82 KZ550 into flattracker?

Hey guys,
New here, already been looking around the site and there looks to be a lot of good info here. I've got a 1982 KZ550 that runs pretty well right now. My neighbor introduced me to dirt flattrack and I'm trying to see if I can turn my bike into a flattracker. I'll have to strip everything off it, get a new swingarm(it came with an extended one from PO) and add a kickstarter, tires etc. Is it feasible at all to turn this bike into a flattracker? Im pretty damn handy with a wrench and will be doing most of the work myself(and friends).

Also, on a related note, I cant find any parts manuals/repairs manuals for this bike, do they even exist?

Thanks guys,

Zack

zchambers wrote: ...New here...1982 KZ550...cant find any parts manuals/repairs manuals for this bike, do they even exist?...Zack

Hello, Zack, and WELCOME to KZr!

Info and materials below are courtesy of KZr member loudhvx ---

General
home.comcast.net/~loudgpz/GPZweb/index.html#home

Service manuals
home.comcast.net/~loudgpz/GPZweb/Mnls/Mnls.html

home.comcast.net/~loudgpz/GPZweb/index.html#home

Good Fortune!

If it can be done on a Yamaha R1, it can surely be done on a KZ550! I say do it! You won't be the first person to cut up a motorcycle! :lol:

Slayer you got more info on that R1 ?

No reason you can't build a KZ550 flat tracker
street tracker style bike.
I've been lookin for a KZ750 twin to build a street tracker
for a run around bike.

zukdave wrote: Slayer you got more info on that R1 ?

Dave I was there when Wade was riding the R1. It was just a bone stock R1 with the bodywork removed and clip-ons replaced with proper handlebars.

Wade is an incredible rider who does things on a motorcycle that mortals just can't! He's also an "old guy" at least 50, has raced at the Isle of Man

and just has a real love for motorcycle racing. Just google Wade Boyd!

Here's yet another

I also came across this not too long ago :woohoo:





OK, so it's not a Kawasaki... but you get the idea!

A Z1 flat-tracker.



Good Fortune!

jump into the gpz550 forum, you'll find there all the manuals, etc.

for flat track tips, there's a great flat track forum full of people with hands on know how

my guess most will tell you to leave well alone and get a cheap running tracker to get into the sport

the last thing you need to start learning drifting is a heavy bike with unsorted frame and suspension

i started building a flat tracker round an MT500 rotax engined bike, and there so much to do even with a bike that is already more setup for this than yours

...hey, don't forget this little 130 HP 2 stroke wonder!





...if it can be built, it can be ridden!

Patton wrote: A Z1 flat-tracker.

Good Fortune!

...Patton! What are trying to do, start a WAR? :blink:

...Well, at least it's not an Eddie Lawson Special. :whistle:

...oh my, did I just say the "E" word? :S

... :laugh:

Would be cool.
If you can get a kickstarter rigged up, you can eliminate the battery as well... or you can bumpstart it, but that might be tough in the dirt. You could also lose the starter clutch, which will get some of the mass off of the secondary shaft.
No 550/500/400-four had a kickstarter. There are no provisions for it in the case, that I know of, so you'd be engineering all of that yourself.

loudhvx wrote: ... or you can bumpstart it, but that might be tough in the dirt.

...nah!

...The Jawa Speedway bike I use to race was a single cylinder with 15 to 1 compression and ran on methanol. It didn't even have a kick starter.You wouldn't want to kick start that bitch! You'd back it up in gear onto the compression stroke. Run with the clutch in for a couple of yards and pop the clutch as you jumped on the seat. BOOM, 500cc thumper comes alive on the dirt. Even with a twin, I don't think it would be too bad. Even easier with a pit buddy pushing as you jump on the seat.

...Those are some good ideas on trimming weight.