1983 GPz550 Ressurection

Some may have read the story in other posts ... a guy across the alley had this old bike sstanding under a tree in his yard for more than a year, uncovered and getting rained and snowed on. One day I strolled over and, long story short, got the bike for $50.

Turns out it's a 1983 Kawasaki GPz550!

It was in pretty bad shape. The muffler was rusted clean through, it had been painted very skilfully with a brush and black housepaint and named "the raider" ... oh boy. So I wheeled the now nameless bike (what, you thought I would keep that amazing name?) home ... not easy with half-seized brakes and two flat tires and have been steadily working on it ever since.

The previous owner claims it ran fine when he parked it back there, but I'm not so sure (I'd never seen it run and it was swimming in a pool of oil when I took ownership). On the good side, it looks like it's been dropped, but never crashed. There's some damage to the front cowl, including the support brackets, minor scrapes the the one engine guard, but no big gouges and the engine's fins are all good.

Somewhere long the line the centerstand was removed (why oh why?), the exhaust was changed to a 4-to-1 (although this may have been stock on this model, anyone know?), the rear fender was butchered off and what looks like a car taillight installed in the back fairing (with a grade 8 shop class quality welding job to make the bracket).

Still, beneath the fairing, cobwebs and vines (seriously!) the electrics and internals look good. Not much rust on the frame or in the gas tank surprisingly and what appear to be all stock engine parts (air filters, spark plugs, etc.) ... so hopefully it's never been raced.

Some photo's of the bike "as is" are attached.

I'll keep updating with the work as I go along, with the plan being to strip the whole thing down to the frame, take the engine apart and do a full inspection of it, then re-assemble the bike again ... although not sure what style to go for ... maybe a bug-eye street fighter, black frame and engine, Kawasaki green fairing.

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Known issues
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Not seized, but probably not running ... not a gambling man
Some curious wiring changes that need to be checked out
Damaged fairing, including a painted windshield
Decayed brake lines
Decayed fuel lines
Loose pipes around the engine (vacuum lines to petcock?)
Leaking front shocks
Rusted to uselessness muffler
Missing centerstand
Non-standard side-stand (no little tab to trigger the sidestand switch)
Petcock seals are shot
HUGE oil leak from somewhere
Clutch is jammed
... and a bunch more

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Currently working on
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Electrics. Wiring harness removed, busy cleaning off 28yrs of dirt and grime and polishing up connections.

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In progress
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-Fairing work. Removed all fairing. Sanded down side panels. Removed paint from and polished windshield. Fixed windshield (corner pieces were broken off ... will post method soon). On hold until I decide on a style.
- Gas tank work. Removed tank and began stripping paint. Lots of bondo to cover minor dents. Fuel sensor seems functional (tested with multimeter measuring resistance at different positions). Petcock cleaned but needs new seals. Almost all sanded down, then will be on hold until needed for painting or engine testing.
- Instrument panel. Removed, cleaned, dead spiders cleared out, face plate polished. Speedo and tach look good, cleaned and lubed (with Nu-Trol, not WD40 ... thanks MFolks!). Going to replace lights with LEDs ... awaiting order of test lights from the US. Inside plastic section is cracked and broken, so that will need some repair.


Wow, long post!

Any thoughts, ideas, comments, suggestions, criticism, etc. is more than welcome

Some websites to look at:

www.bikescreen.com/
www.airtech-streamlining.com/kawiz/GPZ7501980-82.htm (Perhaps the GPz750 fairing would fit your new bike if you decide the original one is too far gone)

And:

Cleaning Motorcycle Electrics

Get some of the De-Oxit electrical contact cleaner and figure on spending a good day going from the front of the bike to the back. It’s a plastic safe cleaner/preservative. www.deoxit.com is their website.

On the older Kawasaki's, a majority of electrical connectors are inside the headlight housing requiring removal of the headlight, then the fun begins.

Do one set of electrical connectors at a time to avoid mixing up what connects to where. Usually disconnecting, spraying with De-Oxit and reconnecting is about all you'll need.

However, when encountering the green crud of corrosion, a brass wire brush may be needed on the pins you can reach.
Some 400-600 grit wet and dry sandpaper strips rolled into a tube should reach the male and female pins in the more difficult to clean connectors.

Smoker’s pipe cleaners, cotton swabs and wooden toothpicks work as cleaning aids.

Really small electrical connectors may require the use of a welders tip cleaning tool assortment.

Most pins in the connectors are coated with a thin plating of tin, and others may be nothing more than copper or brass.

If moisture is added, the resulting corrosion lowers the voltage/current being carried causing dim lights, slow engine cranking, slow turn signal responce and lower input voltage to the ignition coils resulting in weak spark.

The left and right handlebar switch pods will need attention too as they have circuit functions like turn, horn, run/stop, and start.

Usually a spritz or two with actuation of the switch is about all needed for these switches unless corrosion is detected and then careful disassembly is required.

The ignition switch may or may be not sealed to allow spraying the internal contacts. I urge caution if attempting to open this up as springs, and ball bearings may fly out never to be seen again!

If your bike has the older style glass tubed fuses, I suggest replacing them as vibration can cause internal failure. AGX is the type used, and most auto parts stores can get them for you.

Clean the fuse holder clips, looking for signs of overheating(discolored insulation, signs of melting).
I use metal polish on a cotton swab, followed by spraying another clean swab with the De-Oxit and then rubbing the inside of the fuse clip.

Each "Bullet Connector" will have to be sprayed to ensure good connectivity, especially the ones going to the energizing coil of the starter solenoid.

The alternator output “Bullet Connectors” are usually behind the engine sprocket cover and will need inspecting and cleaning too.

The turn signal light sockets will benefit from a spritz from the contact cleaner along with the tail light/brake light socket.

Some brake light switches can be sprayed on the actuating rod, with the spray running down inside to the electrical contacts, others may be sealed requiring replacement if the switch is intermittent in operation.

Some people put the Di-Electric Grease on cleaned terminations/connectors, I don’t, as I’ve read/heard it can cause problems when it gets hot, actually insulating the connections, so the choice is yours to use or not.

I think I've covered about all of the electrical systems on the bike.........

Electrical Connectors, Wire, And supplies
www.easternbeaver.com
www.vintageconnections.com
www.z1enterprises.com/catalog.aspx?pid=KPEL1
www.vehicle-wiring-products.eu
www.electricalconnection.com
www.electricalconnection.com/electrical-components/hitachi.htm
www.pbase.com/mainecruising/wire_termination&page=1
www.crowbarelectricalparts.com/butt_connectors.htm
www.ratwell.com/technical/Terminals.html
www.economycycle.com/servlet/the-Bullet-...lectrical/Categories
www.surplussales.com/SolderlessTerminals/WireTerminals-3.html
www.findtape.com/shop/product.aspx?id=32...&width=1436&height=0


Before trying to start the engine,pull the sparkplugs, and squirt in each cylinder either some Marvel Mystery oil or PB Blaster to free up the piston rings.