There are bargains and there are bargains. The Z1100R made a disgusting noise when it was started and when it was revved. I turned the engine off and set my offer on the basis that I'd need to buy a new motor. £450 seemed a bit absurd even to my ears, as the rest of the chassis glowed very nicely and the consumables were nearly new. I refused to pay more than £500, waved ten used fifties under the vendor's nose.
That left me with a huge brute of a bike to get home. The willing vendor let me use his phone to speak to the AA, to whom I already belonged. I told them I'd broken down outside my friend's house. We regaled each other with motorcycle tales until the AA chap turned up. He insisted on hearing the engine before he'd call for the trailer, reckoned it was probably the starter clutch, which made the vendor's chin drop down to his knee-caps.
The next day revealed that it was indeed the problem and a few used bits from the breaker had it ready to rock and roll. First impressions were of a fearsomely fast four that thrived on revs. If the G-forces hadn't been so great from the acceleration then I would have ridden everywhere with a wicked grin. I had great fun out-dragging the 600 and 750 race replicas, although the bigger stuff had so much more power and less weight that it was hard work to keep them in sight.
Top speed was a rather optimistic 150mph on the clock, with only a little queasiness from the chassis. It wasn’t stock. Upgraded with alloy swinging arm, Marzocchi shocks, fork brace and a couple of fat, low profile Avon radials. The latter might've been dubious on the relatively narrow rims but their construction ensured there wasn't any wobbling from the rubber.
The feel was mostly sure-footed, only large bumps hit whilst upright caused the forks to shudder. It'd do the same trick when banked over, heading out of bends under hard acceleration with a few bumps on the exit lane. It felt more frightening than it really was, as the forks would soon settle down again - the previous owner had fitted a bloody big steering damper! He'd recalled, after I'd paid the money, that he once had to fight a speed wobble that almost left him ruptured!
After about 400 miles, the terrible rattling recurred. The starter clutch had come undone. I put it back together with Loctite. I would've been quite happy to kickstart her into life but the bike was of the era when they stopped fitting them. The big, old tech four had no engine balancer and precious little rubber in the engine mounts, with resulting patches of intrusive secondary vibration. Vibes came in at 65 to 75mph, disappeared for awhile, coming in at 95mph onwards with increasing intensity as the throttle was wound open.
This ruined the bike’s ability as a high speed cruiser as the riding position was immensely comfortable for all riding, except for the really insane speeds that would only be plausible on German autobahns. Then, there was too much wind blast from the handlebar fairing and thus too much strain on shoulder muscles - we’re talking 120mph cruising here. The bars rather than the pegs were worst affected by the vibes, as little as an hour sent my hands all funny and another half hour would have my feet joining in. A four hour trip left me shaking like a junkie desperate for a heroin fix.
Some thick handlebar grips and reassembling the footrest brackets with new rubber mounts reduced the buzz to a much more tolerable level. Whilst there was no way the vibes were going to harm the motor, based as it was on the original toughie - the 900 Z1 the buzz could get through to the chassis.
A blown back bulb almost got me killed when some artic driver only saw the bike at the last moment. He braked and swerved, the squealing tyres and brakes making me jump a foot in the seat as he brushed past with about a hair's width of clearance. No amount of fiddling seemed to help the poor longevity of the bulb, varying between a mere 800 and an almost acceptable 3000 miles.
More worrying was a battery than split, soaking a large area of the bike in acid. I had no end of trouble with rotting wires after that, until I'd replaced them all. That one happened 200 miles from home so was an AA job. It'd developed poor starting just before that occurred, leaving me trying to push-start 600Ibs of bike and luggage. It was ridiculously easy to fall over in a heap as the-Z was reluctant to get past compression when I dropped the clutch. Whether or not these problems had anything to do with the ignition module burning out I wouldn't like to say.
Kawasaki fours are a bit infamous for this trick, I think it’s more down to the vibes than the electrical malfunctions. Whatever, new they cost a small fortune. Used ones are extremely rare, but | managed to pick one up for fifty quid. The best that can be said for them is that when they go the motor refuses to run altogether, making used ones easy to test. Extra rubber mounting is the best solution.
That happened after I'd had the Z for five months and 7000 miles, with 38000 on the clock. The tyres were almost bald by then, turning the handling into a passable imitation of a Kawa H1 I once had the misfortune to own, only at substantially faster speeds. Town riding was still tolerable up to about 60mph, as long as the roads weren't wet when the rubber would slide all over the place.
Even more fun was had when all three calipers simultaneously decided to seize up as solid as my sphincter muscle when I realised I suddenly didn’t have any working brakes. The transmission sounded more than strained as I hurried down the box in search of engine braking, a hopping rear wheel doing a lot to lose both speed and what little hair was left on my head.
The total cost of fixing everything was so great that | had to hit the breakers for part worn bits. That was how I found out the front discs weren't original equipment but the breaker was willing to exchange the calipers I'd bought for ones that would fit on the forks.
The non-standard front end suggested the Kawasaki had been crashed at some time. Tearing off the petrol tank, I was relieved to find that the frame tubes were still straight, but mortified to see huge areas of rust on the underside of the tank. Being naturally curious, I gave the rusted metal a poke with my screwdriver, ended up with a lapful of fuel for my pains. After looking at three similarly afflicted tanks in breakers I finally found one that was rust free.
I was using the bike as much and as hard as I could. One thing that slowed me down a lot was the poor front light. It wasn’t safe doing more than 40mph on country roads at night, a bit pathetic on such a bruiser. With the somewhat marginal electrical system I didn't fancy chancing a more powerful lamp, I had the feeling that the whole bike would go up in flames.
45000 miles saw the engine needing a bit of attention in the form of a new camchain, a couple of valves shimmed and a carb balance. As this was the first maintenance the bike had received I couldn’t complain but it coincided with another round of consumable replacements, including the chain and sprockets. Heavy expense but I told myself that the level of kicks were well worth it and I didn't really need to pay the road tax or insurance, did I?
The standard exhaust system was looking a bit ratty, with a couple of holes appearing in the silencers. There was no way I could afford to replace that and I knew someone who'd fitted a four into one only to end up with four holed pistons. I practised my welding on the cans and it held off the demise - it always surprised me what you could get away with on old motorcycles.
About a 150 miles after I'd put on the new chain and sprockets there was a terrible grinding noise next to my left foot. Oh no, I thought, the gearbox bearings have gone. I pulled the clutch in, turned the engine off and thought it was a bit odd that the noise and lurching were still there as we free-wheeled off the road. A chain dragging along the ground gave the game away, the engine sprocket had come loose. I was lucky it hadn't torn the chain apart and holed the cases.
With 53000 miles up, the only other problem is some overheating if the bike's used in traffic for more than an hour, despite the large oil cooler. The gearbox goes solid and the engine doesn't rev above 5000 revs. It only happens in really hot weather so it’s not that common in the UK.
I'm keeping the Z1100R, it goes like the clappers and handles tolerably well. It's got bags of character, the problems and high running costs (expect 35 to 50mpg, by the way) I could do without but what else could I buy for that kind of money?
Bip