Found a[n] NOS 1981 GPz550 tank on that auction site!

I was poking around on eBay and found an unused fuel tank for a 1981 GPz550!!

You could have knocked me over with a feather. I did not expect to find such an item 40+ years after the fact. It does have two very small scratches and a very small (looks like 1/16") chip in the blue stripe on the right side. The left side and the top (and the bottom) are perfect.

 


It should be here in 8-10 days.

Whats the asking prize and ebay#. Some imperfection you have to be accept after 40 years of storage.

wrote:

Whats the asking prize and ebay#. Some imperfection you have to be accept after 40 years of storage.
 

The item is no longer available: I bought it already.

The buy-it-now price was $400US and the item number is 265981151057. There are a lot of pictures in the listing.

A bargain!  Great pickup!

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A bargain!  Great pickup!
 

Thanks! Yeah, seems like I stole it.
 

Sheesh, I woulda bought it and I don’t even have a gpz. Good get.

Nice . Let me know if you decide to sell your old one .

wrote:

Nice . Let me know if you decide to sell your old one .
 

Appreciated, but I'll hold on to it. The NOS tank will go on a shelf in my office as a display piece - with an NOS emblem, if at all possible. It will share space with the tank from an old Yamaha and an engine cover from an old Triumph.

The original tank on the bike is in very good shape, and I have a couple of spares: one with the blue/silver stripes and one in plain red, just in case. Picked them up on ebay as well, probably 15-18 years ago. Yikes.

Daaang!

wrote:

Daaang!

 

My thoughts exactly!

There is (or was) also a set of allegedly NOS '81 GPz550 side covers in a different auction. IIRC the asking price was $180 for both, which IMO would be a deal for genuine NOS parts.

EDIT: found 'em - https://www.[ebay].com/itm/144797909267

They're listed as NOS and the buy-it-now is $155 + $10 shipping.

However, they are not described as OEM and there are no Kawasaki part numbers. I'm assuming they're aftermarket: I don't recall ever seeing Kawasaki covers that were made of white ABS.
 

Those side covers are a poser.  Except for the white, the back sides appear to be oem. I would ask if they've been painted white. weird.

Got to be honest the white looks like primer to me, I'm not sure anybody making copies would go to the trouble on including the "KZ" and " made in Japan" markings to their mould. Do the mounting lugs look the same as your originals (my project had one genuine and one copy panel - the copy has much more substantial mounting points. As far as material the original is ABS the copy I'm not sure possibly polypropylene)