Make or Break? Kawasaki ZXR750J.
“Coz we all love hoover tubes”
The 80s, a decade that saw motorcycle development come on leaps and bounds. The decade had it all, 16 inch front wheels, complex V4 engines, road legit 500cc GP racers and hoover tubes.
Kawasaki stuck the useless tubing on its ZXR750H1 and bikers immediately started to scratch their heads. The bike mags of the time quickly confirmed what many had been thinking that they were pretty much pointless. Motorcycling’s equivalent to winking at a girl in the dark. When Kawasaki had to breathe new life into the ZXR750 not much of the original H1/H2 remained, well except the hoover tubes.
“Isn’t the ZXR750J the forgotten ZXR?”
Depends who you ask. To some it’s not just the best looking ZXR750, but also one of the best looking bikes to leave the land of the rising sun. To others it’s the slow poke one, built to conform with some legislation that never arrived. That’s why it barely kicks out a 100 horses. I have always liked them, probably because some yank called Scott Russell rode one back in WSB.
“What’s the story on this one?”
Its V5 reveals it was a victim of an insurance claim in its past. It’s been recently repainted, the freshness of the lime green respray highlights the other areas of the bike that could use some love. Despite the lack of shiny stuff, the bike is all complete and the perfect basis for a winter project.
With the H1/H2 models now demanding higher prices than they did until a few years ago, it’s only a matter of time before the J model goes the same way. I feel that there’s less J models out there to go around, so now is the time to snuffle one up before you miss the boat.
“How much buys it?”
Make no mistake, this one is a full on project bike. On the plus side I’ve heard it run, on the downside it really needs pulling apart and restoring. If you fancy a ZXR750J project, bring an empty van and £1,295.
Article provided by Scottie Redmond
