1977 Kawasaki KZ 750 Twin

750Toys

Active Member
Advice please! :)

Im about to pull the trigger on a clean 1977 kawasaki kz750. $1300. Whats your opinion of this bike? Desirable? A dog? What are your thoughts?
 
Solid bikes. Engine is nearly bulletproof. Desirable - not necessarily but it has a niche group of people who love them. If you stick to the standard, not the LTD, models they have a really nice frame geometry that makes them suitable for converting the bike into tracker, brat, cafe style bike. There is not a lot of aftermarket support for them, unlike a CB750 or a KZ four, so finding serious replacement parts can be an issue. But they are a typical UJM bike and most parts that fit nearly everything else will work on the KZ750 twin. They do not produce a lot of power and they are not fast. However there are only 2 carbs and 2 sets of valves, etc. so it may be marginally more easy to maintain than an inline 4.

Factory electronic ignition from later KZ750s and KZ440s can be retrofit to earlier models.

Depending on where you are located $1300 is a decent price for a good running, nicely sorted KZ750 twin.
 
diggerdanh said:
Solid bikes. Engine is nearly bulletproof. Desirable - not necessarily but it has a niche group of people who love them. If you stick to the standard, not the LTD, models they have a really nice frame geometry that makes them suitable for converting the bike into tracker, brat, cafe style bike. There is not a lot of aftermarket support for them, unlike a CB750 or a KZ four, so finding serious replacement parts can be an issue. But they are a typical UJM bike and most parts that fit nearly everything else will work on the KZ750 twin. They do not produce a lot of power and they are not fast. However there are only 2 carbs and 2 sets of valves, etc. so it may be marginally more easy to maintain than an inline 4.

Factory electronic ignition from later KZ750s and KZ440s can be retrofit to earlier models.

Depending on where you are located $1300 is a decent price for a good running, nicely sorted KZ750 twin.

this is super helpful and replies like yours are what make this forum great. I hear the power to weight ratio isnt great, but that it will get up to 100mph. I have a Honda 750 and I assume a kawasaki wont be as fast as that?
 
750Toys said:
I hear the power to weight ratio isnt great, but that it will get up to 100mph. I have a Honda 750 and I assume a kawasaki wont be as fast as that?

Thank you. I'm sure it is nowhere near as quick or fast as a CB750. IIRC the HP is rated somewhere around 50HP. Capable but not fast. But definitely has the look: horizontal backbone, twin, air-cooled, etc. And you can shave off a lot of weight if you'd like.
 
diggerdanh said:
Thank you. I'm sure it is nowhere near as quick or fast as a CB750. IIRC the HP is rated somewhere around 50HP. Capable but not fast. But definitely has the look: horizontal backbone, twin, air-cooled, etc. And you can shave off a lot of weight if you'd like.

Its the part about parts being hard to find that bothers me
 
canyoncarver said:
I have two of these twins and really dig them. Parts are not that hard to find.

Thanks for this. I had a discussion with a good friend off line and he said, as the first responder said, if I get the weight down, say 50 lbs, it would greatly help. So how do I get 50 lbs off this pretty bike without hacking
it up, which I will not do?
 
750Toys said:
Thanks for this. I had a discussion with a good friend off line and he said, as the first responder said, if I get the weight down, say 50 lbs, it would greatly help. So how do I get 50 lbs off this pretty bike without hackign it up, which I will not do?

Well you'll have to get creative to drop 50 lbs (on just about any bike..) without "chopping". If you have the money, new alloy rims would help. Then fit new, better and lighter brake rotors and possibly different, lighter calipers. Aftermarket exhausts are available, stock exhausts are always heavy. Stuff like that is the "low hanging fruit".
 
canyoncarver said:
Well you'll have to get creative to drop 50 lbs (on just about any bike..) without "chopping". If you have the money, new alloy rims would help. Then fit new, better and lighter brake rotors and possibly different, lighter calipers. Aftermarket exhausts are available, stock exhausts are always heavy. Stuff like that is the "low hanging fruit".

my buddy said with right tuning i can make this faster than a CB 750. What are your thoughts on that?
 
77' is an SOHC. As for making the twin faster, it all depends on who is tuning the bikes and what mods they did.
 
canyoncarver said:
77' is an SOHC. As for making the twin faster, it all depends on who is tuning the bikes and what mods they did.

spec guide says its DOHC. See here:

http://www.motorcyclespecs.co.za/model/kawasaki/kawasaki_z750%2077.htm

and here: http://www.motorcycleclassics.com/classic-japanese-motorcycles/kawasaki-kz750

"the KZ750 was thoroughly up-to-date. The 55 horsepower, 745cc twin had double overhead cams,"

"The Z750 struggled to find anyone to love it.
The DOHC 750 motor was considered by many people to be to complicated"
 
750Toys said:
spec guide says its DOHC. See here:

http://www.motorcyclespecs.co.za/model/kawasaki/kawasaki_z750%2077.htm

and here: http://www.motorcycleclassics.com/classic-japanese-motorcycles/kawasaki-kz750

"the KZ750 was thoroughly up-to-date. The 55 horsepower, 745cc twin had double overhead cams,"


Sorry, I was asking about which CB750 you were trying to compare it to. The differences between the SOHC and DOHC CB750's is huge. Yes, all the Kawasaki KZ750 twins are DOHC.
 
canyoncarver said:
Sorry, I was asking about which CB750 you were trying to compare it to. The differences between the SOHC and DOHC CB750's is huge. Yes, all the Kawasaki KZ750 twins are DOHC.

my 72 Honda CB 750 is SOHC so Im comparing the 77 Kawa to that. Still the 72 CB has 67 HP, the kawa has only 55 and they weigh about the same.

Whats the fastest youve gone on your 77 Kawa?
 
Dude, if overall speed is what you are looking for neither of the bikes we are talking about are all that fast. Get a liter bike if you really want fast, otherwise these vintage air cooled machines we are talking about are limited in HP and top speeds by their age and design. Sure they can be quick but I can't give you a direct speed comparison. Buy the twin.
 
canyoncarver said:
Dude, if overall speed is what you are looking for neither of the bikes we are talking about are all that fast. Get a liter bike if you really want fast, otherwise these vintage air cooled machines we are talking about are limited in HP and top speeds by their age and design. Sure they can be quick but I can't give you a direct speed comparison. Buy the twin.

I have 3 bikes.

72 Honda CB 750
73 Honda CB 500F
77 Yamaha XS650

Ive done 100+ mph on all of them. Id like the Kawa to at least be able to keep up. Im taking your advice thought and getting the twin. It not super fast but its super gorgeous!
 
750Toys said:
I have 3 bikes.

72 Honda CB 750
73 Honda CB 500F
77 Yamaha XS650

Ive done 100+ on all of them. Id like the Kawa to at least be able to keep up

It'll keep up. With regards to the KZ Twin, think about torque not overall hp, it feels like more than expected and more than most Japanese twins and fours of its day.

Check out kzrider.com and lonesometwin.com
 
canyoncarver said:
It'll keep up. With regards to the KZ Twin, think about torque not overall hp, it feels like more than expected and more than most Japanese twins and fours of its day.

Check out kzrider.com and lonesometwin.com
\\

Super helpful. Thanks! My bday is Thursday and this (i hope to pick it up tomorrow) is my gift to myself.
 
canyoncarver said:
It'll keep up. With regards to the KZ Twin, think about torque not overall hp, it feels like more than expected and more than most Japanese twins and fours of its day.

Check out kzrider.com and lonesometwin.com

This is the 77 Kawa...
 

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