1981 gpz550 Ride/restore

Hi As anew member i thought Id show my 1981 which i have had since march 2011. shed been sat in a garage for about 12 years and pretty bmuch everything was worn out , i.e Exhaust Tyres Chain & Sprockets, Battery , Seat rear shocks and fork seals .
If this post is succesful ill put a nother post up soon.

Those are good bikes. Run like stink!

Welcome aboard!
Nice find, the daddy to the 600 sport bike class.
Have you been to KZrider.com yet.
There are a few people with GPZ550s on the site.

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Not been on here for awhile so I thought id better do a update.
When I got her she was a non runner that had not been on the road for over 10 years.
One big mistake I made was not even asking the previous owner why hed stopped using her !!!!
Or who had ruined the standard paint job with that horrible plum colour . The exhaust was not fitted and when I tried to fit it it was not worth using, the rear brake caliper had the nipple snapped off so a replacement was needed, rear tyre was like a slick and the chain had two split links in it. You can see the seat was a mess as well and the front mudguard was an aftermarket job.

It took me quite a while get her running, first thing that didn't work was the starter solenoid , I replaced that and the engine turned, but she wouldn't fire. Off came the carbs for a clean ,on replacing the carbs it still wouldn't go. At this time I was also doing a restoration on a Morini 350 which was nearing completion so didn't have a lot of time to spare on the Gpz.
I was about to send her to the local shop to get them to try to get her running when I read somewhere about how soaking carb jets in vinegar was a great way of cleaning them.

I took the carbs off again and let the jets soak in vinegar for a few days replaced them and refitted the carbs.

At this stage I was using jump leads from my cart to connect up the o;d battery and turn the bike over. The tank was also full of rust so I was using an old washing up liquid bottle turned upside down as a fuel tank.
I live on my own so at times I have to wait for my brother to copme over when a job needs two apirs of hands.
Well one day when he was over I said give us a hand to refit the carbs and to see if the bike would start. Result she fired back to life for possibly the first time in ten years. this was a great result because it meant I didnt have to get the local shop involved and had a runner to work on.
One problem was going to be the brakes Ive mentioned about the rear having a butchered nipple. The fronts were seized as well > I managed to snap the nipple off one of them when trying to undo it so a replacement pair was sourced off ebay. New pistons and seals were purchased and pads as well.

I cleaned and sealed the tank and obtained a 550 ltd exhaust system with some other spares off the internet. I got a seat and mudguards from DK spares. I got the seat recovered at RK Leightons in Birmingham
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I am adding two photos for some reason. I also forgot to say that the rear master cylinder was shot and that a replacement piston is no longer available. Research on the gpz 550 forum told me that a zzr 250 one would fit if used with a new actuating rod that was made by my brother on his works lathe, I also boufght new rear shocks. Just as I was about to take her for an MOT I was tightening the exhaust nuts up when one snapped off . Damn . I couldn't remove it so it went to the local shop who fixed it and also Motd her she eventually passed and I was able to ride her home after about 18 months of work.

Shes A great bike and I am glad Ive perservered with her , but I like my bikes to be of a certain standard . The fuel guage didn't work and the rear mudguard was buckled I happened to come across replacements from Ebay America .

So Ive been riding her for over a year and have been doing bits to her when I can. There is wear in the main stand fittings on the frame which caused the joining pipe on the kz 550 ltd exhaust to fracture. I came across a powerflow exhaust on Ebay which fitted nicely and doesn't cause too many problems when I use the main stand.
Here is a picture of the bike with the powerflow exhaust and the new brake discs fitted.


This Autumn I want to get the frame and parts powdercoated and the tank sidepanels and fairing painted so I stripped her down
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Here is the frame and parts back from powdercoating

Powdercoat job looks great. What are you planning for paint work on the body parts?

HAFROD said:

Powdercoat job looks great. What are you planning for paint work on the body parts?

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Please tell me you're going with the green/white/purple...

This make me really miss my GPZ.

Wow! A guy who actually started out right by getting the bike running first.

Yeah, those GPZ rear master cylinders are a bugger. I rebuilt one recently using a kit that fits several other models. I had to machine the back of the piston retaining washer so that the piston to retract a little further so that the brakes would release.

Alpha Dog choppers thanks for the compliment, I did it this way because on my morini which was a runner when I got it, I stripped it down and rebuilt it and threw things out which I later regretted. Vonyinzer I am afraid to say Ive asked for the paint to be Kawasaki firecracker red. I never thought of doing it Eddie Lawson because I think that red is awesome and youd always have someone telling you that it should really have a 1000cc engine to be a Eddie Lawson replica!

Time for an update on this bike, I fitted the forks and wheels and got myself a rolling chassis



After fitting the engine this is what she looked like



I have sprayed the engine in Techcote hi temperature satin black paint, to get a decent finish the clutch cover had to come off for painting and whilst in there i changed the clutch plates with some spares I had ,. measuring these with my vernier caliper they were thicker than the originals so shoulkd give me a better clutch.





One of the biggest nightmares on this bike has been taking off and refitting the carbs. I was going to try and restore the original rubbers by heating them in wintergreen oil to soften them before reusing them.
This is what the originals were like


I had purchased a heat gun and after a few seconds of heat they were more pliable. So my plan was to fit the airbox to the bike give the rubbers a blast of heat and then be able to fit the carbs. After about 30 mins of juggling heat guns and carbs id had enough and decided to get new rubbers.



after a bit of work with a longish screwdriver and a bit of heat from the heatrgun I was at this stage



then with new rubbers fitted



I then set to fittinmg the airbox and carbs onto the bike I have had these carbs off about 5 times since Ive owned this bike, this time they went on easier than ever so money well spent


So all in all a decent weekend and progress has been made next weekend i want to get the loom and electrics on.

You should replace the clutch springs, too. They often no longer meet specs after 30+ years of being compressed.

BTW: Those carbs will tune up just fine with pod filters.

Alpha, are pods a pain to jet on this bike or is that more of an issue with CV carbs? I'd love to ditch the airbox and stock air filter. I'm rebuilding my '81 GPz550 from the ground up. The deeper I dig, the more I'm finding to work on. I was worried about the pistons because when I bought the bike it was missing the cam chain tensioner but when I pulled the cam chain cover and drained the oil, things looked ok. Before I pull the head and block to get things painted I'm going to do a leakdown test and get a baseline on things. How much does it cost to get the frame powerdercoated? I was going to rattle can the frame but I'd like to do things right. BTW, is there a source for the cam cover gasket or do you have to go with a liquid gasket? I'll probably have a lot more questions as I get into the guts of things.

Below are the original photos from eBay and pics of the current state of dis-assembly.

woodgeek said:

Alpha, are pods a pain to jet on this bike or is that more of an issue with CV carbs?

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Those are slide carbs, not CV carbs, so they will tune just fine for pods. Start at 6 to 8 jet sizes larger than the stock jets. Jet sizes are in increments of 2.5, so six jet sizes would be 15 points (number wise) larger than stock. Also, get pilot jets that are one size larger than stock.

woodgeek said:

I was worried about the pistons because when I bought the bike it was missing the cam chain tensioner but when I pulled the cam chain cover and drained the oil, things looked ok. Before I pull the head and block to get things painted I'm going to do a leakdown test and get a baseline on things.

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I would be concerned about the valves if something had slipped in the cam drive, but since everything looks intact, it should be fine.

woodgeek said:

How much does it cost to get the frame powerdercoated?

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Call a local powdercoater for a quote. Don't forget that you will have any number of other pieces as well as the frame. don't powdercoat or paint until you have the bike completed. Few things are more aggravating that having a nicely powdercoated frame, and then having to weld a mounting tab for something to it.

woodgeek said:

BTW, is there a source for the cam cover gasket or do you have to go with a liquid gasket?

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You'll just have to do some searching to answer that question. Vesra probably has a complete gasket set for the engine. You may have to go to Kawasaki for various seals.

AlphaDogChoppers said:

Those are slide carbs, not CV carbs, so they will tune just fine for pods. Start at 6 to 8 jet sizes larger than the stock jets. Jet sizes are in increments of 2.5, so six jet sizes would be 15 points (number wise) larger than stock. Also, get pilot jets that are one size larger than stock.

I would be concerned about the valves if something had slipped in the cam drive, but since everything looks intact, it should be fine.

Call a local powdercoater for a quote. Don't forget that you will have any number of other pieces as well as the frame. don't powdercoat or paint until you have the bike completed. Few things are more aggravating that having a nicely powdercoated frame, and then having to weld a mounting tab for something to it.

You'll just have to do some searching to answer that question. Vesra probably has a complete gasket set for the engine. You may have to go to Kawasaki for various seals.

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Well shit look whose still alive

Really, really busy with my new shop. I love my new shop. About 2,500 sq ft interior space, and another 500 sq ft under roof like a loading dock.

Woodgeek, looks like a nice find, plenty of work to be done to get that roadworthy. You've got the tank in original colours and it looks like a decent exhaust.

Anyway ill use this post to update you on the bike. I managed to get her back together and get the paintwork done. Then when I started her after the rebuild she only ran on 3 cylinders this was eventually traced to an airleak beacause I failed to fully tighten one of the carb to head rubbers , Doh!

Then when I test rode her the bike didn't feel right , felt like it would throw me off at any moment anyway this was eventually traced to the steering head bearings becoming oval. These have now been replaced with taper roller bearings. So at the weekend I managed to get a ride in . the new bearings have made a big difference to stability.

The paintwork isn't quite how I wanted it, I wanted the decals in the middle of the tank, so that will need to be rectified in the near future. The front brakes are still a bit poor , despite many attempts at bleeding the lever as a lot of travel before they bite. I have got another mastercylinder on the way from ebay to try.

It wasn't a great summer for the Gpz lets hope next summer is better.

chirpy998 said:

The front brakes are still a bit poor , despite many attempts at bleeding the lever as a lot of travel before they bite. I have got another mastercylinder on the way from ebay to try.

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Did you try this old trick: turn the handlebars fully to the Left; apply the brakes and strap the brake lever in the fully-applied position with Velcro or bungie; leave this way overnight? This helps any bubbles in the system to migrate to the master cylinder.

If the brake handle ends up going against the handlebar in a short time (i.e., fails to hold pressure) then it probably is the seals in the MC.