TOPIC:

I have a 1981 GPz with pretty low miles in really good shape that (thanks to this site) runs great, I really like that little bike.

So when a 1982 GPz550 popped up cheap on my local CL I snapped it up.

It's much worse off than my '81 ever was but I enjoyed working on the first one and it was cheap so what the hell.

It has pods, unfortunately. No idea what jets are in it and I have no idea how the cv carbs work compared to my now decent knowledge of the tk22's on the '81.
Every vacuum line is split or missing and looks like there was a pretty serious fuel leak out of at least 1 bowl.

So I'll be leaning on kzrider once again to help me put this thing back on the road.

The tank has a dent on one side but the seat and sidecovers are ok, brand new tires and a new, incorrect battery.

I'll be posting questions in the appropriate forums as I go and try to do some general updates here, if anybody cares, lol.

The motor, internally, is pretty much exactly the same except the intake ports are larger for the larger carbs, and the bolt spacing for each intake manifold is farther apart, but the manifold spacing, center-to-center is the same.

I run TK22's (with modified manifolds) on an 82/83 H model engine because the motor came with the 81 frame on a parts bike I bought. But there is a dynojet kit for the TK26 CV's that originally came on your bike. That kit should make it run pretty well with pods, but I don't have any specific info on the jetting.

(As a side note, the 84/85 ZX550A1 and A2 (gpz550) used TK27 CV's which should also be able work as a bolt-on with your bike.)

One thing on the TK26, to be aware of, is that the pilot (or intermediate jet?) jet is under a rubber plug (or maybe it was a plastic plug with o-ring). That plug (or oring) rots and causes excessive fuel flow. Be sure to check those. The later TK27 carbs did not have them.

One other issue that seems to come up a lot with the H models is the swingarm. Apparently in parts of the country where rust is an issue, the swingarm or linkages to the swingarm rust, and can collapse. So inspect that area really well. (Seems like Illinois and Wisconsin and Indiana are where I've heard of this happening.)

Thanks Lou, I hope to know more about this bike and it's carbs in the next couple days, took a short video of what I've found so far.


Tonight I sorted through some of the vacuum leaks and plumbed around some of the emissions garbage. I hooked up some fuel and shot it with ether and got it to run for a few seconds, it didn't spring to life but at least it has a heartbeat.

Now that's sloppy. Go through the pilots and replace the tee's.
Steve
www.diablocycle.com/Kawasaki-Z1-KZ-Carbu...Fuel-Hose-Joint.html

Thanks for the link, the tee that's in the vid is a vacuum fitting that goes between 1&2 and 3&4, I'm not even sure at this point if it for emissions or carb balancing, whatever it is, I've got it sealed up.

The PO told me that he "rebuilt" the carbs last spring with new diaphragms, o-rings and so on. I found 2 missing screws, a broken idle air screw, one idle air screw missing an o-ring, the goofy little plastic caps on the (mid?) jet were missing o-rings on 2 of the carbs, and a pinched diaphragm.

so there's that....

swest wrote: Now that's sloppy. Go through the pilots and replace the tee's.
Steve
www.diablocycle.com/Kawasaki-Z1-KZ-Carbu...Fuel-Hose-Joint.html

Yep...just ordered a pair of those this morning actually, for my older 26's. 40 years+ now and several bikes and the 1st time I ever needed to replace the inlet T's. ..............Mike

Vroom-vroom!

Hmmmm!...I'd say it's time it had an owner that gives a damm! Good luck with getting it back to respectable condition. .................Mike

Vroom-vroom!!!

MadShad wrote: Thanks for the link, the tee that's in the vid is a vacuum fitting that goes between 1&2 and 3&4, I'm not even sure at this point if it for emissions or carb balancing, whatever it is, I've got it sealed up.

The PO told me that he "rebuilt" the carbs last spring with new diaphragms, o-rings and so on. I found 2 missing screws, a broken idle air screw, one idle air screw missing an o-ring, the goofy little plastic caps on the (mid?) jet were missing o-rings on 2 of the carbs, and a pinched diaphragm.

so there's that....

Yup. Some people need their tinkering licenses revoked.

Oh boy!! what a crappy rebuild job...

After 2 days of messing with the carbs I installed them on the bike and fired it up, it ran but only on #2 and#3 cylinders.
Because it was dead on the outside set of cylinders and I've never heard this bike run before I assumed it was an ignition problem and spent the next few hours testing and swapping around coils, wires, plugs etc.
Long story short is that the pilot jets that I had just ultrasonic cleaned and inspected were plugged on the #1 and #4 cylinders, poked them out with a strand of wire and put them back on the bike, again.

I hope to tune it a little bit tomorrow, might even take it down the road to see how it goes.

Putting the air box on?
Steve

Any forward progress is good progress. Looking forward to seeing it on the road again.

By the way, I'm not sure if you've read it, or seen the video, but that fuel filter you have on the remote bottle has a tendency to stop flowing, even when clean. Definitely don't use it for a permanent filter, as that can sometimes cause a stall. And I wouldn't use it for syncing carbs or checking float levels as it can restrict the flow enough to alter the float level artificially or, in the case of syncing, can cause a bowl to empty.

You want to get a sintered brass element filter, or the see-through filters with fine metal screens. They don't filter as well, but they don't require pump pressure to keep flowing. The paper filters seem to seal up entirely after some time, as if the paper gets a layer of glue on it or something. It then takes pump-type pressure to get it to flow again... lots of headaches.