KZ550 Project Update

I am making some progress on my cafe project. I have a box of parts that have been cutoff or removed that won't be going back on it. Decided to keep the center stand since it was lighter than the side stand and more practical?

Starting Point


Where I am at today!
Tabs removed, Rear set position set, under tail battery mount fabricated.

very cool. These bikes look so good cleaned up. Do you have any pics of the battery box? What are going to do on your wiring?

Here is a picture of the box. I plan on using a Shorai battery which is about 6lb lighter than a stock one. I plan on using some of the original wiring but I am getting rid of some of the stuff like the reserve lighting module. I am also getting rid of the gauges, replacing them with a TrailTech Vapor gauge. As much as possible the wiring will be hidden under the tank or routed through the frame to hid it.

Looking good so far! You should be well under 400 lbs when complete. The 550A models are 425 w/o fuel stock. The Kerker probably saves 15-20 lbs, the battery swap will save at least 6 and the gauges must be 5 or more also.
I have a Vapor on my supermoto, it works well. I ran the speed sensor off the rear wheel to avoid the fragile wire running down to the front wheel.

This thread reminds me that I've got to get back to my 550 project now that winter is over, and my garage temps are above freezing.

Thanks, I was surprised how much weight was saved by removing the gauges! at least 5lb and the vapor is around 6oz. The other surprise was the side stand which was a couple of pounds. My 2 goals are to lose as much weight and spend as little as possible.
BTW your build is looking good.

I like the project!

I did a similar one, but I eliminated the center stand. It's definitely heavier than the side stand. But I keep the center stand in the garage for working on the bike.

I eliminated the battery and starter too, but that means bumpstarts only.

Here it is... it was a super low budget project from parts I already had.
kzrider.com/index.php?option=com_kunena&...w&catid=11&id=221140

Mike's (Mjg) 550 is going to be killer, though. I think he had most of the parts already too.

I really like that bat box. On mine I will probably mount a scooter battery to the bottom of the seat pan.

Here is a picture of my side stand removed I had saw how the previous owner cut off your side stand and knew it could come off cleaner. I could weld it back on if I change my mind later. I also remove a bunch of metal from the center stand and I will probably remove the last bit sticking off the side since it I just as easy to lift it without it.

There isn't a whole lot of extraneous material on the 550 frame, they are pretty light in stock form.

What are you going to do for handlebars and a headlight?

What other plans do you have for mods/upgrades?

Suspension work? A good set of shocks, heavier rate fork springs, and a fork brace should tighten up the handling.

I like the stripped, lightweight idea like you and Lou have pursued. My 550 is mostly a styling exercise, my fork and front brake "upgrade" probably adds 10 lbs over the GPz front end (which is probably 10 lbs heavier than your KZ-A). The overall weight of my bike will be similar to a stock bike, as the light weight of the exhaust will be offset by the gain in the weight of the beefier front end. The ZR motor that I used also has lower compression pistons than a GPz.

The plan is to do the following:
Aluminum superbike style bars
A smaller headlight something like a 70's enduro style. The stock one weighs a ton!
Velocity stacks or pods?
Baja Designs DOT legal turn signals. Smaller lighter than the stock ones. Location TBD
TrailTech Vapor speedo/tach +5lb savings
Fab up the real rear sets.
Rewire electrical and get the Shorai lightweight battery
Braided steel brake lines and a bigger rotor up front. Might even do a different caliper.

At this point I want to get it on the road and sort out the suspension. My initial thoughts are race tech emulators and springs up front, progressive in the rear. I would do race tech rear but I need to win the lottery first. I also need to figure out the paint combo? It cannot be black or silver since my other 3 bikes are either color. Engine wise it runs good but as with every bike you can never have enough HP so who know what the future holds? I do wonder if a KZ750 would fit in the frame?

Sounds cool. One of my 550's came with a cool pair of aluminum superbike bars from Germany.

I dont think that the headlight housing/mounting is that heavy, it's mostly thin sheet metal, but you can probably save something.

When you do the forks you may consider shortening them internally about an inch or so. They have 7" of travel, the stock set-up has a lot of sag built in. When you change the springs the front will sit pretty high if you set them up with 30mm of sag. Stock they probably sag about 3". Any good rear shocks will make a huge difference over the stock ones.

Depending on how far back you want to move the pegs you may consider using the stock GPz peg mounts. That would move the pegs back about 2" or so from the KZ location.

The 750 motor is WAY bigger in every dimension. It's misleading because they look so similar.

The headlight will be better for the look I am going for and it will save some and a pound here and a pound there all adds up

Any engine mods will be after the suspension gets dialed in because the canyons I ride handling is much more important than HP.

Here are a couple of pics of where my pegs will end up. Used some scape metal to find a comfortable location.