My 1980 KZ-1
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Hello and welcome to my Kuwahara Website. Here is my vintage KZ-1 from around 1980 that I purchased in the summer of 2004. Not
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| When I first brought this KZ-1 back home it was in need of some serious attention. Over the last few months I have been searching all around for NOS (New Old Stock) parts to restore this KZ-1 back to the way it was meant to be built. |  |
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My KZ-1 is still not ready yet. I would say it is about 70 percent finished to completion and I am hoping to have this bike restored soon. |
| Since the summer of 2004 when I brought this bike home for the first time I have added a whole bunch of NOS parts including a Yellow Elina Lightning bolt seat, gold fluted alloy seatpost, Suntour seatpost clamp, Dia Compe MX-1000 rear brake with Tech 2 lever, Suntour mini stem, KKT lightning pedals, Suntour 16T freewheel and a new gold chain. |  |
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The wheels really made a difference, click here for a close up of the Kuwahara special edition lathed hubs with their cool silver centers. Rims are gold Ukai shine sides, spokes are Asahi chrome double butted, black alloy nipples all fitted to beautiful NOS Comp III tires (early yellow logo) in the classic old school fat/skinny combo. |
| My KZ-1 is still not complete. I have some big plans coming soon with more parts, new tires and more. It is taking some time to complete, but that is the fun part of this project. |  |
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I was looking for a set of OGK grips in yellow or black but am just about to give up, plus those were pretty bad grips anyway. So I decided to go with my favorite grips, Oakley B-1B grips in Black and Yellow for a perfect match. Not
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| As you can tell my bike is still not complete and I am planning on respraying the frame and forks in all new black paint at my friends paint shop here in Japan. After paint I will add some nice new stickers, a new headset either in gold (too much gold??) or chrome for one amazing looking KZ-1. |  |
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To fully restore this bike the way it came I will need Suntour VX cranks. I do have a very old set here that I am hoping to restore someday soon. I will have more on that later. The NOS Kuwahara crash pads in yellow really give this bike a whole new look. |
| I am not sure of the make of these bars but they are alloy and look great with their gold anodized finish plus they are the perfect size for the Dia Compe Tech 2 lever. The stem is a mini stem from Suntour and the grips are Oakley B-1B's finished off with Yellow Oakley crud plugs. |  |
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Future plans for this KZ are to pull the entire bike apart again, strip the old paint off of the frame and forks, smooth out any metal imperfections, add new black paint with a nice clear coat and all new decals. I am hoping to restore my old Suntour VX cranks for a perfect restoration. This picture shows my Bill Walters Kuwahara jersey, Neal number plate and the stem pad that doesn't fit so well with the Suntour mini stem. |
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Stay tuned for more about this KZ-1 and my other Kuwahara projects that are slowly coming together. I want to thank my good friend Jim O' for all his help. Without him this project would not have been possible!! Cheers everybody!! Not
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Specifications
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OWNER
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Jamie, Japan |
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YEAR/MODEL
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1980 Kuwahara KZ-1 |
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FORKS/HEADSET
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Kuwahara KZ forks |
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CRANKS/PEDALS/SPROCKET
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Tioga 180mm one piece crank/ KKT lightning pedals/ Sugino spider and 44T chainring/ Suntour 16T freewheel |
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WHEELS/HUBS/TIRES
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Ukai shineside rims/Suntour "Kuwahara edition Lathed" hubs/Asahi chrome double butted spokes/ Black alloy nipples/ Comp III tires |
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BARS/STEM/GRIPS
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Alloy gold anodized/ Suntour Mini /Oakley B-1B grips with crud plugs |
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SEAT/POST/CLAMP
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Elina Lightning Bolt Seat/ Nagaoka fluted post/ Suntour seat post clamp |
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BRAKES
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Dia Compe MX1000 rear brake with Tech 2 lever |
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OTHER
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Neal number plate/ Gold Chain / Kuwahara Osaka Padset / Yellow dice valve caps |
How my Project started and is coming along....
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| Step One: The first day my KZ-1 came home to me here in Japan. | Step Two: Added some Flite check pads, Neal number plate and Elina Lightning bolt seat. | Step Three: New wheels, new brakes, pedals, stem, seat post and clamp. |
Some past pictures of my KZ-1
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| Buddy our little dog posing for the camera. | New Flite checkered pads, Elina seat and Neal plate. | My parts stash I have built up over the last year or so for the restoration. |