Talk:Kawasaki Z650

May 2008
I am missing a model, the 1978 Z650-D1 (SR), which is the predecessor of the 1979 Z650-D2 (SR). The D1 was only offered in one color (Candy Persimmon Red), the D2 was also offered in Midnight Blue. Other differences include the brake system (the D2 had new brakes from the C3, and discs with some holes in them) and some small things enginewise. The starting frame number for the D1 was KZ650D-000001-.

There is also the somewhat mysterious 1978 D1A (or D1/A) model, that has a different carburetor than the D1. The starting frame number for the D1A is KZ650D-003440-.

Sources:
 * http://www.jarlef.no/Kawasaki/Series/Z/650/z650.htm
 * http://www.jarlef.no/Kawasaki/Series/Z/650/z650sr.htm

Ah well, after re-reading the article, I see mention of this model under the D2: "In America there was also a D1 in 1978 and an E model, which were very similar but did not have as much equipment." I think this is true for the E model, but not for the D1. This was almost the same as the D2 and I haven't found any other indications that the D1 was only sold in America. In fact, I am quite sure there was a Z650-D1 (Z 650 SR) sold in the UK. Howver, the D1A could well be a US-only model, I am not sure about that.

After some more research, I found that the E model (or rather: Z650-E1) was indeed a model for the US market only, produced in the US in 1980 only. It was sold as KZ650LTD. From 1981 to 1983, there were models named H1, H2 and H3, sold as KZ650CSR in the US only.

While the D1 and D2 were best known as 'SR', there was also a 'LTD' version of both models, presumably for the Japanese domestic market. It was almost identical to the SR, except for the rear wheel, which was bigger on the LTD. - Finally, there is also some evidence of a B4 model from 1980, which is believed to be a Europe-only model. The frame numbers of the B4 start with KZ650B-049701.

The full list of models, as I think it should be:

Tinuzz (talk) 13:02, 19 May 2008 (UTC)

Hopefully the recent edits/additions I've made have cleared up at least some of the mysteries mentioned above.H2RICK (talk) 23:08, 13 January 2011 (UTC)

What a shed-load of badly-sourced trivia this article contains. I have started a cleanup by removing the colours, but there are many other items, some of which are not not written from a neutral point of view, that still need to be cleaned. --Biker Biker (talk) 09:14, 18 November 2012 (UTC)


 * This article is going to take a really disproportionate amount of work to clean up. I'm tempted to nuke 95% of it rather than try to track down what is verifiable. It's almost all personal opinions and groupthink gleaned from fansites and forums. For now I'll see if I can find some good sources and add citations to as much of the assertions in this article as I can. After that, I'll start deleting. --Dennis Bratland (talk) 03:09, 21 November 2012 (UTC)