1985 Kawasaki ZX550 (GPz550) restored Chicago
03-23-2007, 06:44 AM
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1985 Kawasaki ZX550 (GPz550) restored Chicago
I'm offering up my bike(s) for sale on here, and a couple other forums before they get advertised in the auto/rv publication and or ebay.
Bike has unknown mileage, approximately 1400 miles since rebuild on this engine. Stock rebuild on the engine that's in there right now.
Excellent starter/intermediate bike. At approximately 450 lbs, it's pretty easy to manage, especially for an old sportbike. It's got plenty of power to even keep experienced riders happy.
It's a great all around bike. I've had it set up for racing, I've had it set up for commuting, and I currently have it set for pleasure riding.
I have over $2000 in this one bike alone as it sits, not to mention the labor and spare parts/parts bikes I've got.
The good:
Excellent bike for any riding level. Easy to handle for the beginner, but fast enough to land you in jail, yet it's nearly impossible to lift the front wheel unintentionally. This is the bike that kicked off the 600cc race class.
Straight frame (went down once in its history that I could find, other than minor driveway dumps, of which I know of three)
Fresh engine (Kawasaki is discontinuing alot of parts, so rebuilt engines for this bike are a dying creature)
New(er) tires. They were mounted early 06, I have a NEW front tire I will mount if it sells for my asking price.
K&N individual pod filters
Powder coated modified stock exhaust (set up for mid range power)
Carburetors re-jetted and tuned for the higher flow (set a bit rich due to my old setup)
TONS of new parts, too many to list. Every part down to the last nut and bolt on this bike was disconnected, inspected, reconditioned or replaced.
Tank has been coated in por15, so no rust on the inside.
The bad:
It needs new handle grips. I use gloves, so they're fine for me, but I rode today without gloves and the outside two fingers on both hands went completely numb after an hour.
It needs new turn signals. I've bought 5 rear signals now, but they stick out 8" from the back of the bike, so when I walk past em, I keep breaking them off. I had a set of low profile signals, but since it was a restoration project to start with, I went back to stock. I would recommend low profile signals at least on the rear.
New parts availability is going down, but for an extra $300 I will give you a parts bike, and all my spares. The used parts market is HUGE for these bikes.
The body isn't in the best of shape. The right hand front signal was punched in on a driveway lay down on the parts bike, where I sourced the body parts. I repaired it, it's not going to fall off, and isn't immediately noticable, but its' there. A perfect fairing fetches a huge premium in the parts market, even a broken one is worth $75-100. The tank has a dent from something falling into it, both side covers have easily repairable damage.
It's an ugly color. I can repaint in buyer's choice of color, I recommend factory black/red
It should get a new rear tire. I did about a dozen drag passes on this street tire, and it's seen about 6000 miles of riding, the rubber is hardening
The petcock leaks. I have rebuilt it two times, but the rebuild kits that are available are crap. Inline shutoff valve is needed, but I just use a needle nose vice grips when I park it.
It's not as fast as a modern 600, but for the era, it was the fastest middleweight, and the most reliable. Plus, I've retuned it to give a nice broad powerband you don't see in a half liter sportbike.
It needs to have the carbs synchronized. I did a bench synchro when I retuned it for the current engine and exhaust, and I'm pretty sure it's within 90%. But, it should be done before this riding season, last thing you need is starvation at 10,000rpm. I could do this, but I don't have the tools yet. I will be buying them when I start on my drag bike, and can do it for you if you're local when I get them. Last I checked, a shop will charge ~$100
The ugly:
There's an electrical problem. I can sort it out if it sells for my asking price. I believe the stator is bad, but I have spares, or they can be picked up on ebay all day long.
The color scheme is disgusting (again, I will repaint upon request for a very reasonable rate, depending on color choice)
I love this bike very much. I have countless hours of labor in it, and hate to see it go, but my back injury won't let me ride a sportbike anymore. I would have no problem hopping on this bike and riding it cross country, it has never failed me. It was properly stored over the winter, under a cover in a storage garage with fresh oil, empty tank, all fuel lines removed, tires deflated, carbs were cleaned and stored in my bedroom.
I have reprints of every major news and magazine articles that mention the bike, that will be included. I have two service manuals I will include as well. I had parts cross-reference software that lets you find out what other models had an interchangeable part, but I don't' know where it went. If I find it, it will be included.
The pictures:
I'm asking $1250 for the bike. At that price you also get a new front tire mounted and balanced, new brake pads installed, inline shutoff valve and filter, heck, I'll buy and install new hand grips and signals as well.
I know these bikes as well as some of you guys know the EF's, and will provide service at 1/4 the cost of shop labor.
I have a parts bike (with clear title, you could build a second bike) that's about 75% complete, just not all together. I'd like $300 for the parts bike and all my spare parts.
If you want the bike, the parts bike, all the spares, and all the goodies included with the asking price, you can have it for $1450.
If I don't get any bites by mid April, I will be advertising it aggressively and or parting it out. Motorcycles are worth more in component parts than complete. I've parted out three of these in the past two years, I'd just hate to do it with my baby.
Bike has unknown mileage, approximately 1400 miles since rebuild on this engine. Stock rebuild on the engine that's in there right now.
Excellent starter/intermediate bike. At approximately 450 lbs, it's pretty easy to manage, especially for an old sportbike. It's got plenty of power to even keep experienced riders happy.
It's a great all around bike. I've had it set up for racing, I've had it set up for commuting, and I currently have it set for pleasure riding.
I have over $2000 in this one bike alone as it sits, not to mention the labor and spare parts/parts bikes I've got.
The good:
Excellent bike for any riding level. Easy to handle for the beginner, but fast enough to land you in jail, yet it's nearly impossible to lift the front wheel unintentionally. This is the bike that kicked off the 600cc race class.
Straight frame (went down once in its history that I could find, other than minor driveway dumps, of which I know of three)
Fresh engine (Kawasaki is discontinuing alot of parts, so rebuilt engines for this bike are a dying creature)
New(er) tires. They were mounted early 06, I have a NEW front tire I will mount if it sells for my asking price.
K&N individual pod filters
Powder coated modified stock exhaust (set up for mid range power)
Carburetors re-jetted and tuned for the higher flow (set a bit rich due to my old setup)
TONS of new parts, too many to list. Every part down to the last nut and bolt on this bike was disconnected, inspected, reconditioned or replaced.
Tank has been coated in por15, so no rust on the inside.
The bad:
It needs new handle grips. I use gloves, so they're fine for me, but I rode today without gloves and the outside two fingers on both hands went completely numb after an hour.
It needs new turn signals. I've bought 5 rear signals now, but they stick out 8" from the back of the bike, so when I walk past em, I keep breaking them off. I had a set of low profile signals, but since it was a restoration project to start with, I went back to stock. I would recommend low profile signals at least on the rear.
New parts availability is going down, but for an extra $300 I will give you a parts bike, and all my spares. The used parts market is HUGE for these bikes.
The body isn't in the best of shape. The right hand front signal was punched in on a driveway lay down on the parts bike, where I sourced the body parts. I repaired it, it's not going to fall off, and isn't immediately noticable, but its' there. A perfect fairing fetches a huge premium in the parts market, even a broken one is worth $75-100. The tank has a dent from something falling into it, both side covers have easily repairable damage.
It's an ugly color. I can repaint in buyer's choice of color, I recommend factory black/red
It should get a new rear tire. I did about a dozen drag passes on this street tire, and it's seen about 6000 miles of riding, the rubber is hardening
The petcock leaks. I have rebuilt it two times, but the rebuild kits that are available are crap. Inline shutoff valve is needed, but I just use a needle nose vice grips when I park it.
It's not as fast as a modern 600, but for the era, it was the fastest middleweight, and the most reliable. Plus, I've retuned it to give a nice broad powerband you don't see in a half liter sportbike.
It needs to have the carbs synchronized. I did a bench synchro when I retuned it for the current engine and exhaust, and I'm pretty sure it's within 90%. But, it should be done before this riding season, last thing you need is starvation at 10,000rpm. I could do this, but I don't have the tools yet. I will be buying them when I start on my drag bike, and can do it for you if you're local when I get them. Last I checked, a shop will charge ~$100
The ugly:
There's an electrical problem. I can sort it out if it sells for my asking price. I believe the stator is bad, but I have spares, or they can be picked up on ebay all day long.
The color scheme is disgusting (again, I will repaint upon request for a very reasonable rate, depending on color choice)
I love this bike very much. I have countless hours of labor in it, and hate to see it go, but my back injury won't let me ride a sportbike anymore. I would have no problem hopping on this bike and riding it cross country, it has never failed me. It was properly stored over the winter, under a cover in a storage garage with fresh oil, empty tank, all fuel lines removed, tires deflated, carbs were cleaned and stored in my bedroom.
I have reprints of every major news and magazine articles that mention the bike, that will be included. I have two service manuals I will include as well. I had parts cross-reference software that lets you find out what other models had an interchangeable part, but I don't' know where it went. If I find it, it will be included.
The pictures:
I'm asking $1250 for the bike. At that price you also get a new front tire mounted and balanced, new brake pads installed, inline shutoff valve and filter, heck, I'll buy and install new hand grips and signals as well.
I know these bikes as well as some of you guys know the EF's, and will provide service at 1/4 the cost of shop labor.
I have a parts bike (with clear title, you could build a second bike) that's about 75% complete, just not all together. I'd like $300 for the parts bike and all my spare parts.
If you want the bike, the parts bike, all the spares, and all the goodies included with the asking price, you can have it for $1450.
If I don't get any bites by mid April, I will be advertising it aggressively and or parting it out. Motorcycles are worth more in component parts than complete. I've parted out three of these in the past two years, I'd just hate to do it with my baby.
03-26-2007, 09:23 PM
#2
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Re: 1985 Kawasaki ZX550 (GPz550) restored Chicago (danmdevries)
Bump.
New clutch is in the mail
New signals are coming soon.
I have the paint to make it factory matched red on black, still waiting on decals
New tires by the end of April
I'm negotiable on the price, I just don't want to lose too much on it. I have thousands in this bike as it sets and it's 90% perfect. By the time summertime comes around it'll be 100% and the new price will reflect that.
New clutch is in the mail
New signals are coming soon.
I have the paint to make it factory matched red on black, still waiting on decals
New tires by the end of April
I'm negotiable on the price, I just don't want to lose too much on it. I have thousands in this bike as it sets and it's 90% perfect. By the time summertime comes around it'll be 100% and the new price will reflect that.
$1150
04-27-2007, 08:47 AM
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07-09-2007, 03:27 AM
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Re: 1985 Kawasaki ZX550 (danmdevries)
hadda take it of ebay because it decided to stop running. Turned out to be a split in the spark plug wire on #3
In the past two weeks I have rebuilt the carbs, replaced vac hoses, replaced coils, re oiled the K&N pods, replaced ignitor, replaced plugs and wires, changed oil and filter.
Bike runs great now.
I kinda just want it gone, $750
In the past two weeks I have rebuilt the carbs, replaced vac hoses, replaced coils, re oiled the K&N pods, replaced ignitor, replaced plugs and wires, changed oil and filter.
Bike runs great now.
I kinda just want it gone, $750
08-21-2007, 04:56 PM
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