Newbie in the mountains

Hey All,

I'm not completely new to the world of KZ's, my first intro to the bikes was a free '80 KZ250, which I failed to restore to a fuel efficient cruiser as I found the engine beyond repair. Now, I'm pretty close to picking up a '80 KZ550 for $500, but I thought I'd get some feedback first. I haven't seen much input on the 80s' KZs, which I assume has to do with the degradation of most bikes longevity around that time, but I figured I'd ask anyway. I was mostly wondering about part interchangeability, I have that junker KZ250 and I know a guy with a bike graveyard that has some other KZ parts from various years. Will those parts end up being helpful if I get into rebuilding this 550 or should I bide my time for another model?

steve the pirate wrote: Hey All,

I'm not completely new to the world of KZ's, my first intro to the bikes was a free '80 KZ250, which I failed to restore to a fuel efficient cruiser as I found the engine beyond repair. Now, I'm pretty close to picking up a '80 KZ550 for $500, but I thought I'd get some feedback first. I haven't seen much input on the 80s' KZs, which I assume has to do with the degradation of most bikes longevity around that time, but I figured I'd ask anyway. I was mostly wondering about part interchangeability, I have that junker KZ250 and I know a guy with a bike graveyard that has some other KZ parts from various years. Will those parts end up being helpful if I get into rebuilding this 550 or should I bide my time for another model?

Hello, steve, and WELCOME to KZr!

Lots of good info on kawasaki.com, including parts diagrams, part numbers, models sharing same part, availability, etc.

Here's a link for help with navigating the site and finding information.

kzrider.com/index.php?option=com_kunena&...w&catid=13&id=376734

Good Fortune!

There is a lot of talk about 70's and 80's KZ twins at

www.armbell.com/kz400/index.php?mforum=kz400

In fact its pretty much nothing else.

This forum is made up almost entirely of riders with 1970s and 1980s KZ motorcycles. In fact, there are several 550 owners around here who can help you quite a bit. Try the search engine and see what comes up. I'm not sure what sort of feedback you had in mind, but the old KZs are still quite popular and some have become collectible.
I suspect that not many parts interchange between the 250 and 550. Probably switchgear and some random small stuff may, but I bet very little in the way of engine, suspension and body work will. Like Patton said, the Kawasaki website can tell you which models any particular part fits.