Mecum Las Vegas Auction 2024

[rz5mark]

Apparently one of these sold for 5kus $.

[fffCycles]

As it has been for a few years now the crowd is willing to pay way too much money for not even proper motorcycles. What part of nostalgia runs this kind of thing up so high in value???
Frank

[rz5mark]

I'm not sure how to determine what  a "proper" motorcycle is or who could.

 Nostalgia is a strange animal. It's a 1st year model with one year of production. A kid 45 years ago had or wanted one and it's supply and demand.

[hardrockminer]

  ‘72 Kawasaki 750 H2,,,,,,,$41,000 US!!!!!!!!

All of the H1 and H2 sales seemed high to me.  Z1 sales were similar to past years.

[hardrockminer]

  What about that rare ‘74 Kawasaki  750 Z1. Japan only, and total production less than 1200 the whole year. They are saying $100K +++ US.

   It went for $85K US. Before auction costs. Dam!!!

And now there is a big controversy.  Looks like the frame numbers were ground off.  The engine S/N may also be bogus.

[Steve G.]

  What about that rare ‘74 Kawasaki  750 Z1. Japan only, and total production less than 1200 the whole year. They are saying $100K +++ US.

   It went for $85K US. Before auction costs. Dam!!!

And now there is a big controversy.  Looks like the frame numbers were ground off.  The engine S/N may also be bogus.

  Yup, at this point it’s been classified a non sale because of no headstock numbers, ground off, and engine number area having a lip whereas the Japanese model had no lip riser.

[hardrockminer]

The Z2 engine is essentially the same as the Z1 engine...just different bore and stroke.  But the same basic crank, cases, head, etc.  It was made for the Japan market where the maximum sized allowable engine was 750cc.  Production started after Z1 production and continued until (I think) 1976.  The same paint schemes were used on both models.  There were roughly 15,000 Z2 bikes made over that period. 

The boss used for engine numbers was raised, with no lip up until about S/N 27,000 for Z1 engines which would have been late 1973.  At around 34,000 they changed the font to the style on that Z2.  That change was made in early 1974 and it affected the second half of Z1A production.  I don't know for sure, but I would guess the Z2 engines changed around the same time.  Since the frame number is unknown it's impossible to know if the engine in that Z2 was original to that frame, or if someone put a later engine in an earlier frame.

I find it next to impossible to believe someone modified the frame number and expected the sale to go forward through a major auction house.  It's one of the first things an enthusiast would look at, particularly for Z1/Z2 bikes that were prone to be stolen.   But then again....crooks are seldom smarter than the general public.