New owner of a GPz1100

I joined this site a month or so ago to find out about some Morawaki pistons I had, and; well, the KZ bug must have rubbed off some on me... Today, I found an 82 GPz1100 with 20K miles on it. Unfortunately, there's quite a bit of cleaning up to do, but I am only missing two things to complete the bike. Side covers and an exhaust. I have the 4-1 header, so I just need the canister.

I have no idea how the FI functions, so expect me to asking a lot of questions when I get to that point. In the meantime, anyone that can help me learn what models & years share parts, please help me out. I'll be drawing only on my experience with the Sukuki GS bikes and will have a lot to learn about the GPz.


No pics yet, but I'll be bringing her to her new home on Monday.

1] Paint is not near 80%.. It will require a repaint & new graphics to bring it to my standards . Clear coat is lifting on the tail & all graphics show cracking and discoloration . There are no dent's, cuts scrapes on the bodywork or the tank though. Rust free tank.

2] Many parts come along with it. New battery 2 months old, extra pair front calipers, complete Vesrah gasket kit, new tires, brake pads, fork seals & other misc extras. A nice quality brand unknown header has been bead blasted and painted black to go on the bike.

3] The bike is, well, in boxes. .. NOTHING is missing except what I listed above, so I've pretty much got plenty of cleaning up to do & I'll go ahead and rebuild everything as I go.

The full story is this bike belongs to a friend of my buddy (a bike mechanic) here in Charlotte. The original owner stopped riding the bike 16 years ago because his fiancee was afraid of bikes. It's been stored indoors since then. Sometime, 5 or 6 years ago, he decided to pull the top end and put it back on the road. Well that never got done & the owner ends up moving to a townhouse with no garage, so the bike gets sent to some other friends garage until now.

Friends only keep your stuff for so long before they want their whole garage back, so the original owner spends $600 planning to make it roadworthy for a second time before he figures out he has neither the means, ability, or location to put the bike back together, and now just wants to get rid of it.

That's where I come in and offer to relieve him of his ownership duties of one said 1982 Kawasaki GPz1100 that needs paint and put back together for a measly $400 bucks.

Worst case is I have to part it out, but my intention is to restore it to factory spec. If the FI is not functional now, I will either have to look at an after market unit, or go with carbs, but I'd prefer to use the OE.

So, do I have a good deal for $400?

Here's pics of the 77 GS750 I rebuilt last winter.
www.bikepics.com/members/dardoonk/77gs750/

I have an 82 GPZ1100 B2 model myself. A factory shop manual is available at www.repairmanual.com I have not looked at www.onlinefreebooks.net or www.carlsalter.com/motorcycle-manuals.asp I suppose a used manual is available through E-bay.

I have a large listing of Kawasaki related websites, so if you need some let me know.

dardoonk wrote:

I joined this site a month or so ago to find out about some Morawaki pistons I had, and; well, the KZ bug must have rubbed off some on me... Today, I found an 82 GPz1100 with 20K miles on it. Unfortunately, there's quite a bit of cleaning up to do, but I am only missing two things to complete the bike. Side covers and an exhaust. I have the 4-1 header, so I just need the canister.

I have no idea how the FI functions, so expect me to asking a lot of questions when I get to that point. In the meantime, anyone that can help me learn what models & years share parts, please help me out. I'll be drawing only on my experience with the Sukuki GS bikes and will have a lot to learn about the GPz.


No pics yet, but I'll be bringing her to her new home on Monday.

1] Paint is not near 80%.. It will require a repaint & new graphics to bring it to my standards . Clear coat is lifting on the tail & all graphics show cracking and discoloration . There are no dent's, cuts scrapes on the bodywork or the tank though. Rust free tank.

2] Many parts come along with it. New battery 2 months old, extra pair front calipers, complete Vesrah gasket kit, new tires, brake pads, fork seals & other misc extras. A nice quality brand unknown header has been bead blasted and painted black to go on the bike.

3] The bike is, well, in boxes. .. NOTHING is missing except what I listed above, so I've pretty much got plenty of cleaning up to do & I'll go ahead and rebuild everything as I go.

The full story is this bike belongs to a friend of my buddy (a bike mechanic) here in Charlotte. The original owner stopped riding the bike 16 years ago because his fiancee was afraid of bikes. It's been stored indoors since then. Sometime, 5 or 6 years ago, he decided to pull the top end and put it back on the road. Well that never got done & the owner ends up moving to a townhouse with no garage, so the bike gets sent to some other friends garage until now.

Friends only keep your stuff for so long before they want their whole garage back, so the original owner spends $600 planning to make it roadworthy for a second time before he figures out he has neither the means, ability, or location to put the bike back together, and now just wants to get rid of it.

That's where I come in and offer to relieve him of his ownership duties of one said 1982 Kawasaki GPz1100 that needs paint and put back together for a measly $400 bucks.

Worst case is I have to part it out, but my intention is to restore it to factory spec. If the FI is not functional now, I will either have to look at an after market unit, or go with carbs, but I'd prefer to use the OE.

So, do I have a good deal for $400?

Here's pics of the 77 GS750 I rebuilt last winter.
www.bikepics.com/members/dardoonk/77gs750/

love that suzuki...nice bike....good luck with your gpz....my next project is gonna be a gs1000 or gs 1100....i m having trouble deciding on where my dedication lies...kawi or suzuki.?...yamaha/ honda, never did a thing for me ...again good luck!!

no you got a bad deal and i feel sorry for you...so i'll give you 500.00 to "help a guy out" for it...
welcome aboard these guys will help you with anything...
i had one(81 gpz 1100) with fuel injection once and i had to keep a wire brush,fresh plugs and a plug wrench with a swivel socket combo in my backpack if i wanted to ride more than a mile or two(farther than i could walk home)..... but... it was cool cuase when it started acting up at night it would shoot three foot flames out of the header...according to fellow riders behind me...it flat out hualed ....when it was running good...peace

Yep, your deal is OK (not Sterling, but not bad either)...remember, you can pick up a running, fully assembled GPz1100 for US$2000 or so (although cherry lo-mileage examples can go for as much as US$6000)...and welcome to 'GPz1100 world'...probably my all-time favorite bike. I currently also have a KZ1100B2 which is disassembled (my doing, as I'm fiddling with the FI and cleaning up the top end)...but I am old enough to have purchased a new 1982 GPz1100 and I remember just how cool that scooter was:)

As for reassembling the B2, shouldn't be a problem and if your pile of parts didn't come with a genuine Kawasaki Heavy Industries shop manual...get one...no more than US$30.00 (delivered-from eBay).

The FI is an interesting situation...the reputations of the world's first large-scale production FI motorcycle (the 1980 KZ1000G1/H1 and the 1981 KZ1100B1 (AKA GPz)) were terrible. There were lots of FI issues and many bikes were swapped to carbs. In 1982, Kawasaki changed the design and put the injectors on the throttle bodies (moving them from the heads) and this apparently solved some of the issues. BUT, because of the 'bad reputation' lots owners also went to carbs on the 1982 model (and also 1983/4 GPz's--which have similar motors). Consequently, there are some FI systems bumping around ebay that are fairly inexpensive...for example, last week I picked up a complete 1982 FI system (injectors, TB's, fuel pump, harness, and computer) for US$67.00 from a running bike. What it will take is eBay patience. As for the paint...there are a number of reds out there that are a pretty close match to the original Kawasaki color and several places offer the stripes as decal kits. The pipes are another matter. Currently I'm running a set of black Kerker's and, like you, am in the market for a set of stock exhausts...I have seen several sets of 1981 GPz1100 exhaust systems, but 1982 sets are really uncommon...rare enough that I'd couldn't estimate what a very clean set might go for. The problem was the finish on the pipes (black chrome) and it didn't hold up well (remember...the 1981 will fit but the finish is different)...feel free to PM me if you have questions (which doesn't guarantee I'll have answers:laugh: )