Lot details
Registration No: N/A
Frame No: N/A
Engine No: T.B.A.
cc: 1100
MOT Expiry Date: N/A

The history of motorcycle competition includes a number of iconic rider and machine pairings, Hailwood and the Honda 500/4, Agostini and the MV Agusta's, Sammy Miller and GOV 132. For many enthusiast's Graeme Crosby and the high barred Moriwaki Kawasaki Z1 is another.
Graeme's interest in motorcycles had started in his native New Zealand towards the end of the sixties following rides as a pillion on a friends Greeves. This was quickly followed by the acquisition of the first of a number of machines of his own. On leaving school he started as an apprentice at a local Kawasaki dealership and was introduced to road racing by Eric Bone, a fellow employee and racer at the dealership for whom he acted as mechanic. This led to his first competitive outings and by the mid seventies he had a stable of Kawasaki machines with which to compete.
By 1978 Graeme was well established in Australasia, riding for Ross Hannan, the Australian Yoshimura importer and a tuner in his own right, in various events. Pops Yoshimura's daughter, Namiko, was married to fellow motorcycle engineer Mamoru Moriwaki who was specialising in developing Kawasaki racing equipment. This family link resulted in Mamoru Moriwaki approaching Graeme with an invitation to ride one of the Moriwaki Engineering Kawasaki Z1's in the 1978 Suzuka 8 Hour race, sharing the machine with Tony Hatton. The duo finished the race in third place despite Tony Hatton running out of fuel and having to push the machine to the pits. At the time of this success Moriwaki was looking to expand their market into Europe resulting in Graeme and Mamoru deciding to contest the 1979 TT, the entry being obtained thanks to the support and influence of Mike Hailwood, and one round of the TTF1 Championship. Originally it was intended to send over one machine, a "clip-on" equipped racer, however, Graeme arrived in the United Kingdom with that machine and the "sit up and beg" bike used at Suzuka thanks to Namiko Moriwaki, who exchanged her passenger fare for the air freight fare to cover the second motorcycle.
Graeme chose to use the sit up and beg machine in the first round of the TTF1 Championship, reasoning , correctly, that it, together with his spectacular riding style, would attract more interest. His success in the race, that saw him challenging for the lead in a field that included Ron Haslam and Mick Grant on works Honda's, instantly established him as a favourite with British fans and led to the decision to contest the whole of the Championship, retaining the "sit up and beg Moriwaki", the dropped bar machine being returned to Japan where it was used in the 1979 Suzuka 8 Hours.
Mike Hailwood's faith in "Croz" was justified when he secured 4th place the TT, an astonishing feat for someone who had not ridden the "Island" before, competing against multiple TT winners.
Riding against riders of the quality of Ron Haslam and Mick Grant on factory Honda's, Roger Marshall and a host of British "stars" Graeme Crosby would go on to secure second place in the TTF1 Championship with 101 points, only 7 behind works mounted championship winner Ron Haslam, and a works Suzuki contract for the 1980 season,
Mr Pantall, the second owner of the "Crosby Moriwaki Kawasaki" had been a successful competitor in his own right, having made his debut in 1964. During his twelve year career as a rider he secured a number of second places on the Island, however by 1976, with a young family and a successful Kawasaki dealership demanding increasing amounts of time, he decided to retire from riding and become a sponsor. 1978 had seen the Pantall team running Harris framed Kawasaki's with Moriwaki components. Impressed with the performance of Croz's bike he had approached Mr Moriwaki via Graeme in July 1979 with a request to be given first refusal on the machine should it be available at the end of the season. The Moriwaki Kawasaki was purchased by Gordon Pantall at the end of the 1979 season when "Croz", having finished the race in second place and securing second place in the championship, rode it straight to Mr Pantall before going to collect a quantity of spares for the machine.
Croz rode the machine on one more occasion following its purchase by Mr Pantall when he competed in the Gauloise Powerbike meeting at Brands Hatch ultimately finishing ( an exceedingly close ) second to Dave Aldana on a works Suzuki.
The engine was run in one of the Pantall F1 machines for the 1980 season before being reunited with the "sit up and beg" chassis in 1981, the complete machine then being displayed in the Pantall dealership until 1987 when it was dismantled and stored by Mr Pantall. The motorcycle remained in this condition for nearly two decades, believed by many to be lost, however, following a conversation with and some encouragement from a certain Mr Beale, Mr Pantall undertook its reassembly/restoration starting in August 2006 and completing the machine in time for the following years TT Centenary celebrations where it was ridden in the Lap of Honour by Mr Pantall. The machine was subsequently reunited with its original pilot at the 2008 30th Anniversary Meeting at Donington Park and has been ridden since by Mr Pantall whenever he gets the opportunity.
Presented in the livery and bearing the race number it wore when it last raced at Brands in 1979, 35, the "Monster Z1000" as it was known in Japan is, according to Mr Pantall, the finest handling Kawasaki of the period that he has ever ridden and Graeme Crosby stated that he "could not believe how fast and stable it was" in the "Classic Racer" review of the machine, reflecting Mr Mamoru Moriwaki's skill as a tuner and motorcycle builder. The lightweight tubular steel frame benefited from a reinforced steering head and downtubes. 36mm Kayaba racing front forks are housed in yokes taken from the Z650 resulting in a change to the standard machines trail and are complimented by a box section swinging arm mounted on needle roller bearings and controlled by 330mm Kayaba racing shock absorbers offering 9 different spring positions. A new, old stock set of the extremely rare Morris magnesium wheels were sourced during the rebuild, their light weight helping minimise the unsprung weight and a set of twin 300mm discs at the front and a 230mm item at the rear, controlled by twin piston Lockheed calipers provide the braking.
The 1103cc double overhead cam engine is mounted one inch further forwards in the frame than standard. Four 32mm Keihin CR100 racing carburettors fitted with 80mm long bellmouths feed the engine which runs a compression ratio of 11.5:1. New 74mm Omega pistons and a new ignition system were fitted at the time of the rebuild. The original Moriwaki exhaust system was mislaid during the period when the machine was dismantled, resulting in a new Moriwaki system being sourced by Mr Pantall during the period of the rebuild. Although to the same technical specification it features an alloy end cap, the original system being entirely of steel construction.
A standard Kawasaki Z1 clutch fitted with heavy duty springs transmits the power to a close ratio Kawasaki five speed gearbox.
There are very few racing motorcycles with a provenance comparable to this machine, "a two owner from new" motorcycle, owned by the vendor for the last thirty one years with a successful racing history in the hands of one of the racing worlds most admired riders making it almost unique.