84 GPZ550 SAVED

I went back to the salvage again today. It is chaotic in there. There's boxes upon boxes of parts. I was there about 2 hours going thoroughly through the boxes and finally got lucky. One box was marked 84 GPZ550. After digging I found a straight handle bar with a nice throttle. It also had a very good cable that is about 3 inches longer than mine. The peg mount was in there with a pair of really nice pegs on it. Got an nice fuse box assembly for my KZ and some misc. tidbits. Cost me $50. Got back and went to work on it. I decided to remove all the rear brake parts and flush the master cylinder, caliper, and lines. I noticed the brake pads were down to metal. DANG IT! I seen a bunch of GPZ calipers at the salvage. I think I'll go back Tuesday and get a used set. After finding those parts I am in a great mood. Hopefully next week I can take it around my block.

Stayed on it till 10:00PM. I removed all the front brake parts. I cleaned and flushed the master cylinder, flushed and blew out all the brake hoses. The rubber hoses are still pliable with no signs of cracks. I cannot believe the gunk that came out of that stuff. I completely disassembled the front calipers. Washed all those pieces in hot soapy water and blew them dry. I lubed the O-rings with petroleum jelley and used a fine scotchbrite on the pistons. Works really smooth now. I'm putting anti seize on every bolt I reinstall. Those two Phillips screws in the master cylinder lid were a bear to remove. I can say one thing about buying a cheap fixer upper bike, you sure get to know that bike after working on everything. I'm pretty sure I'll give it way more love than the previous owner did.

Wait to keep moving forward man! Don't you just love being sucked into a project?

Also check this link out regarding the Phillips head bolts, they may not be as they appear:
www.kzrider.com/forum/21-tools/532335-bu...l=component&type=raw

Tusch wrote: Wait to keep moving forward man! Don't you just love being sucked into a project?

Also check this link out regarding the Phillips head bolts, they may not be as they appear:
www.kzrider.com/forum/21-tools/532335-bu...l=component&type=raw

Absolutely! There are no Phillips head fasteners on a KZ. They are Japanese Industrial Standard (JIS), and using a Phillips screwdriver on them is a bad idea. See Tusch's link. Ed

Found a side cover on ebay. Mine was cracked in two places.

My generator cover was cracked and noticed my 80 KZ550 points cover and generator cover will bolt on. My aluminum GPz insert is in bad shape and the other one is missing. When I paint the engine, I'll paint these KZ covers but polish the fins. Nice and easy custom touch. The salvage I've been digging at has more KZ covers so I'll buy another set for the KZ. I changed my handlebar stems to these little taller and wider stretch ones. I don't know what they came off of but I like the feel now. My new rear sprocket finally came in today. Now the chain and sprockets are all brand new. I found an almost new set of Vesrah brake pads for the rear caliper at the salvage. They cost me $5. I also got a kickstand spring cause mine was stretched out and let the stand wobble.

I got alot done today. I resurfaced my rear disk, resurfaced the almost new rear brake pads, cleaned all the rear caliper lines and master cylinder. Got my new rear sprocket on, loosly mounted the rear wheel and bled the rear brake. I got nice new fluid coming out of the bleeder. Rear brake is now working. It was not before. Got my new correct length throttle cable on and adjusted. Lots of tedious things to do but its just about ready for a test ride. Got to finish cleaning my gas tank. I'm going to attempt to take apart the sending unit and clean the contacts. It was stuck. I ordered a new sending unit gasket and a petcock gasket kit. My front sprocket retainer is chewed up so back to Kawasaki dealer to see if its available.

Just took it around my block. Seems strong, no smoke, but old rotten tires are wobbly. Feels good to ride it. Has a bit more power than my 305 :woohoo:

Congrats on getting to ride, it's so satisfying to take it out for a spin after tearing it apart.

I bought some AM26 Avon Roadriders today. I'm afraid to drive it with the bald and cracked old ones. Got to figure out how to get the front wheel off and the bike stay upright. They won't be here till Thursday.

HAFROD wrote: I bought some AM26 Avon Roadriders today. I'm afraid to drive it with the bald and cracked old ones. Got to figure out how to get the front wheel off and the bike stay upright. They won't be here till Thursday.

Here's what I do to lift the front wheel off the ground to change the tire. In fact, as you can see it even works for removing the whole front fork, although obviously that's not necessary to remove the tire. I put the bike on the center stand; put a small bottle jack under front of engine with a block of wood between it and the engine to protect the fins, and jack it up slowly until the rear tire JUST BARELY kisses the ground. Just don't jack it up so high that you lever it off the center stand. Ed

I just left the vinyl sign shop. They made my new decal set for my 305 GPZ a few months ago. Got them started on the set for this 550. I'm stuck on what color to paint it. I'm not much on silver so that's out. My 305 will be back original red and kinda hate to have two identical in color. I was thinking about a medium red pearl and paint on the stripes to look stock. Decisions, decisions!