Being old and cunning, when the insurance rates went berserk a year or two back, I moved in for the kill. Namely, a 1982 Z1000ST owned by some fat youth who hid his obese face under enough hair to make a werewolf envious. I'd seen the advert in MCN, running for about a month with a pretty vicious price cut in the last attempt. Still no takers. So I went along for a look.
Original, right down to a newish OE 4-2 exhaust and lovingly polished alloy and chrome. Mileage was mild - 19500. For a big, tough Kawasaki DOHC four that was next to nothing. The test ride showed the engine still had a good dollop of wallop but also that the OE suspension allowed a lot of wallowing and weaving even though I was only doing double the town’s speed limit.
I made an offer that almost sent the youth into a rage, but another hundred notes placated him. A pristine big Kawasaki for £600! Even if I didn’t like the bike I could off-load it at a profit. The ST had huge, tiller-like bars that were almost at shoulder height. Even with these bars, the 600Ibs proved difficult to shove through the traffic. Not only was a lot of effort needed, their width and height meant that it wouldn't run through narrow gaps that I would not normally think twice about taking.
The shaft drive conspired with poor, sub 2000rpm carburation to produce a lot of lurching as I toddled along at mediocre speeds - the top heavy feel of the swine did not help, either. A brief bit of clear road allowed me to twist the throttle hard in second gear. The rear wheel oscillated wildly as if one of the shocks had fallen off and the bars twitched in my hands as if the front tyre had gone flat. By the time I got home I was convinced that I'd bought an old dog.
As well as the handling horrors the vibes became fierce once over 5000 revs and the engine knocked at tickover. Sounded like the main bearings were on their way out. Out with the vacuum gauges, the carbs were miles out. The valves had to be set up as well, two were tight, the other six too loose. It was pretty obvious by the state of the oil that the engine hadn't had a service since it left its crate!
Putting 30 instead of 15psi in the tyres helped the stability but a series of bumps would send the shocks into desperate tremors and the forks often shook like they were falling out of their yokes. The engine was smooth and hugely powerful, although it ran better above 6000rpm. The gearbox was slicker than I expected with no backlash from the rigid shaft drive connection to the back wheel. The engine was good for 130mph, the chassis no more than 65mph!
A new set of Konis, taper roller steering head bearings, a fork brace and a set of Metz tyres instead of the worn out Pirellis were thrown at the bike. Narrow, flat bars completed the transformation. It was a real brute in town, needing massive muscle to turn and twitching over the pot-holes like the frame was rigid. The mismatch between footrests and bars meant that my knees were cramped and my wrists overloaded with my own body mass.
The open road beckoned. That was more like it, it would growl along at up to 90mph without weaving. The front end would hit a large bump, twitch slightly but quickly resume its stability. The engine pushed the ST through the 100mph barrier as if it was nothing, not a feeling shared by my muscles, up to about 120mph before aerodynamics robbed the Kawasaki of its power.
It weaved at 95mph, started to wobble at 110mph and became delirious at 120mph. As my muscles could only take short bursts above 90mph this wasn't a great problem. I put on some higher, wider bars to aid town work and a handlebar fairing of vast proportions to aid touring. I only did the ton the once with this contraption, as it went into a vile speed wobble which was only eradicated by using adrenalin-aided muscle on the front brake lever. But as a 90mph motorway tourer stability was fine.
The brakes were good for a laugh (if you were a cager and hated motorcyclists). They worked quite well in town, even in the wet, but a couple of vicious stops made the lever go all soggy. I could get it to pull back to the bars after a 70mph emergency stop. I knew things were going to get interesting when all the caliper screws stripped their threads when I tried to take them apart. Corrosion had so rotted the calipers’ internals that they were beyond renovation. The breaker came up with a better set off a Z1000 for twenty notes. At least the pads had a few mm of materlal left, unlike the old ones that were down to the metal.
The new brakes worked better, although there was a slight wet weather lag and not enough feel to easily brake safely on wet roads. I lived with them for six months until braking deteriorated again. This time due to ultra thin brake discs that were also warped. It was so bad that it was impossible to push the Kawasaki without the aid of the motor. More time wasted visiting breakers.
I'd found the engine needed frequent services - 750 to 1000 miles depending on how hard it was ridden. If it didn’t get them it became very vibratory and reluctant to run cleanly. I was doing that kind of mileage every month so it was a bit tedious. Using the bike as a long distance tourer, when two days riding could put a 1000 miles on the clock, it was ridiculous. Fuel was reasonable at 40 to 50mpg, but would go down to 30mpg if it was really caned. Oil didn't burn off or leak between changes.
Loaded up with a pillion and excess of camping gear, the ST handled like a deranged camel. I rode it half a mile, turned round and headed back for home. Dumped half the gear and strapped on a large tank-bag. Turned up the Konis to their hardest setting and started out again. It still wobbled wildly above 80mph but was at least reasonably controllable below that.
As well as the engine maintenance, there was the question of tyres. There was so much rolling mass that the Metzs barely lasted for 5000 miles, a mileage I once did in a week on the Continent. The ST couldn't keep up with the fast lane traffic on German autobahns and wobbled thrillingly on fast, curving roads. Something of a mixed bag, then, too heavy to be truly practical; but I had a lot of faith in that big Kawasaki engine...
It was tried a bit when the motor started rattling with 35700 miles done. The chainsaw noise indicated a wrecked camchain, but it was in actuality a sticking camchain tensioner. Easily fixed with some attention from the good old emery cloth. Not so easy was the exhaust, which after a year had rotted away at an amazing rate. The engine ran gruffly below 5000 revs then made so much racket that I kept looking behind expecting to see a runaway plane. A 4-1 with a dubious silencer, from the breakers, worked well with the stock carbs but was only marginally quieter. It looked well out of place on a staid tourer.
After 15 months, and near on 20000 miles, I was thoroughly disenchanted with the big Kawasaki. I hadn't adapted to the amount of effort needed in town whilst my fast disappearing bank balance bore testament to its horrendous running costs. It was spring, an ideal time to get shot of the ST, especially as it was due for a new set of tyres and pads. I started off at £1750, ended up quite happy to take £850 in used fifty pound notes, which went on a Z650.
Most impressive feature of the ST was the engine, along with the transmission which was both smooth and maintenance free. The chassis was much more seventies than eighties; even with reasonable suspension did not inspire.
Brian Howell