It's alive! (GPz550)

Hi all,

Well, I seem to have my very first 4, running in the garden! ;-)

The neighbour dug this 1986 GPz550 out for me this morning and I
picked it up an hour ago.

Luckily the old (but still reasonably good) battery out of daughters
scooter seemed to be a good fit and I had it spinning over ok.

I splash of petrol out of the 5 gal Jerry can, a quick drain on all
the float bowls to see if anything was coming through and with some
choke, a tiny cough and a splutter she fired up! ;-)

I didn't run it for long because I was suspicious of how much 'oil'
was in the engine (you had to lay it over (away) to see the level in
the sight glass) and when I drained and re-filled it again it seemed
to take half as much as I took out (and probably where all the petrol
had gone. Once I've got it a bit tidier I'll change the oil and
filter again properly).

Fired it up, all pipes running hot and it seems to tick over and rev
up a treat .. ;-)

The rear brake seems to drag quite a bit and the foot pedal seems to
go to the stop. The fronts feel pretty dead so I'll probably start
with the brakes, stripping and cleaning so I know all is ok. The disks
feel good (no ridges, cracks or lips) and look like stainless ones
(iron would have been red rusty after 3 years outside).

I also noticed all the rubbers that join the carbs to the air box seem
to be not on the carbs and from a quick poke they seem very hard (not
rubbery at all). Is this typical, do I just get them back on, is there
something I can do with these to make them more pliable or am I in for
a new set?

Also the front brake lever is snapped off at the end .. eBay?

Oh, and the right hand bar feels a bit lose on the stanchion, how do I
tighten it up please?

I put the little probe into the battery and that stopped that light
flashing, just need a bit more fuel to see if the lcd fuel gauge
actually works (it does it's little disco thing when you switch on so
I know the display does).

£35 to transfer the Comp insurance from the CB Two Fifty to this and
about £100 /pa normally (£97 TPFT so not worth dropping back).

Can anyone remember which way the fuel tap works please? (obviously
I've found ON or RES just not sure which is off) and any other
thoughts as to what bits I should check / do please?

All the best ..

T i m

p.s. As I went over to get the 550 he was just loading an old XT125
onto another neighbours scrap lorry. It had been running but was
nicked and a bit bashed about (couldn't start it, got angry with it)
and found locally again. I *nearly* asked him if I could take that as
well but with umpteen bikes and 1,000,000 other things I'm supposed to
be sorting ... <sigh>

 

Yay!

Seized fronts and spongey rear. Easily fixed. A caliper strip and
rebuild and new fluid. Maybe new steel hoses.

Pour boiling water over them. It softens them nicely.

Yep. Or any supplier

Er, by tightening up the securing bolts.

It will. They rarely give trouble.

There's no OFF position. It's a vacuum fuel tap so only passes fuel when
the engine's turning over.

There will be a PRIME position, though.

 

PRIME is in-between ON and RES, if you're sure you've found them.

 

Well I've found one or the other because there was no fuel coming
through, I moved the tap then there was Eddie. ;-)

I suppose if it had been left in the PRIME position and a float jet
was leaking it could have filled the sump with fuel (I don't think it
was water as it smelled like fuel and didn't look all emulsified)?

He says he has the Haynes BOL for it so that might help on a few
points.

All the best ..

T i m

 

Good huh! ;-)

Semi seized fronts (not dragging too badly and working when you pulled
the lever) but seized / gone rear certainly! ;-)

New seals and dust covers TOG, or just a good clean, piston lube (I
have some of that red rubber brake assembly lube) and fresh DOT4?

I'm not a fan but if the old rubber ones are bad I'll replace them
with said.

Just while you are getting them on or do they stay soft for a while?
Are new ones generally soft?

<g>, yes, but I've not seen those sort of bars before and the
'securing bolts' didn't seem that obvious? I'll have a furtle in the
daylight though.

Oh, good. I'm not a fan of electronics on motor vehicles generally.

Ah, I did consider that option (like her XV750 I believe) but from the
quick glimpse in the half light I thought I could only see one hose
coming from the tap. I'll check it out better tomorrow.

Ah, and maybe where it was left to get the sump full of fuel. :-(

Well, I'm looking forward to stripping the various bits down and
sorting them out. No better way to get to know yer vehicle and put's
you in a better position should you get problems on the road.

All the best ..

T i m

p.s. Luckily, in every case I've been driving a vehicle and it's
broken down I've been able to tell the AA / whoever exactly what was
wrong.

Fairly new Mk5 Cortina. Auto choke stuck on. I'd released it and got
it going myself before the AA turned up (I did ring them to tell
them). ;-)

Sierra with semi seized caliper. The lights fused on the recovery
lorry as it arrived and I had to jury rig a fix for him. ;-)

R100RT, clutch splines stripped. Just got relayed 175 miles home.
Driver just loaded it on as he did said riders of older bikes often
knew more about their bikes than they did. ;-)

 

IIRC, there are clamps that bolt into the top yoke, under the top yoke
cover. It was a long time ago, though.

Yeah, this matches what I remember:
http://www.cmsnl.com/kawasaki-1986-a3-zx550_model12812/partslist/F2310.html

 

TYhey'll stay soft for long enough.

Softer, certainly. And expensive.

 

Ah, that's handy Eddie, thanks. ;-)

As an aside, the logbook shows my bike as an 86 and a 'ZX550-A2' but
the fiches suggest an 86 is an A3? Is this just down to when the bike
was first registered (rather than built etc)?

All the best and thanks again ..

T i m

 

Ah, ok. ;-)

Gotcha, boiling water it is then.

All the best ..

T i m

 

It's quite likely to be an A2 that spent some time in a showroom. It
doesn't matter, anyway: the differences will only be something minor
like decal colours.

 

Ah, brilliant, thanks TOG.

Also as you seem to know such things <g>, why does the logbook call
it a ZX550 when on the side panels it says GPz550 (I mean, apart from
the Z and numbers the two are quite different)?

FEIW, when doing an online insurance quote I chose for the model ..

KAWASAKI GPZ 550 Sports 1981-1991 553cc Manual Petrol

... which was the best / nearest match but wasn't sure if the 'sports'
bit was right (was there a sports model, is mine it etc)?


All the best ..

T i m

p.s. Is this going to feel like a 900 Divvy to ride (the only other 4
I've ridden .. oh other than a CBR600 track bike for a few miles and
that was mad)? :-(

 

This is even after I've changed the oil yes (to help clear remnants
etc)?

Ah, I think I might be tempted to remove the carbs and strip them down
but at the moment it's a touch of don't fix what's not broken?

Oh, what were the symptoms please Simian?

Yeah I saw the extra bits on the front of the front fork sliders,
that's the anti dive is it, does it work (I mean did it ever, not just
mine)? ;-)

All the best ..

T i m

 

No, the bike pump is for pressuring the front forks, nothing to do with
the anti-dive. There should be a valve just under the top yoke on one
side, with a link pipe to the other. Use a gauge and a hand pump to
adjust the pressure to ~12psi. Don't over-pressure it, or you'll
probably pop something.

This is, of course, assuming that they still hold pressure...

No, it doesn't. ISTR that a common hack was to remove the gubbins and
blank it all off (I never bothered), but I was told recently that you
need to make a bypass thingy for where it bolts onto the fork to let the
fluid move.

 

Many manufacturers (Kawasaki in particular) use different names for
their "branding" and for the "official" model names; this is an example
of that.

My ZX-9R is technically known as a "ZX900-E2". My GT750 was a Z750-P5, IIRC.

There was a thread about this, just last week, I think.

That should be the right one.

I haven't ridden a Divvy much, but I guess it should be better. Nimbler,
less lardy.

 

Ah, gotit, ta. So the air assists the springs (seen in the fiche)?

Well, if it means anything they seemed to look and feel alright when I
wheeled it over and braked a few times to check the front brakes /
headset etc.

(understood) And more good info ta.

All the best ..

T i m

 

IIRC, if they weren't pressured it wasn't really noticeable when pushing
it around, but it made a world of difference when you rode it. I vaguely
remember that it used to feel like there was a problem with the back end.

 

I drained out probably 4 l of a runny oil looking fluid that had a bit
of a petroly smell about it. It still felt very much like oil but
moved more like fork oil (even when cold).

Ok. I can't actually read what it says on the tap as yet (rusty) and
don't have a manual or handbook as yet. I guess I can pull the fuel
pipe and see what does what though (and don't leave it in PRIME when I
find it) ;-)

Ok ..

Ok I've sent the assembly on the fiche and have a pump / gauge so I'll
check it out when I can.

Ok, well I try to do that anyway but at least I know what to look out
for now.

All the best and thanks again ..

T i m

 

I guess that depends on the fastest thing you had ridden before, what
you were riding at the time and what you were wearing.

I was on my R100RT and maty on his 600. He pulls over somewhere,
basically nicks my BM (cos he wanted to have a go on one) and leaves
me with his 600 to catch up. So, digital throttle, nothing happening
below 6k and a jacket that inflates like a balloon when not sitting
behind a f-off big screen. :-(

Oh, and he's off filtering in the fairly fast moving traffic on my
beemer.

I do remember that it was very planted though, man-hole covers and the
like didn't flick you sideways 6 inches like on the RT but as for
'fun', no, glad to be back on the old BM.

I'm quite sure, and hence why they have never interested me. The 900
Divvy was obviously capable of much more than I asked of it but (and
it was superior to the RT in nearly every way) but left me completely
cold [1]. I'm even looking at this 550 and wondering if I can raise
and widen the bars somehow? I wouldn't even mind losing the little
fairing and making it just a naked bike (and with a steerable
headlight).

All the best ..

T i m

[1] I was loaned it for a week. I rode it about then home the first
day I got it and similar the second time when I took it back.

 

The 900

That's how it left me. I bought a new one in about 2000. It was
incredibly efficient, reliable, comfy, decent fairing, big tank: it
replaced my Kawasaki GT750 as a comuter and tourer. I just got bored
to hell with it, and chopped it in for a Triumph Trophy 1200 (which in
turn got chopped for the present BMW).

The 900 Div was a bloody good working bike: if I was a long-distance
despatch rider, I'd have one.

Oh, and it was a lardy old bus. God knows why it weighed as much as it
did.

 

GPz is the sort of 'public' model name. 'ZX' is Kawasaki's own ID
scheme. Confusing, I know.

No way