1981 GPZ550 Restoration almost done

I saw a brand new GPz 550 D1 on 18 December 1981, at the dealership, on the day I collected my brand new Kawasaki AR 50 A1 ...
That picture stuck in my mind for 40 years...so I wanted to return everything to stock, as far as possible, to re-live that memory

She looked pretty sad when I got her...
Covered in crud, showing the years neglect... but thank-fully not much corrosion.
The seat-cover was sun-beaten and ripped, no airbox (cheapo pod filters), road-rashed bikini fairing...

I was very fortunate to find an "ok looking" airbox at my local bike breakers yard.
Ebay for replica seat cover, carb boots, air-box boots, clutch plates, clutch cable, speedo cable, brake pads, fork seals
and tapered steering-head bearings.
New o-ring chain and sprockets.
Zinc plated most of the nuts and bolts.
New battery, LED turn signal bulbs with an LED flasher unit.
I repaired and painted the bikini fairing. (Volkswagen colour "Monza Red" is a very good match to the 40 year old Firecracker Red  )

Some missing items like the tool tray and document box under the tail-piece are no longer available, so I designed replica's
and 3D printed them.

I've done a cylinder-head re-fresh: lapped the vales and installed new stem-seals.
I live up at 5500ft, so I had to spend some time re-jetting for the 4 into 1 Kerker.
Settled on 104 main jets, stock pilots.
She purrs like a pussycat!

Recently, I found a set of Ohlins rear shocks that I had professionally re-built.
These made a huge a difference to the handling, compared to the 40 yer-old original units!

H.

 

howardhb wrote:

I repaired and painted the bikini fairing. (Volkswagen colour "Monza Red" is a very good match to the 40 year old Firecracker Red 

)

Some missing items like the tool tray and document box under the tail-piece are no longer available, so I designed replica's
and 3D printed them.
 

Re: Monza Red - that's good to know, thank you! DupliColor used to offer a shade called Cardinal Red which is supposed to be a good match as well. I bought a six-pack to try it and then it was discontinued.   If it works for the 550 I can re-do the spare front fender and set of side covers. Might even be able to get away with re-doing the top part of the tail section...

Oddly enough I found a document box on eBay for $15. The seller called it a "trunk".

Ya, I still need to re-paint the slightly patina'd front mudguard... 

Here is the Monza Red color test swatch:


H.

It took me years to find some of my parts, I ordered things from Germany to Thailand.  I’m actually the guy who sent PitStop seat covers in Thailand the template seat cover for the GPZ550.   I wanted to use as many EOM parts as I could, I found a left and right. NOS, set of coils in Thailand, mirrors from England etc….   I used the parts diagrams to identify and verify every part, I mean every part, and either replaced or refurbished them.  Actually I think half the fun is ferreting out the parts.  

577nitro- 

On the paint I used Colorite FireCracker Red, it is spot on, but pricey and difficult to work with.   I've had many issues with it lifting with their own clear coat.    I've switch to Eastmans two part clear and have never had any issues since.  

577nitro-

Wookie58 wrote:

The bike is stunning, I'll be coming calling for a BOTM feature when it's done 

 

Oh sure, bring that gorgeous thing in here and make my scruffy bike look bad!!

Nice job looks great. Hopefully I can get to mine soon. Its been on the back burner for too long.

riturbo wrote:

Nice job looks great. Hopefully I can get to mine soon. Its been on the back burner for too long.

Oh, I know that feeling, I finally just said "only this project until done"  I kept oscillating back and forth on configuration...keep it stock, not stock, cam etc... 

Some more photos: