1982 GPz 750 First Bike

Thanks Wayne. I'm looking into going to HID's. This weekend I am going to clean up the wiring, check contact connections, test the resistance on the coils, see how much juice I am getting at the end of connections, and make sure I'm not losing power through the old wiring.

Looking good, the 82 models are starting to grow on me. My 84 is waiting on the cylinders (off being deglazed). These old bikes are deffinately a love/hate relationship for me. Some days I just want it done already or sold for a running bike but I know the hard work is goin to be worth it.

GA Joe wrote: Jim, I'd definitely be interested but not sure I can make it as I don't get home until 7PM at the earliest on m-f. We'll see, right now I'm a weekend warrior.

No Problem we don't usually get started until 6:30 or so anyway.

Daeldren wrote: Looking good, the 82 models are starting to grow on me. My 84 is waiting on the cylinders (off being deglazed). These old bikes are deffinately a love/hate relationship for me. Some days I just want it done already or sold for a running bike but I know the hard work is goin to be worth it.

Oh man tell me about it. My old man went out and bought that '14 Star Bolt so I've got the joys of working on an old bike while my Pops just get's on his and goes. So far I've only missed one ride due to failures, but last night my Smog blockoff plates came in, I got a can of De-ox-it from Fry's, and my battery is on the trickle charger so this weekend I'm going to clean up the electrical and see how it goes.

I spent all of Friday night cleaning connections on the bike. I had a 2.5v drop from the battery to the coils. Cleaned that up and started to get spark, but found it was intermittent so I decided to just bite the bullet and order new coils. Got a set of Dyna's on the way with wires.

Saturday I pulled the carb's off and clean / checked them out. Turns out the floats were off by almost 4mm could have been causing the carbs to flood. Got them back together, cleaned up, and on the bike.

So I'm playing the waiting game (week or so) until my coils arrive. I will update when they get in.

Here's a few pics of the fusebox. There was no exhaust tube on the battery so I'm guessing that aided in the corrosion of metal in the fuse-box panel and battery holder.




And here is a view of the block-off plates.

Coils arrived today! Also just got my GPz750 emblems from Baldy110! Going to install my coils tonight, will hold off on the emblems until I get one more base coat and a few coats of clear on the side panels.

I got the coils installed, I had to modify the brackets to get the coils mounted in the stock location. In order to make them fit I took the stock mounting plate and hollowed out the inner part and directly mounted the coil recessed in, both coils have about 1/4" clearance from each other directly under the tank. I've got pictures on my Nikon I just have to get them off, but here's an idea of what I cut out on the plate using my handy band-saw.




I've got a few pics and a video that I'll have to upload as soon as I get them off the camera.

Cool project. Keep posting!

Those things were known for cold-bloodedness and slight carb hesitations - I recommend that you obtain a set of Canadian jet needles, and you'll see that the original needle lines up the second slot on the Canadian needle, and that if you move the clip to the middle position it'll help your low-end acceleration. If you can't find the needles, you can put a very small brass washer under the needles, and shim them up just a smidgeon and accomplish the same thing.

Here are some pictures I took Thursday night. Went ahead and popped an emblem on to see how it's going to look, I'm really happy, it's a clean look with just the emblem as homage to it being a classic Kawasaki!

The Dyna Wires came in friday night. I had to be patient and not drive out to work on the bike because it was also my Grandmother's 91st birthday. She's still a firecracker. Love her to death. Anyway...

Saturday morn I drove out to my Pops' house and replaced the wires... come to think of it, after I did that I don't think I took a single picture, was too damned excited to have a running bike!! I spent the entire day riding. I Took it by my mechanic, Charlie, so he could check her out. He took her for a spin and mentioned the front brakes were a little squishy and not nearly as touchy as he likes, he suggested rebuilding the calipers and new lines. So there's my next project...

Then came the enthusiasm... I've not seen him get this excited in ages... he said I need to do a swing-arm conversion and new forks. Then tossed me his really nice riding gloves since he sold his bike and has no use for them atm.
So, I've seen quite a few mods, What's the appeal of doing that though? I've read this neat article on bike suspension.
www.carbibles.com/suspension_bible_bikes.html
The only benefit I see is a reduction in suspension fade and since I’m not racing and in need to swap tires / wheels as fast as possible… I'm thinking for the summer I'm going to keep her as she is with no major changes to the general function of the bike.

Next on Joe’s Project GPz…

1. Rebuild Front Brakes
2. Replace Headlight
3. Finish the Paint
I should then be OKAY for the summer. On a side note, I lost my right passenger foot-peg and exhaust bracket at some point Saturday… It apparently vibrated loose??