1983 kz550

i just bought the bike less than a month ago, for $1500. the bike is in perfect condition, ONLY 8800 miles ( i did not forget a zero), . i have since put another 700 miles on it.( i like to ride, i dont care if i dont have a low mileage collector bikes. nothing against collectors though. i am only sixteen and i love older bikes. like these. i decided to join because this is the ONLY info you can get on kz bikes. anyway just thought i would post to see what everybody thinks of the bike. the picture of it is my profile pic. if you have any dos and donts of a kz 550, please tell me. thanks for your interest.

Congratulations GC, I have been riding the exact same bike since I bought it almost 7 years ago with 12,000 miles and no problems whatsoever. You should get many years of great riding from it.

You may want to consider a manual cam chain tensioner from APE. That is the Achillies heel of the Kawasaki 4 cylinder's from that era. Ignition coils may give you some trouble down the road, but they are no big deal to fix. You may want to replace your break lines and rebuild the front forks, even if it is in good working order it's pushing 30 years old and it is a safety issue for a regular driver like you have.

These engines have been known to push a 100,000 on the odometer, you have a long way to go. Enjoy.

thanks for the interest guys. i will keep you updated as to what i upgrade or rebuild, etc. thanks again

Very nice! A low mile motor should last you many many years.

One major don't: don't install the valve cover without releasing the tension on the camchain tensioner. The valve cover is part of the camchain guide system. If the chain is tensioned, then the valve cover is installed, the chain will be way too tight. This damages guides, stretches the chain, and may damage the tensioner. This is what gives the automatic tensioners a bad name. In fact, it is mechanic error that causes the problems. There are warnings in the manuals about this, but I've talked to many mechanics (Kawasaki mechanics) that acted as if they've never heard of it.

Look in my signature for a downloadable manual.

I really like those KZ550's!