New guy with a kz550 gpz

I have an 82 gpz-550. well, the title says kz, but its badged as a gpz. I understand thats normal?

well, I used to ride it. last week it decided to shoot a rod through the front of the block. only 24k miles, not sure why it threw a rod. that kinda sucks, so now I'm on the hunt for a new motor. maybe I'll swap something a little more interesting into it. who knows.

I do love the bike, it was in kinda poor condition when I got it. still not that great, but I gave it some tlc and got it runnin real nice.

I took off the original fairing, flatbar and square headlight in favor of a single round from a kz-650 and clubman bars. I like the cafe racer look.

this pic was taken a couple weeks ago. I rode it to work and it decided to POUR down rain, so I took mercy on the old girl and brought her inside.


and heres some pics of the damage from when it threw a rod

That really stinks! Were you revving it pretty high?

What are you thinking about putting in it?

no I wasn't revving it. strangely. I'm usually pretty easy on this bike. I was cruising down the highway at 65 mph, which translates to about 5500-6000 rpm

OUCH!!!
Man, tough luck, and not that many miles on the bike.
Hope you have some luck finding another motor.

If that is a true GPZ and not a converted KZ then it is an 81. The 82 looked more like my 83's. With side panels stretching all the way back to the tail.
The letter after the CC number in the VIN will tell you. For example my 83 is KZ550H and I think the 81 would be KZ550D.
I believe the 81's are worth more since they are the first year and no other year looks similar.
Changing motors can be a real trick to get carbs and electrics to work. There is a guy on the GPZ550 site who put an 84 engine into an 82 frame. He ended up having to use the 84 carbs and coils.
Engines are not hard to get there was one on Ebay last week that I never saw get a single bid even with a $10 opening.

JohNLA wrote:

If that is a true GPZ and not a converted KZ then it is an 81. The 82 looked more like my 83's. With side panels stretching all the way back to the tail.
The letter after the CC number in the VIN will tell you. For example my 83 is KZ550H and I think the 81 would be KZ550D.
I believe the 81's are worth more since they are the first year and no other year looks similar.
Changing motors can be a real trick to get carbs and electrics to work. There is a guy on the GPZ550 site who put an 84 engine into an 82 frame. He ended up having to use the 84 carbs and coils.
Engines are not hard to get there was one on Ebay last week that I never saw get a single bid even with a $10 opening.

It definately is a 1981 (KZ550 D1). The tach cable going to the exhaust cam is a dead give away. Any engine from a 1980 to 1985 KZ, GPZ or ZX550 should fit your frame though as John has suggested, there are nuances.

Any KZ550 LTD chain drive is direct fit, reuse your carbs
Any KZ550A is a direct fit, though it doesn't have ports for the oil cooler. Use your carbs.
Any GPz550 is a direct fit. If you don't get a 1981 engine, your tach won't function unless you transfer the head off of your existing engine. Use your carbs

I'd love to know why it let go.

Sooooo, if you decide to go after another bike altogether, let me know I'd like first dibs on the cams and the gas tank:woohoo:

you guys are right. and rather sharp I might add. its an 81.

I couldn't find a motor that would be a direct swap. so I decided to use what I had, which is an 88 suzuki gsx600 motor kit. I'm not doing any permanent mods to the frame or chassis, so if a good deal on a correct motor would surface then I could swap it in.

I am parting the original motor though. I have the motor, header and wireing harness sitting in a box in my closet.

not sure how much this stuff is worth though. I'll post a classifieds add later.

here she is mid swap
for those of you who notice, that is not the correct headlight. I have the original rectangular headlight with the factory lawson style fairing sitting in my closet