My personal experiences and impressions regarding the Z1 and Z1000.

For decades, the Z1-900 was the only bike for me; especially during my first 20 years of riding, it simply had to be a '73 model...!!! Than i have had `74 and `75 models for years also.

And i rode my last Z1-B  from `97 -`17 for 20 years and well over 100,000 km (rebuilding the engine twice during that time—boring it out to 1015cc on the last occasion).
Alongside that, I also rode two modified Z1000s starting in 2005...( My MadMax-bikes), though I had been wrenching on them for much longer...

Make no mistake: the Z1/Z1-B is the far more beautiful motorcycle—starting with the slimmer tank, the lovely side covers and tail section, the oval taillight, and so on.
From a technical standpoint, it offers better and "snappier" acceleration thanks to the lighter crankshaft...! And of course: I ever like the VM28 carbs!!!!!

But all in all, the Z1000 A1/A2 is the better bike for me:
For example: Stronger frame tubing, a thicker-walled engine casing, steel valve guides instead of bronze, a needle-bearing swingarm...
All these factors combine to form my verdict regarding durability and roadworthiness over the long haul with heavy use...!

But there is no question: The Z1 series bikes are the much better-looking, prettier machines - I still really love them immense!!!(I’m getting on in years now... I own two Z1000s and am very happy with them!
... but in my "dream world," a '75 Z1-B in its original "red-black-gold" paint scheme would be sitting right here!!!! - I’m always happy whenever I spot one somewhere...!   Long live the Z1-models!!!)       


 

My `74 Z1A i´ve had in `90,...original `74 paint and parts !!.....only the lower forklegs been painted in brown-metallic...
 

Kawasaki created a legend when they made these bikes! 

I own a Z1B and a KZ1000 (1980) and agree the 1000 series are better handling bikes.  I have two sets of tanks and sidecovers for the Z1B.  Currently it's blue but I can switch it to red if it suits me.  I agree with Joe about the "look" of the Z1 series.  Kawasaki got that right.

    The Z1 clearly has its design and technical challenges.  They're more like rough drafts for the KZ1K's that came later.

But...

   The sensually-rounded, polished cam cover ends, and remarkably beautiful sweep of the 4-4 pipes of Z1's are instantly recognizable as timeless, iconic industrial art that's seldom been matched.  The Ducati 916 comes to mind.  Motorcycles that makes the ears of even Standard Citizens perk up when seen.

   KZ1K's are clearly technically superior and more refined in many respects.  But something beautiful was lost, to our eyes anyway, when Mama Kaw went to 4-2 pipes for... reasons.

   The Z1 will always be the stunningly-pretty-yet-sorta-rough, barely-tamed, voluptuous, rough-handling older sister with those (suggestive) exposed curves; the sister who knows how to touch that one, exquisitely-sensitive place of one's being  just so.  The polite and refined KZ1K's and later were more... er, comfortable.  Refined.  Polite.  Probably safer.  They're the still-attractive, practical younger sister one would introduce to one's parents.  Lots to be said though, for that beautiful, half-wild, rough-handling, fun to ride and, willing (faster?  quicker?) older sister.  The one you always  know where she is & have her key.  

   (It was huge fun to write that ^ .  slmjim sez if he still smoked, he'd want one about now.)

    Beauty.  Eye.  Beholder.   YMMV.

   We'd like to have a low-mile, unrestored, factory-dressed Spectre shaftie to tour on.  That's about as practical, polite and refined as it gets.

Good Ridin'
slmjim & Z1BEBE

@Hardrock,
for that, you´ve the "dream-combination" !!!! More than 30 years, i had prefer the blue version, (and had own a kit for 15 years in reserve for my lovely Z1B i rode in a black paint set,..and than, 10 years ago, suddenly it had made a "click" in my head, and from this moment, i like the red-coloured Z1B set much more,...taste changes sometimes,..but if you have both paint sets, you are more than lucky!!!! Congrats!

A Z1B was my second bike, bought new in 1975.  It was blue.  I rode that thing for 10 years before trading it for a marriage and two kids.  At one point I bought a new tank and covers that had been painted black.  They were off a Z1A that some guy removed and repainted but didn't like the colour.  My originals sat in my father's tool shed for years before he finally trashed them.  In 2014 I got back into bikes with another Z1B and had it painted blue.  Then I bought another one and painted it red.  Eventually I sold that one but I kept the tank and covers, putting a new set on the bike before selling.  

I will add to Jim's comments that Z1's are the easiest bikes to work on that I've seen.  I'm sure he knows this with his stable of different bikes.  I'm also sure the engineers had long talks with their mechanics about the best way to build the bike to allow easy maintenance.  In that regard, I pulled some of the more technically and physically complicated stuff off my KZ1000 to make it easier to work on.  It has a Z1 airbox instead of the difficult to install OEM one.  It also has a Dyna S setup with 4 ohm coils instead of the OEM 2 ohm ones with a ballast resister and an igniter.  I also put a set of 76 carbs on it to replace the pumpers that came OEM.  Best carbs KHI made for stock bikes.  Still have the pumpers but I don't have a use for them.

I haven't ridden either bike for several years.  I bought a Goldwing with a sidecar to take our dogs on day trips with us.  The dogs are gone now...the last one died in Feb.  So this is the last year for the Goldwing.  Looking for a trike these days.

So, I missed my Z1B (purchased new) when I traded it for a new KZ1000A1...I enjoyed the KZ1000 but missed my Z1. Flash forward to 1982 when I saw and purchased a new KZ1100B2 (AKA GPz1100) and I was absolutely smitten...rode that for a number of years but had to sell it when we moved out of the country.  Flash forward again when we moved back to Texas and I found a used GPz1100 in Houston...and I had to have it...but, always, in the back of my mind, I yearned for that missing Z1 in my life...then, out of the blue, this ratty Z2A appeared and I snapped it up...and I will replace the Z1B heartache with the Z2. The two KZ1000's that I own will be completely resurrected and sold...and I will not miss them.  The GPz's will be kept and the Z2 will fill the motorcycle void in my life.

The Z2 is a very cool bike!  So is the W1/W2.

I bought my 74 Z1A from the original owner in 1979 or so.  In 1982 Harry's Machine ( a local motorcycle machine shop that builds race motors ) rebuilt it with a Yoshimura 987 10.25:1 stage 1 kit, welded the Z1 crank, and some andrews cams. Rode it that way for 25 years, put it away for a while, and revived it in 2020 to 2022 as a project, adding some upgrades including replacing piston rings and honing cylinders, Liska cam sprockets, 530 chain conversion, electronic ignition, and 1980 Z1R wheels. Since then I go for a ride every day that it's not raining during our season (April to October).  Still makes me smile every time I get on it.  So I guess I'm a Z1 fan also!   

Nice Bike, Scotty! (Years ago, I also rode my '75 model with a black-painted set, to preserve the original blue set and protect it from damage

 

 
 

Thanks Joe.
I've been thinking about having it repainted the original 1974 brown with white and orange. Back in the 80's the first thing we all wanted to do with any bike was change to a custom paint job, haha.
Go figure, huh?

Hi Scotty,
Yeah,its crazy,... it was the same for us: whatever you did, you couldn't run the stock paint job—it had to be something unique... When I think back to how often I took original bodywork sets to the painter to replace the stock color scheme—which I thought was ugly back then—with a custom paint job... Like I’ve always said: beauty is in the eye of the beholder... and tastes change...
And personally, I’ve never been interested in what something might be worth in monetary terms one day; I’ve always used my things—and used them in such a way—that I enjoyed them at *that* very moment! Maybe that’s why I never got "rich," hehehe.