How Rare Is A 1983 Kawasaki KZ1000R, And What's One Worth Today?
For the past several decades, Kawasaki has built some of the best motorcycles to hit the raceways and roadways. In the early 1980s, Motorsports Hall of Fame inductee Eddie Lawson rode one of those bikes into victory lane more times than his competitors might care to remember. The bike that carried Lawson to superbike supremacy in 1981 and 1982 was a track-readied version of Kawasaki's eye-catching KZ1000.
On the wings of Lawson's success, the bike — adorned in Kawasaki's iconic green livery — became the toast of the cycling world. Looking to capitalize on its popularity, the Japanese bike maker decided to pay homage to Lawson's back-to-back wins by putting a replica of the rider's KZ1000 into production; complete with a tank sticker celebrating the '81 and '82 Superbike . It was Mike Vaughan who spearheaded the move to produce the replica of Lawson's KZ1000, with the longtime Kawasaki USA honcho claiming that the company made fewer than 1,000 of the bikes between 1982 and 1983.
It would seem Kawasaki may have been hoping to produce more of the Lawson-inspired KZ1000R, with Vaughan telling Rider Magazine, "It looked great and sparked interest among the media, dealers and enthusiasts." He'd go on to add, "But it didn't sell very well," noting that Kawasaki's decision to let dealer's set the price of the replicas had likely played a role. In the end, Vaughan confirmed that only 750 KZ1000Rs had been made, making them a bit of a rarity among vintage Kawasaki bikes.
You can get your hands on a KZ1000R for a pretty reasonable price these days
As for why Kawasaki's replica of Eddie Lawson's winning Superbike failed to become a big seller for the brand, Mike Vaughan alludes to the fact that times were swiftly changing on the motorcycle racing scene in the early 1980s. More forward-thinking builds like the liquid-cooled Honda Sabre were swiftly taking over tracks. Indeed, Kawasaki would debut its own liquid-cooled inline four track monster by 1984, in the guise of the iconic Kawasaki Ninja. With those hot new bikes burning up the tracks, brand new KZ1000Rs and their air-cooled engines were pretty much antique by comparison.
Ironically, it was Vaughan himself who, as Kawasaki USA's then marketing manager, would name the first generation Ninja for U.S. markets; with the legendary build quickly lapping the brand's KZ series bikes on the track and in the showroom. With Eddie Lawson also switching to Yamaha in 1983, Kawasaki wisely opted not to produce KZ1000Rs after that model year. Despite their relative scarcity, if you want to pick up a Lawson-inspired KZ1000R, you can get your hands on one without throwing too many Benjamins around, with Hagerty valuing a good condition example at roughly $9,700.
The going rate for a Lawson-inspired Kawasaki KZ1000R will naturally fluctuate depending on the bike's condition and mileage. If you're a diehard Kawasaki collector, they remain very acquirable vintage artifacts that celebrate the manufacturer's on-track success just before the Ninja became its new track-devouring beast.