Practical Sportsbikes

Practical Sportsbikes magazine is about buying, fixing, restoring and riding sportsbikes from the 1970s, ’80s and ’90s. Every issue of PS – the magazine home of new-wave Japanese and Italian classics – is packed with: - The most inspiring and ingenious reader restorations - The most in-depth road tests and buyers’ guides - Unmissable workshop tips and how-to features Practical Sportsbikes gets under the skin of the bikes that really matter to our readers and explains how best to maintain, rebuild and enjoy them. So if you’re in to sportsbikes from the 1970-1990s, PS is essential reading.

Welcome

The A-Team? No. The Z-Team… • …and their fave big-bore Kawasakis

MANX GP SHAKE-UP • New five race format, and machine eligibility cut-off dates extended

specials we like • Aus Deutschland, dall’ Italia, and from good ole Nippon (or Nihon) too

It’s not a mag. It’s literature

ps mail • Write a letter to The PS and if it’s Star Letter material you win a grey T-shirt ‘designed’ by Damo. Who has that?

PS social dub • Chris asks… “What’s your fave big Kwak”

IN YOUR SHED

Z1 TO ZX-10RR THE BIG-BORE KAWASAKI LINEAGE • The Z1 is more than a bike: it’s the start of something huge. Here, we trace the Kawasaki line from 1972 to where we’re at right now

1. GRAEME CROSBY • Croz on the Z1, and the many big Kawasakis that launched his stellar career

A CLOCKWORK ORANGE • You can ruin a Zed making it too modern. You need it to perform flawlessly, and yet retain the original magic that makes it. Bob Houghton’s Z1000 treads that fine line

HARD DAY’S NIGHTS • Endurance racing is an insane pursuit, and yet a very sensible method of proving a motorcycle’s high-speed, long-distance credentials. Kawasaki were not slow to appreciate this

PHASE 1 UNDERDOG GLORY

THE REAL LOCH NESS MONSTER

THE MIGHTY ZED • From endurance records, to the drag strip, to proddie racing, to full-on road racing, to movies, the original Zed in one form or another could do it all. Here are just a few of its many highlights

HAVE IT YOUR WAY • Owners of Zeds often build, and enjoy their bikes in more diverse ways than most. We invited five readers to show The PS their variations on a trusted theme

TOO MUCH. NEVER ENOUGH • Imagine getting your head around the Z1 with 80bhp and a 130mph top whack in 1973. Jumping off a 50bhp, 110mph BSA Lightning onto a Zed must have been a chastening experience. But it never takes long for people to want more…

POSTER

PROBLEM CHILD • Here’s a latter-day interpretation of the Z1: the nutso supercharged Z H2. It’s a stunning machine in myriad ways – but with too many compromises

SELECTOR SMART MONEY ZEDS • Like all totemic machinery, Kawasaki’s Zed line now commands big dollars, but within that 1970’s lineage some bargains still lie. Here’s The PS’s take on where they might be

I ♥ ZEDS • When we put a shout out asking you to tell us about the big Kawasakis that changed your lives, and we were almost overwhelmed by your many enthusiastic responses. “Let the good times roll” indeed

QUICK KWAK CALLS

PROJECT ZX990 TURBO FIRE IN THE HOLE! • Well, we never. The ZX990 lives and breathes. And it even goes up and down the road. PLUS supersparks Ferret reveals some hard-earned secrets of the wiring game

YAMAHA FJ1100/1200 • Bombproof engine, clever chassis, armchair comfort, low, low prices. Can you afford not to restore one?

OUR EXPERTS

What’s the problem? • Bike not running right? Our experts have the answers to the toughest questions

BARGAINS TO BIMOTA PART 55 • Anyone who imagined Alan’s trade-up plan would be plain sailing has clearly never been to sea with Alan marooned on the jetty as the Bimota Dream sails...