advice on a KZ550

Ok, so I had a KZ1000P for a week before I sold it because it was making some nasty noise down low.

Now I found a sweet looking cafe'd 1983 (I think) KZ550 with 24,000 miles on it and I'd love to get it but I'm a little gun shy after my last experience. The bike seems to run well ,it has plenty of power, but the engine seems a little noisy. It doesn't have a whole lot of miles on it in my book, so I'm curious as to how noisy these engines are? Am I being too paranoid or is it normal for these engines to make some noise?

Other than that the bike seems to be in good condition. The tires need replaced from dry wrought, the starter doesn't work (I'm hoping it's something simple like a solenoid, if a solenoid is simple to replace on these?), and the front brake either needs bled very badly (the lever pulls the whole way to bars with absolutely no engagement) or a new master cylinder or caliper.

Can anyone tell me what I'm getting into? The asking price is $1,500. Can anyone give me an estimate as to how much more $ the bike would need given the description?

Thanks guys and gals!

I know nothing about the 550s, but just from keeping an eye on what's out there the asking price seems pretty high to me. Bikes are at a premium now, but per the description you've given I'd check around a little more before paying that much. Maybe a picture or two would help.

$1500 is the TOP price for ANY 550cc of that age.. If you average em out, 500's are running 1500 in good shape, 750 are running about 2000, and the bigger bikes go between 2500-3500.

1500 seems really high to me,Engines are a little loud as with any air cooled motor, probably a valve adjust, flush and rebleed the brake tires and a solenoid shouldnt be much, i really like my 550, road it to cali and back last year, good bike

I have 2 GPZ's from 1983. Which are basically the same as the KZ550.
Yes, the engines are bit ruff at start-up but once warmed up they are pretty quite.
For $1500 it should not need much work at all. Especially, two new tires and it should start. If it looks really good otherwise the offer $900. Just tell the guy it will take $600 to make it road worthy. Tires alone will be half that.
Then you have to figure out the starting problem and brakes.

I don't know what your market is like but in LA I see lots of old bike still for sale. So that may effect pricing.
This spring, I paid $2000 for a 3400 mile gpz550 that was perfect except for a small dent in the tank. Otherwise, the bike looked like it was a year old and not 25.

As for a complete overhaul cost. I don't really know. I know you can buy all the gaskets for about $130.
Hope, some of that helps.

If you're near Maine I'll sell you mine for about $800.

Thanks everyone, and thanks to the moderator for moving this post here.

$1,500 definitely seemed high to me also but a bike that runs in Arizona seems to bring atleast $1,000 regardless of condition. It baffles me but I'm relatively knew to AZ so maybe I don't have the right connections? I'll make him an offer of what the bike is worth to me and if he doesn't take it I won't be too broken hearted.

The $130 for the Gasket kit is a help. Anything about prices and or how hard it may be to find parts is a definite help.

Thanks again everyone, this is truly one of the best forums that I've run across. I've been on forums that 10 people chime in with their opinion with no real information. It's refreshing to find a site like this!

Arizona bikes are the shiat because nothing rusts there. New Mexico is almost as good except no one lives there;) Cali would probably be 3rd:P