Hello and welcome to Green Knee Dragger. This is my online presence for all things Kawasaki, with maybe a little Suzuki thrown in. I restore and customize older somewhat rarer model Kawasaki's. My idea of rare is when I go to a rally/meeting and the bike I'm riding is NOT the same bike everyone else has. After all, when we ride to a function we want the attention to be on our bike and NOT someone else's. There is something to say about owning a piece of history that stands apart from the crowd. Here at Green Knee Dragger, I can build a cycle that is close to factory fresh or specialty modified. Tell me what model you have interest in and the look you want and I can do the rest. By the way, here at Green Knee Dragger we bow down to our idols, Eddie Lawson and Scott Russell.
Here you will see a few projects I have completed and or working on. I spend quite an amount of time researching and acquiring usable machines as well as factory parts. If they are in nice condition used or NOS factory parts I try to acquire them. I don't build museum showpieces here at GKD, I build quality restored machines meant to be ridden and admired. I ride what I build.
1975 z1
I am not really sure if I want to build another bike from scratch. I have quite a few extra parts for this 75 and I have some other 76 kz900 stuff too. I have an extra 1000 kz jug if it is wanted to be a bigger bore than an 1105? Bike always ran good but when it gets hot it started to smoke a bit, I'd say it needs a kit. The head is a Schnitz valve-job and cam setup head with I would guess 1000k miles? I also have a set of Mikuni 29 smooth bores that may go with it, along with some 26's. I will add all this stuff together with this bike if anyone is interested in it. The frame has no extra cuts or cracks. It is a 75 z1. I know the owner but can't get the title. He is older and confused about it. Not sure if I can ever get it?
If I happen to sell it? All parts go with bike, no parting out.
1978 z1R
"A Work in Progress"...
I don’t have to sell it. It doesn’t eat or drink. I was looking for an ELR when I just happened to run up on this one. I have owned it for around 12 or 15 years I guess. It just happened to pop up on craigslist and it was 10 miles away from me. I called and looked and took it home. The guy’s wife posted it for sale. She was tired of it leaking oil on her garage floor. She posted the bike while he was at work. He came home and she told him to get and sign the title as she wanted the bike gone from the garage. He wasn’t happy, but I knew who wore the pants in his house. We aired up the tires and as we pushed it onto my trailer she was sweeping the floor the whole way. It was sad! Anyway, the bike was pretty much complete, it had been in the garage most of its life. Anyway, I bought it and it sat for several years. It has been around 15 years now.
I have redone other old Kaw’s and decided to tear this one down. I didn’t know much history about the z1R. I took it all apart. Sent off the body parts to be painted. Dismantled the whole bike sent all the frame and black parts to be blasted and powder coated. I got my powdered parts back and started putting the bike together, one step at a time, as I was not in any hurry as I knew how hard it was to find parts anyway. No reason to hurry. If I need bolts etc. they were from Kawasaki. If I needed parts they were NOS Kawasaki. I don’t think any were repo? I am very picky! It has taken several years of searching and buying some of the parts that were in bad shape or broken. Like I said, no hurry.
All the brake calipers and cylinders have been dismantled, cleaned and had new plungers and seals installed. The motor was the same way. The kicker was taken out of the motor and replaced with an aluminum blank. I still have the factory parts and they go with the bike.
The ONLY part I fixed instead of replacing is the front master brake cylinder. I could not find one. It had a real small crack in the clear part of it and I put some clear epoxy over it and fixed the leak. It is somewhat noticeable if you get right up on it and look behind the front fairing.
Wiseco 1105 kit with MTC Teflon buttons, Avon Road Rider tires, Braided stainless brake lines, Aluminum steering stabilizer, Chrome carb filters, Chrome crankcase breather, Valve job and cam setup by Star Racing, Black superbike handlebars, Kerker ELR Black exhaust, APE cam chain adjuster, New stator, New clutches, NGK spark plug ends, Yuasa AGM high perf 720BH battery, Stainless socket head case cover screws, EK high comp drive chain, Yoshimura aluminum points cover, ???????? S1 aluminum rear sets, Cwise aluminum chain guard, Brake caliper decals, Powder coated wheels. KYB ELR late model shocks, Aluminum fork brace, New EK Pro chain, Mikuni 36RS carbs (130 mains, ¼ turns out, middle notch). New seat cover on powder coated pan. Original 28mm carbs, all additional parts, engine covers, shocks, rear sets, etc. “Even have factory exhaust in good shape.” Complete Earls oil cooler system.
The extra parts are from this bike 100%! A lot of NOS parts. A lot of waiting on Ebay for ELR/Z1R parts to become available. If you like the racy look, leave it the way it is, or, you can put back all the original parts.
If I happen to sell it? All parts go with bike, no parting out.
1981 Gpz1100
Wiseco 1170 kit with MTC Teflon buttons, Avon Road Rider tires, Braided stainless brake lines, Aluminum steering stabilizer, ELR reproduction fiberglass seat, Chrome carb filters, Chrome crankcase breather, Valve job and cam setup by Star Racing, Aluminum air injection block-off plates, Motion Pro straight push-pull throttle, Motion Pro Start/On-Off switch, Black superbike handlebars, Kerker ELR Black exhaust, APE cam chain adjuster, New stator, New clutches, NGK spark plug ends, Yuasa AGM high perf 720BH battery, Stainless socket head case cover screws, Cwise S1 Aluminum points cover, Kipkawa S1 aluminum rear sets, Kipkawa aluminum motor mounts, Cwise aluminum chain guard, Cwise aluminum clutch plate, Brake caliper decals, New caliper pistons, New rear sprocket. Powder coated swingarm, and calipers, as well as many brackets. All brake master cylinders have been gone through and powder coated as well. Olds engine enamel gold painted wheels with clear coat, Kaw green (color when I bought it. Title says green). Bike has always been in the garage and has really nice paint. ELR shocks, Aluminum fork brace, Mikuni 36RS carbs (130 mains, ¼ turns out, middle notch), New EK Pro drive chain, All original Fuel injection/Airbox/Seat is included. Also, have all additional parts, engine covers, shocks, rear sets, etc. “No factory exhaust. You can have it is I have it.” Original Gpz seat pan and additional ELR seat cover unused. Also have an extra set of nice cleaned and vaped with new kits of 34mm ELR carbs.
The extra parts are from this bike 100%! A lot of NOS parts. A lot of waiting on Ebay for ELR parts to become available. Bike came with ugly cheap plastic fender, found a ELR fender after a long search, matched paint as best they could, is a tinge off, but still looks really nice.
If you like the racy look, leave it the way it is, or, you can put back all the original parts and even the original working fuel injection. I also have a few other extra fuel injection and speedo cluster parts.
If I happen to sell it? All parts go with bike, no parting out.
1990 zx11
New Wiseco 1109 kit, D&D full exhaust, Braided stainless brake and clutch lines, Shinko tires, Steering damper, Tinted windscreen, NGK iradium plugs (several extra new sets), Factory valve job with new seals/gaskets, Yuasa AGM high perf battery, Battery charger, Polished frame.
Extra parts for this bike. I bought a complete other bike and could not get the keys or title. The guy was a bum pretty much. I threw away the frame and kept everything else. I have a supposedly running motor, all the electrics, wiring, body parts, wheels, tubes, forks, seat, airbox, etc. NO extra factory exhaust or fuel tank.
I also have a few extra transmissions and gears etc.
If I happen to sell it? All parts go with bike, no parting out.
2005 V2k Vulcan 2000
