Z1300 Hybrid Project

I love the Z1300 as a bike in general & have owned many since the early 80's.
We all know their little defects & the mods you can do to make them better, but underneath they are the real deal & the engine in my opinion is the best straight 6 engine ever fitted in a bike.

I wanted a Z1300 I could use on every occasion but wanted it to have the features of a more modern bike, so with this current bike thats what I did.
Its basically a 1980 UK spec Z1300A1 which had covered 27000 miles when I bought it in Dec 2012. This is the story so far.
Handling.
I wanted a larger rear tyre & to reduce the size of the front wheel to make it a little more sure footed into corners so fitted a Vmax diff which allowed me to fit an 3 spoke XJ900 Diversion rear wheel with a 160 section rear tyre. As the Vmax diff is on the other side of the bike, adjustments had to be made to fit it to other side of the Z1300 including swinging arm work & fitting the diff upside down. The bike is now 4 inches longer than standard. Then to make the back end really good I then fitted gas assisted ZRX1200R shocks. This can all be seen in the images below.
Next I wanted the front end to be more rigid, so had billet slab yolkes made that are 1.5 inches wider than standard. Finally a matching 3 spoke 17 inch front wheel & 4 post Tokico Calipers & floating discs, again from a Vmax. The forks are extended by i inch to prevent it grounding due to smaller front wheel. I also fitted an FZR400RR Rear caliper
which stops the bike in no time. That was the handling pretty much sorted.
Engine.
The engine is pretty much standard, but I have modified the air filter box so the bike can breath, as the standard one restricts the bike so much (which is why so many run rich). This makes the bike run & feel so much better. I have done my usual hydraulic clutch mod & fitted the later deeper sump.
Exhaust.
hand made 6 into 2 down pipes, with short tail pipes & small baffles........this is a must in my opinion, as a Z1300 has a fantastic sound when allowed to scream, which this one does.......like a Ferrari.
I just love the sound of any 6 & drive a 6 cylinder car too.........its addictive that noise !
Listen to it yourself in the link below on YOUTUBE.


Cosmetic.
Finally it was time to make some subtle changes to the looks of the bike, so its fitted with a small digital instrument panel & digital speedo / tacho. The original clocks are still fitted but just for show as it would not look the same without them & I wanted to keep the classic looks of the bike. I have also fitted 1976 Z1000 High handlebars which are good for my back !
Engine fully stripped of old paint & resprayed in Smooth Hammerite.....the best

Finally it was finished in Z1300 A4 black paint with red & gold stripes & new graphics on the side panels & an Eddie Lawson Seat (short legs!).

The bikes starts, goes, stops & looks great in my own opinion. Its the Z1300 I always wanted.

Hi Strate6

The bike is looking well - you've made a good job of it. Are you in the UK - just interested to know where you got the exhausts from ?

cheers

Billy

I recognise that sound!
The bike's looking fit mate

Beautiful workmanship Strate!

How much machine work did you have to do to the Yamaha swing arm and drive shaft?

Thanks for sharing.

Bill

Hi all,

The exhausts were quite simple.
AAS In Newburn Tyne & Wear UK made the down pipes & link pipes to the silencers which I bought on Ebay.
Stuart at AAS is a master of exhaust technology & makes full race systems for racing Ferrari's & Porsche's (my other passion) so this was a quick easy job for him.
The rear end swing arm etc was made by a custom bike fabricator in Gloucester UK, which unfortunately are no longer in existence.
I am lucky to know these people & be patient, as they dont do rush jobs !!
Pete