Track Bike - kz550
- Thread starter Drewski
- Start date
Tune-A-Fish
BOTM LOSER Proudly Deplorable
Erskine said:
Race ist.
Well, made it out to the track with my brother "Seaglider" on his zrx and some pals from Kawasaki Triples Canada forum. 
We had a near perfect day! It hit at least 33* Celcius which works out to around 90* F!! It feels like we've gone right from winter into the middle of summer!
Walms was among the boys there. Here's a shot of him on his mighty 500, just before he ran outta gas. ;D
I don't have any action shots of the kz yet. I can say it ran great and handled beautifully! No issues that I could detect. I didn't push it too hard though. I started to drag the right side foot peg in the middle of the right hander at the end of the main front straight. I was startled a little and decided I'd best cool it a little. ;D
The only other issue was what seems to be a blown head gasket. It was puffing out healthy amounts of blue smoke on the down shifts during our last session. There was also oil on the engine cooling fins on the right side of the engine.
I guess we'll pop the head and have a good look and replace the gasket and o-rings. Maybe we should install the hi-po GPz head and carbs while we're at it, eh? ;D 8)
When I get some other pics, I'll post 'em up!
We had a near perfect day! It hit at least 33* Celcius which works out to around 90* F!!
It feels like we've gone right from winter into the middle of summer! 
Walms was among the boys there. Here's a shot of him on his mighty 500, just before he ran outta gas. ;D
I don't have any action shots of the kz yet. I can say it ran great and handled beautifully! No issues that I could detect. I didn't push it too hard though. I started to drag the right side foot peg in the middle of the right hander at the end of the main front straight. I was startled a little and decided I'd best cool it a little. ;D
The only other issue was what seems to be a blown head gasket. It was puffing out healthy amounts of blue smoke on the down shifts during our last session. There was also oil on the engine cooling fins on the right side of the engine.
I guess we'll pop the head and have a good look and replace the gasket and o-rings. Maybe we should install the hi-po GPz head and carbs while we're at it, eh? ;D 8)
When I get some other pics, I'll post 'em up!
JustinLonghorn
No Purple Hearts, No Blue Ribbons
Nice!
Tune-A-Fish
BOTM LOSER Proudly Deplorable
Looks like fun to me... was this an open practice day or was there races also? Pits seem lite and the track not crowded for such a nice day.
It was a track day mostly devoted to vintage racers and street bikes. Some of us have dedicated vintage track bikes as well. In order to fill up the field and break even cost-wise, some modern bikes are allowed as well. My brother, Seaglider, had his zrx there. His h2 is still a 'work in progress.'
There weren't any races, just sessions divided into vintage beginner, vintage medium, vintage fast, modern fast and sidecar. We were in the "vintage medium" group. 8)
Here are a few more pics courtesy of Pipewelder! 8)
A couple of weary old guys!! Do we look like brothers? Haha! Seaglider and I swapped bikes for the last session. I'm the guy with the Kawi racing leathers.
It was a great day! Can't wait for the next one!
There weren't any races, just sessions divided into vintage beginner, vintage medium, vintage fast, modern fast and sidecar. We were in the "vintage medium" group. 8)
Here are a few more pics courtesy of Pipewelder! 8)
A couple of weary old guys!! Do we look like brothers?
Haha! Seaglider and I swapped bikes for the last session. I'm the guy with the Kawi racing leathers. It was a great day! Can't wait for the next one!
Tune-A-Fish
BOTM LOSER Proudly Deplorable
Fun Fun!!
Was Walm's 500 at Barber this year, or is there another bike missing from the picture from your gang?
pacomotorstuff
Coast to Coast
Hi Drew,
Bike looks sweet! By all means, the hipo head!
Glad you made it to the track day and thanks for the update and photos - I was curious as to how it went for you.
Track days are a great way to improve street riding skills, blow off some steam and not lose your licence whilst doing it - Dave Howarth is also organizing another one at TMP for September.
At TMP, you're also riding on a bit of history; the main straight was once a runway for a WW2 British Commonwealth Air Training Plan Airfield - look at Googlemap of the track and you'll see the triangle of the 3 runways that the airfield had...
Regards,
Pat
Bike looks sweet! By all means, the hipo head!
Glad you made it to the track day and thanks for the update and photos - I was curious as to how it went for you.
Track days are a great way to improve street riding skills, blow off some steam and not lose your licence whilst doing it - Dave Howarth is also organizing another one at TMP for September.
At TMP, you're also riding on a bit of history; the main straight was once a runway for a WW2 British Commonwealth Air Training Plan Airfield - look at Googlemap of the track and you'll see the triangle of the 3 runways that the airfield had...
Regards,
Pat
Drewski said:It was a track day mostly devoted to vintage racers and street bikes. Some of us have dedicated vintage track bikes as well. In order to fill up the field and break even cost-wise, some modern bikes are allowed as well. My brother, Seaglider, had his zrx there. His h2 is still a 'work in progress.'
There weren't any races, just sessions divided into vintage beginner, vintage medium, vintage fast, modern fast and sidecar. We were in the "vintage medium" group. 8)
Here are a few more pics courtesy of Pipewelder! 8)
A couple of weary old guys!! Do we look like brothers?
It was a great day! Can't wait for the next one!
Looks like a fun day!
