84 GPZ550 SAVED

Had my propane dual burner on high last night in the garage. I got the ebay carbs torn apart and all stock jetting and needles put back in. Got them back on the bike. Put in new plugs, wires, and boots. Throttle cable was sticky so I lubed it. Its snappy now. I've got to go get some vacuum plugs for the petcock feeds. Going with a manual petcock. Going to try to start it today. I need to rig up something for fuel cause the tank is not completely cleaned.

Nice score! You're on the right track!

Keep up the good work.

Woo Hoo, It fired off after about 15-20 seconds of cranking. It went to 5000 RPM. I think the throttle cable is not for this bike. With all the adjustment in the throttle taken out or in I guess, it still has tension on the throttle blades. I removed the eyelet from the throttle and it idled low and fine. I reached in and pulled the blade cam and it revved up quick. It's real snappy. I let it idle about 3-4 minutes and shut it off. I don't have a fan to stick in front of it. About the only thing I noticed was an exhaust leak on the crossover pipe. No knocks and no smoking. I guess its time for ALOT of money now for paint, seat cover, brake hoses, chain, sprockets, tires, licensing, blah, blah, blah. It will take a few months but its the only way I could afford one.

HAFROD wrote: Woo Hoo, It fired off after about 15-20 seconds of cranking. It went to 5000 RPM. I think the throttle cable is not for this bike. With all the adjustment in the throttle taken out or in I guess, it still has tension on the throttle blades. I removed the eyelet from the throttle and it idled low and fine. I reached in and pulled the blade cam and it revved up quick. It's real snappy. I let it idle about 3-4 minutes and shut it off. I don't have a fan to stick in front of it. About the only thing I noticed was an exhaust leak on the crossover pipe. No knocks and no smoking. I guess its time for ALOT of money now for paint, seat cover, brake hoses, chain, sprockets, tires, licensing, blah, blah, blah. It will take a few months but its the only way I could afford one.

That's always a great day when you hear your baby run for the first time! Congrats!!

My simple advise would be to spend the time/money on the basics like a thorough carb cleaning, proper cables, tires, etc, etc. Get it running right, from idle to red line.

Enjoy the process and take all the time you need!

The clutch was not working. I took off the clutch cover and took out the fibers and plates. They were dried out and very stuck together. I scotchbrited the plates and put oil on the fibers. I put it all back together and its working nicely. Whew! I thought the trans was fried at first.

Just got back from my local motorcycle salvage. I dug threw boxes and boxes of parts. Did not find the jewel. Need a right hand peg mount. Mines broke where the brake lever goes through it. I'm not sure what all interchanges on it I bought a brand new clutch cable, replacement chain and front sprocket. They had to order the rear sprocket. Little by little

You can find parts diagrams under owner info at kawasaki.com. Find your peg mount. Click on the part number. This should open a little popup window. Look for a little yellow question mark next to the part number. Click that and you'll get a full list of every bike that uses the same part. Then visit ebay.com. Repeat until you've replaced all your parts or run out of money.

Kawasaki makes it hard to find that info the first time but it's pretty easy when you know where to look. . I'm really thrilled that they make it available at all.

Take a pic of what your needing, I've got an '83 GPz 550 of my own and an '82 GPz for parts, the part may be the same for the earlier years. I'd be happy to help out if you need it or anything else I might have.

Tusch, I just posted in the wanted section with a part number. The number is ZX400A-R. Its on the rear of the bracket just behind the rear peg.

Well darn, that part is definitely different in the model update in '84. I can't help you there but if there is anything else feel free to ask, maybe you'll get lucky and the next needed part is a crossover.

I craigslisted some car parts and got me a quick $100. I ran back to the salvage cause they had a perfect seat for $75. My original seat is dried out and some foam is missing. That salvage will be my new home for future parts runs.