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The Kneeslider

Doers Builders and Positive People

Bull Dock Kawasaki Customs from Japan

By Paul Crowe

Bull Dock custom Kawasaki Z1
Bull Dock custom Kawasaki Z1

These Japanese custom shops just keep popping up on our radar. Bull Dock, seems to specialize in the Kawasaki Z1, but the GPZ900 and Zephyr get makeovers, too.

Brembo brakes, Yoshimura cams and similar components are a staple, as well as Win McCoy, which seems to be their own brand, used for the exhaust, suspension and body parts. The paint and finish seems extremely well done, the completed bikes look just right.

Bull Dock custom Kawasaki Z1
Bull Dock custom Kawasaki Z1

Sure, you can have a perfectly restored Z1 and it will look gorgeous, but customs like these take nothing away and actually add quite a bit, not only in performance but in appearance, too, just enough to stand out, but not enough to look overdone.

Kinda makes you want to buy an old Z1 and get to work, doesn’t it?

Link: Bull Dock — Translated

Link: Kawasaki Z1 for sale

Bull Dock custom Kawasaki Z1
Bull Dock custom Kawasaki Z1

Posted on December 3, 2010 Filed Under: Motorcycle Builders


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Comments

  1. Mule says

    December 3, 2010 at 9:10 am

    Love these!

  2. Oldtimer says

    December 3, 2010 at 9:26 am

    Very nice!!
    Glad to see that for once, as a Triumph owner, I am ahead of the styling curve!!! (Blue pipes)
    These guys must be making money at it also. Their showroom looks like a jewlery store showroom, and that wall of Snap On tool boxes probably cost more than my entire shop!!

  3. Phoebe says

    December 3, 2010 at 10:31 am

    I’ve never really been a fan of the rainbow-colored pipes, but otherwise these look pretty awesome and purposeful.

  4. dan says

    December 3, 2010 at 10:32 am

    What can I say the bike does all the talking! Upgraded forks that thing must handle better then almost anything. That bike plus a rodded version of Guzzi are welcome in my garage over anything! The handling of my 77 KZ1000 was phenomenal and all I did was add a fork brace and inner springs and rear shocks. With upgraded forks/swing arm and a little bracing here and there man. Form and function! Knock out! Wow! That motor must run cool! What are the carbs Lectrons? Keihin? So many questions!

  5. dan says

    December 3, 2010 at 10:41 am

    The stator sheared off the shear pin once on mine as well, causing it to freewheel on my crank! I wonder if they addressed that or was mine just not snug over the end of the crank? Details? Only one of many things I want to know! Pistons? Heads flowed? Mine were flowed by Sharer Cycle Center. Man we they smooth! Gaskets?

  6. Marvin says

    December 3, 2010 at 11:12 am

    Gosh they are simply gorgeous and spot on for my era of interest so to speak, I would have one of those over a fully restored just as it left the factory every time but I guess I am more of a motorcyclist than a collector.

  7. Will13 says

    December 3, 2010 at 11:47 am

    Awesome! Love the look and the technology that they’ve blended together here. Fantastic to see. Thanks for running this article!

  8. Paulinator says

    December 3, 2010 at 12:24 pm

    Class act!!! Tasteful update on a pivotal motor-vehicle.

  9. Claymore says

    December 3, 2010 at 12:24 pm

    Simply beautiful.

  10. Kzippy says

    December 3, 2010 at 1:09 pm

    love it, need the parts! VERY nice custom rearsets.
    unfortunately $2000 for a pair of shocks will NEVER happen for me…

  11. MikeC says

    December 3, 2010 at 2:35 pm

    Thank god it’s not another Harley Story. Cool bikes too.

  12. Nicolas says

    December 3, 2010 at 2:46 pm

    I appreciate the technical upgrades that makes this quasi-mythical already-classic bike a modern ride, but talking about taste … not sure tastefully is the adjective that I’d use here … sorry guys.

  13. tim says

    December 3, 2010 at 3:56 pm

    Fantastic. I do like how the google translate goes to “Orleans” instead of Ohlins. But the pictures are where its at. My favourite is the GPz900R.

  14. Mule says

    December 3, 2010 at 4:10 pm

    I was curious about dyno results and on their website I got my answer!

    “Torque has been increased from low to very intense!”

  15. Mule says

    December 3, 2010 at 4:16 pm

    @Phoebe,
    Rainbow colored pipes=Titanium
    Titanium=light+exotic+expensive
    Light+exotic+expensive=desireable

    Ergo, Rainbow=desireable perhaps?

  16. Phoebe says

    December 3, 2010 at 4:28 pm

    Mule: Maybe, but I’m just not a fan of how it looks. I’d rather have ceramic coated pipes and a carbon fiber muffler. That’s light enough for me (and my wallet!)

  17. Jon says

    December 3, 2010 at 9:31 pm

    Holy Titanium….pretty intense update of the Z1’s. Now to decide….Sanctuary or Bull Dock?

  18. todd says

    December 4, 2010 at 12:35 am

    Nice work, indeed. A little too show-boat for me and running around town but you have to admire the work.

    -todd

  19. joe says

    December 4, 2010 at 3:55 am

    Love the air cooled motors ! The new water cooled units can’t hold a candle in the looks department.

  20. Grant says

    December 4, 2010 at 3:41 pm

    My first steed was a 1976 Z1 and oh how the bike shop screwed me on the trade in for a BMW K100! I had the use of the latest Z1000 for a week last month and that was awesum. one of these Bull Dock Zed’s would be most welcome in my shed!!!

  21. TYRUSS says

    December 5, 2010 at 5:39 am

    SO VERY NICE ! but we lucky Australians (and all of Europe and Japan) got GSX1400 Suzuki’s (just like a Z900/Zephyr on steroids)
    If you only knew what they didnt sell you in the USA!

  22. WillyP says

    December 5, 2010 at 5:10 pm

    Sweet! I like the black engines with shiny bits all around.

  23. Robert says

    December 6, 2010 at 2:08 am

    Without a doubt…THE finest restoration+customization I have ever seen!! And yes it does tempt me to find an old Z1 and restore it with all those goodies! Excellent job!!

  24. dan says

    December 6, 2010 at 9:22 am

    Those old KZ’s run lower oil pressure. Did they beef up the oil pump? So many questions! What oil are they running synthetic or standard? This is a case of great classic meets high end modern upgrades! My favorite all time bike! My first bike! IT reminded me of a Mustang warbird! Sharer Cycle Center really had mine fast! Stable and could be muscled into turns! Got hot in the city loved to run the back roads 100 plus all day! I used to make a run to Jainesville to look at Eric Buell’s house from Madison. Went to Elkart Lake on it 4 times! Good times man!

  25. Paul Y says

    December 6, 2010 at 6:41 pm

    These things are beautiful! Definitely a no expense spared project. Those exhaust systems have got to be at least $2500 – polishing and anodizing titanium is very labor intensive.

  26. OMMAG says

    December 6, 2010 at 7:20 pm

    So the Japanese home market is finally catching up to what we were doing nearly forty years ago…. not a bad thing … just curious about why it took so long.

    Sure they are using better parts than we had (in some cases) … but the style and the result looks all too familiar.

    Or is this a case of settin a new trend …. by recycling an old one?

  27. Paul Y says

    December 7, 2010 at 8:54 pm

    Of course the style and result look familiar, it’s the same bike. You have to understand the consumer mindset of Japan, junkyards fill up with vehicles only a few years old just because they’re “old”. They have watched the rest of the world hang on to Z-1s and now it’s an in thing over there to restore and mod old bikes. The difference is the level of craftsmanship and quality of components. Back then you could pick up a used Z1 for cheap, drop some money on nice paint, a Kerker, maybe some new fork springs and be good to go, but these things are totally redone with stuff we never had because it didn’t even exist.

  28. corndog67 says

    December 19, 2010 at 11:37 am

    I’ve got a soft spot for those old Kawasakis. I used to have a KZ1000J, a bike I should have kept. But it would probably be dead by now. I just picked up a KZ1000LTD, probably just out of Nostalgia, that I would like to build into one of those old Superbike styled bikes. Parts for the KZs are readily available, and not too expensive, so it’s coming along.

    Those Sanctuary guys do nice work.

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