ~;~~:Sport Cycle GUY R. LOUIS (714) 893·7057 n19 Westminster Ave., Westminster. Ca. dual overh-m cam air cooted four cylinder four stroke Bore x stroke .......•.......... , , 66 x 66mm Displacement ,. 903cc Compression ratio ............•.............. , 8.5: 1 B2 BHP@8500RPM Horsepower , , .. , .. , .. , ....•.... , ,(4) 28mm Mikuni Carburetion .. , Oil capacity , , 4 quarts Recommended fuel .......•................................. regular or bett... Ignition FOR grip is rather scary. Thirdly, the bike would bump up slightly on concrete freeways because of the impact, which was passed to the rider, from the bump at the joint of each concrete slab. Carrying a passenger was enough to overcome the problem. part of the blame for which should be given to the front forks. We were given suggestions for three different special mixture. of oils to pour in the forks, all of which were guaranteed to cure it, so we left them alone. The Z-l doesn't have the Honda 750's tendency to fall into a tum. The steering is quite neutral at all speeds. ft will remain quite manageable at walking speed with your feet on the pegs. High speed handling isn't quite as good. Some steering precision is lost because of the shocks. There are two schools of thought about the front brake. Some people think it should be a dual disc instead of the optional single. A dual disc would offer Ugh ter braking pressure and slij!htlv quicker response in a panic stop. The dual disc is an option. We strongly recommend it for every purchaser who h as had some experience with high performance motocrycles. Clutch pull remained light during the entire test. Throttle spring tension was light enough that your wrist didn't get sore after a -day of riding. That's fairly decent. Not throttle damper is needed The bars are wide and lean back a little to meet the rider. As usual there was disagreement about whether they were righ t or not. Handlebars seem to be a matter of taste and some people are more concerned about them than others. The tool box con tained the same sort of tools as are found on most motorcycles today: not real good, even though this set was polished. The engine cases are held together with phillips head screws, unfortunately. Everybody should use aliens, especially those who seek to be King. Changes on the '74 version aren't sweeping. The pain t has been changed slightly on the version we had, and another new pain t job has been added. The engine is no longer anodized black and we don't mind the change. The major change is inside the crankcases where baffling has been added to keep the oil from flowing away from the oil pump pick-up when the bike is accelerating briskly up steep hills. Changes have been made in some of the gaskets; the head gasket, for example, is now two pieces. A stop light monitoring Ught has been added to the instrument panel and a rear brake wear indicator has been added at the rear wheel. Our legislative consultant insisted that we compliment Kawasaki on their gas cap, which is hinged at the rear so it doesn't become a degonadizer Uke the gas caps on other machines. We liked the Z-l. The impression that they've made on those who've ridden them can be demonstrated by the number of mo torcycle press persons who own them. We looked forward to testing the Z-I and we all enjoyed riding it. It's very impressive, but the daily papers leave you wondering what's going to happen to superbikes. High performance street motorcycles weren't conceived of or built for a country with a 50 miles per hour top speed. The Z-l is most of what the experienced road rider wants at the moment, but if the 50 MPH thing comes down, it may be too much. You don't really appreciate things, they say. until you lose them. • banery-eoil Starting electric and kick Shift pattern , , .................•...... left foot. up for uP. t -N-2-3-4-6 FRAME AND ELSEWHERE Weight ' , ..•................. about 540 poUnds Wheelbase 59 inches , 4.7 118l1ons Fuel C8PIICit\' .,." ...•............••...•...•...•... ! Miles recorded during test .............•............. " 3127 Gese mileege d~ring test , 37-43 MPH Price '.' $t995 suggested (plus lax. Iet~P. etc.)

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