Driggs' 2nd 1981 GPz 550 D1

Picked this up on Craigslist, site unseen last weekend.. Felt like a bit of an adventure so it went down like this

-Bike has been sitting for over 5 years. Was told it ran.
-Buddy from CT rode his KTM 1190 adventure to north northern Michigan and met up with me after I flew to Detroit from Portland, OR and took a rental car north.
-Bike was in rough shape with lots of spiders and cobwebs, but did start up. Only running on two cylinders. Still ran great.
-Put air in the tires next morning, and rode it an hour south to the hotel room.
-Started to install my spare fairing and luggage racks I made up for my other 81 GPz550 D1.
-Left later that day running on three cylinders
-Got to a hotel way in the upper peninsula and rebuilt carbs in my hotel bathroom.
-Bike ran like a champ on 4 cylinders! Wahoo!
-Rode like a bastard to someplace in North Dakota and managed to find a proper rear tire in stock. Not much of any tread on existing tire and didnt want to chance any rain.
-Flew thru Montana, slept thru Washington and dipped home to Portland. We wanted to do more of a trip, but time got to us. And I really really screwed up and didnt even think about the fact that you only really get 125 miles out of one tank of fuel before you should stop. I did squeeze 166 miles out of a tank by necessity. Lots of drafting and praying.

So now I have two bikes. This one has some fantastic original pieces that my other one doesnt have so it will be good to go over them both and get them both up to as close to factory as possible spec.

Heres some pics. Including my doskcil cases which worked perfectly. I didnt even have them bolted to my frame. The aluminum u channel just slid over my unistrut and that was good enough. The strap you see going from the handles over the seat was there for added assurance, but it had no tension on it, and wasnt needed. Cant wait to make version two of my brackets and frame work!

3,000 miles on a craigslist bike purchase from an unknown seller on a bike that hasnt run in 5 years. My kinda week off work!













Iron bottoms.. Michigan to Portland in 4 days

Very nice, looks like most if not all of it is there. Re: carb rebuild? are you really Macgyver? LOL

So now I have two bikes. This one has some fantastic original pieces that my other one doesnt have so it will be good to go over them both and get them both up to as close to factory as possible spec.

Nice, I love the 81 GPz550's, my favourite kawasaki of the lot. I've had quite a few over the last quarter of a century...

Sometimes you need to find an original unmessed with example to realise all the little bits that go missing over the years. These days it is the little bits that are hardest to find.

The 81's have a nice bottom end grunt that is great for zipping around town, the later ones
are a blast to ride too but rather more 'cammy' .

Tyrell Corp wrote: So now I have two bikes. This one has some fantastic original pieces that my other one doesnt have so it will be good to go over them both and get them both up to as close to factory as possible spec.

Nice, I love the 81 GPz550's, my favourite kawasaki of the lot. I've had quite a few over the last quarter of a century...

Sometimes you need to find an original unmessed with example to realise all the little bits that go missing over the years. These days it is the little bits that are hardest to find.

The 81's have a nice bottom end grunt that is great for zipping around town, the later ones
are a blast to ride too but rather more 'cammy' .

Agreed! my first and other GPz was raced for a few years and had a lot of little pieces go missing..

This new one off the top of my head has some great things i didnt even know existed
-stickers on front forks
-front mc cylinder elbow banjo rubber boot cover
-complete battery box haha
-electrical area covers
-oil cooler trim pieces

It does need some work.. but all fairly minor
-front fork rebuild
-front wheel bearings
-front speedo drive
-valve cover gasket
-petcock rebuild
-airbox installation (i knew i bought two spare airboxes for a reason )
-rear suspension

But its extremely original. Minus kerker muffler, header and seat.

Funny too how every single bolt on my other GPz is drilled and wire locked. And this one, not a single one.. haha.

Space Truckin wrote: Very nice, looks like most if not all of it is there. Re: carb rebuild? are you really Macgyver? LOL

I really wish I didnt know how to remove the carbs, and completely gut them out in under 20 minutes.. but sadly I do!

I had one header barely putting out heat, and one completely cold upon running.. so a quick removal of top covers, bottom bowls, and all internals, then a scrub, soak, wipe down and all back together with new gaskets. I had both suspect carb jets almost completely clogged.. a toothbrush (after I brushed my teeth of course) and some compressed air and I was good to go).

Great find, looks like its not been ruined by previous owners. Whats the mileage on it?

chirpy999 wrote: Great find, looks like its not been ruined by previous owners. Whats the mileage on it?

Says 15,922 but the speedo drive doesnt work.. who knows really.. id say between 15 and 20

Gpz550's are fun little bikes!

Wow
Amazing road trip !!
Nice bike

Never underestimate the GPz550, the Moriwakis were getting 1000cc superbike F1 grid qualifying lap times. ..Amazing bikes, absolutely awesome.

I'd like to have three or four of me at once to have a roadrace and see what really is quickest, I think the 550 is as quick as the the 750, but the 750 handles sooo nice. The 1170 Lawson when finished will be insanely fast but heavy and longer wheelbase .

Maybe as I am getting older and even more boring, and the roads get more and more clogged up everyday sometimes it is nice to get the chance to rag something to the redline through a couple of gears without running out of road all the time

Brilliant, keep it coming !


I

Tyrell Corp wrote: Never underestimate the GPz550, the Moriwakis were getting 1000cc superbike F1 grid qualifying lap times. ..Amazing bikes, absolutely awesome.

I'd like to have three or four of me at once to have a roadrace and see what really is quickest, I think the 550 is as quick as the the 750, but the 750 handles sooo nice. The 1170 Lawson when finished will be insanely fast but heavy and longer wheelbase .

Maybe as I am getting older and even more boring, and the roads get more and more clogged up everyday sometimes it is nice to get the chance to rag something to the redline through a couple of gears without running out of road all the time

Brilliant, keep it coming !


I

Its going to be real tough not to modify one of these...

My other one has been in and out of my possession a lot over the last 15 years.. im keeping it forever now.. this new one is so original and complete...

I may have to take my old one and start tricking it out, as it already has been modified a lot over the years..

Bullocks...

I rebuilt my petcock assem with the kit I got from z1.. didnt see anything odd with the existing stuff, but new gaskets and rings cant hurt..

Well i am still leaking.. If I let it sit, it will eventually overflow the carbs.. without the fuel line attached occasionally it burps out some fuel then seems to seal back up..

Seems to also do it weather im on reserve or "on"...

Anyone have any ideas?