This is a collection of 7 examples of the 1978 Kawasaki Z1R TC, the world’s first turbocharged production motorcycle. It also includes an additional three ZR1s, one of which has been converted to run on a supercharger.
In the 1970s, and well into the 1980s, turbocharging experienced a major explosion in popularity, driven by vehicles like the Porsche 930 that helped glamorize the concept of exhaust-driven forced-induction.
Above Video: This short episode from Cycle Drag shows a surviving Kawasaki Z1R TC and they tell the story of the bike, and its place in motorcycle history.
The Kawasaki Z1R-TC Turbo
Kawasaki released the Z1R TC in 1978, but it wasn’t purely a Kawasaki motorcycle. The Japanese factory sent stock Z1Rs over to the USA, where they were modified by the Turbo Cycle Company, which was run by former Kawasaki executive Alan Masek.
Once they arrived at the US factory the stock exhaust and carburetor were removed, new collectors/headers were fitted along with an …