A couple months ago I had to move my Kawasaki Z750S motorcycle out of the garage so a water pressure regulator in our house could be replaced. Like I’ve done hundreds of times before, I pushed the bike out of the garage and leaned it on the kickstand in the driveway. As I turned around to talk to the guy replacing the regulator, I heard what any motorcycle owner should never hear — the unmistakable sound of a full size motorcycle hitting pavement. I’m still not sure what happened, but since the bike was facing down the mild slope of our driveway, I’m assuming I had not extended the kickstand fully which allowed the bike to roll forward off the stand and, well, crunch…
The damage was minimal — slightly scuffed left handlebar weight, a few scratches on the alternator cover, and a broken clutch lever. Ah, to be able to go back in time even 10 seconds. First ding on an otherwise clean bike; It’s not new any more; Why didn’t I double check the kickstand, I don’t have time to fix this; etc.
But I’m over it now.
I can live with the scuffed handlebar weight and the scratched alternator cover, even though replacing both would be a fairly minor repair. The broken clutch lever, however, means being relegated to cager status until it’s fixed. This is definitely a demotion during spring in Southern California, especially when one commutes an hour each way to work. The quest for a new clutch lever started immediately.
Coincidentally, the most recent copy of Motorcycle Consumer News (March, 2008) contained an article comparing CRG and Pazzo adjustable levers. The article’s author, LT Synder (whose articles I always enjoy reading), chose CRG levers over Pazzo. Unfortunately neither manufacturer carried levers for the Z750S.
I can’t remember where, but I happened across some site mentioning Pazzo levers for a 1990-2006 Ninja EX500 fit the Z750S. Even though LT prefers CRGs, the Pazzo levers performed equally as well in his review, and I liked the ability to get black adjuster tabs on black levers. CRGs only come with red adjuster tabs. So I ordered a set of Pazzo levers from MotoWorldOnine.com. Although they arrived within a few days, it would be almost four months before I would get around to replacing them. Sad, but that’s what happens when your life is overly cluttered.
But enough is enough. Today I installed the the new levers. Installation took all of a couple hours, including cleanup. Again, sad. Although they fit perfectly, I have yet to try them out. You see, in addition to this cluttered life preventing me from digging into the lever replacement job, it also caused me to overlook the fact that a motorcycle battery sitting four months in an unridden motorcycle, not attached to a battery tender, will pretty much guaranteed a motorcycle not starting. The battery tender is working diligently on remedying that situation.
If you own a Z750S, you might be interested in seeing how the Pazzo levers look. I opted for the short levers. If you don’t own a Z750S, here is the official Kawasaki promo video. However, the Z750S is no longer available in the U.S.
More photos here.
New clutch lever installed
Factory brake lever
New Pazzo break lever installed (opposite view — sorry)
View of new levers from rider’s seat
They really are levers meant for a Ninja EX500
Are the Pazzo levers working out for you okay? There’s been some discussion on the Z750s forum that those levers can cause problems in fitment.
What forum is this? I looked around and could not find any discussion on this topic.
Installation and fit worked out fine. The battery is still charging, so I might have to wait until next weekend for the full test.
Thanks for this article. I am a fellow z750s owner, also looking to replace my levers. Lack of choice is annoying but Im going to have a look at MotoWorldOnine.com now!