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Hi all. Just bought a 1980 kz550 Ltd off of my friend. Never ridden or owned a bike, but I can't wait to learn. The bike isn't running right now, my friend thinks he fried the igniter in some kind of jump starting incident, lol. But it ran great when I saw it before the mishap...he was just gonna junk it cause he doesn't like working on mechanical stuff and his dad wanted it out of the driveway, so I took it off of his hands for $50, with the repair manual and a helmet! One of my other friends is good at fixing up bikes so it should be roadworthy by spring!
I'm sure i'll be on here freakin out on you guys when I'm buried in the wiring of this thing!!!

Oh yeah, I also wanted to throw out some questions I'm already thinkin about. I think the 550 should be a good bike to start on from talking with others. The one thing thats gonna be an issue I think, is that I'm really tall, about 6'6". I haven't sat on many bikes, and I don't want to start on anything bigger, but from what I've read it seems i'm gonna be pretty big for this bike (height only...im pretty skinny so weight isn't an issue, actually might be kind of light for a big bike.)

welcome to z jungle!goodluck,happy wrenching!

Welcome to KZR ohiogrown.

You might want to put on some forward footpegs/highway pegs to let your legs stretch out when your crusing.
Have fun and ride safely.

Thanks for the tip, because when I sit on the bike it seems like it will get uncomfortable pretty quick.

Well, I got an igniter off of ebay, slapped it on, put in a fresh battery...and she's alive!!!

Friend who is lazy and doesn't want to deal with working on his bike : $50

Battery: $40

used igniter: $20

$110 1980 KZ550 ltd w/ 6000 miles on it...priceless!!!


I still have to clean it up, get some new tires, and a couple other random little things, but its basically ready to go.

Post edited by: ohiogrown, at: 2006/05/12 22:42

Sounds like you got a great deal! I'll give you $100 for it now You'd be $10 ahead, don't turn it down!

BTW, what part of OH are you from? Still living there?
Just wondering in case I have to come pick up that bike

lol i'll think about it.. i forgot to add in the igniter so it'd be $120 for me to make a clean $10
I'm from the Akron area, south of cleveland

Post edited by: ohiogrown, at: 2006/05/12 22:45

Ah, the home of King James.

OK, I'll go as high as $170 so you'll have an extra $50 to go buy another bike I'm actually in Painesville, about 30 miles east of Cleveland. Akron is only about an hour away. I'll get the trailer hooked up...

It's been cold and rainy here the last couple of days but I had a nice ride on Wed evening. That's awesome that you were able to get it going for so cheap. I hear about these deals on KZR all of the time but never seem to find one for myself Glad you got it going.

Welcome ohiogrown, good deal on the bike and since no one else has asked yet, Post some pics of the bike !!!

I had a 550LTD and just sold it. There is a tear in my eye cause it was such a sweet bike. I am also a big man and not skinny. The 550 was a little small but put some highway peg on her and think of the high gas prices and I think she'll steal your heart. The only reason I sold mine was I ran out of room. Besides who really cares what you look like on a bike. The important image is in your head. Do I hear Steppenwolf? (showing my age again)

Welcome to the forum - great bike choice - the're fun to ride and very reliable. I'm 6' tall and 200 lbs. My 1000 isn't much bigger and rides about the same. It always amazes me what low mileage some of these bikes have. Be sure to post a pic in the gallery as the 550 section is falling behind in numbers:)