82' GPz550 Project (please help)

Hey everyone, just got a 82' GPz550 that needs lots of love. I'll use this as a 'pls help' and build thread if anyone's interested in helping me or following the progress.

Physical:

• [strike]remove cruiser pedals[/strike]
• New front headlight (no idea where or what to get)
• New tires/wheels?
• Cut frame for saddle (angle grinder and tig welder?)
• Clubman bars
-New grips
-New levers

• Frame
-Sand down
-Prime
-Paint black

• Tank
-Sand
-Prime
-decide on color scheme/design
-paint

Mechanical:

New levers/grips means clutch or brake adjustment?

Clutch adjustment (previous owner said it comes loose sometimes when riding... very worrisome)

Oil Change (401 filter)

Front Shocks are 'soft'; possibly need to be rebuilt or was this intentional?

Electrical:

[strike]new battery[/strike]

Tacho jumps with left turn signal (alternator problem? fuse? burnt board?)

Left turn signal doesn't blink (pre-new battery must check)

Tacho backlight doesn't work/isn't plugged in?

Fuel sensor doesn't work (need to check float/float sensor?)

Get new brake lights

List of suggestions...

Get bike running 100% before performing mods.

- full carb teardown, soak parts in carb dip, reassemble with all new O-rings and gaskets
- Valve adjustment
- Brake calipers and master cylinders tear down and clean out. New seals and brake lines. Replace pads as needed.
- New wheel bearings and tires
- New/clean air filter
- New cables
- Change the oil and filter
- New chain (if needed)
- Change fork oil

That will keep you busy for a while...

Apart from the awful rattle can paint and the missing front fairing it looks quite original. Note the rear tyre wear and footpeg rubbers

Personally I hate seeing these seat rail chops, if you must then this model isn't the best candidate. Bearing mind the early unitrack rear suspension is quite bulky hence the repositioned battery, on previous twin shock models this was located under the seat, and longer wheelbase.

Does it run? have you ridden it?

Yeah, i'm actually in the process of stripping down the tank right now and the front fender is next. I've noted the rear tire wear and the footpeg rubbers as well. I don't care much for the footpegs being worn at the moment.

Yes it runs perfectly. Idle is good, the carbs were rejetted when the previous owner put on the airpods.
I have ridden it and heres my problems with it:
-as stated in OP, the tacho jumps with the left turn signal for some reason. I dont know what the problem is and I am no electrician
-front shocks definitely need to be rebuilt as it feels very soft and this year does not have anti-dive
-rear tire needs replacement but it still does have enough grip for casual, hot, dry, paved road. I won't be kicking this bike down the line anyways
-the previous owner has told me that it overheats if im pushing it in 90degree+ weather
-previous owner also told me that sometimes when riding he said the clutch at the lever comes loose and needs to be tightened if it rattles out (i will be replacing the levers and the clutch cable)

I've noted the rear tire wear and the footpeg rubbers as well.

What I meant was the rear tyre has no side wall wear, my rear tyres are scrubbed to about 10mm of the shoulders either side , and that is just safe road riding. Likewise when these go down the road on their sides the footpeg rubbers get mangled.

as stated in OP, the tacho jumps with the left turn signal for some reason. I dont know what the problem is and I am no electrician

Check /clean up your ground points - yellow/black -ve wires. Odd things can happen when only half of the circuit iis working properly.


-front shocks definitely need to be rebuilt as it feels very soft and this year does not have anti-dive

Yes, also they are air assisted -whether you chose to use it or not.

-rear tire needs replacement but it still does have enough grip for casual, hot, dry, paved road. I won't be kicking this bike down the line anyways

Old rubber gets hard and loses it's stickiness, if perished or damaged then dump them asap
.

-the previous owner has told me that it overheats if im pushing it in 90degree+ weather

Maybe needs to go a touch richer on main jet, maybe lift the needle a notch and do a plug chop.

-previous owner also told me that sometimes when riding he said the clutch at the lever comes loose and needs to be tightened if it rattles out (i will be replacing the levers and the clutch cable)

Some models have an interlock where it won't start unless the clutch is pulled in - easy to disconnect though. Clutch adjustment is a tricky, research it here first.

I agree. Get it to run in it's current state, before modifying it.

Do you have a manual for this bike? I have links to the Factory Manuals in my signature, and Lou has a great site full of information:
gpzweb.s3-website-us-east-1.amazonaws.com/index.html

GPzNoob wrote: .......................
-front shocks definitely need to be rebuilt as it feels very soft and this year does not have anti-dive

There's nothing in the forks to rebuild. The odds are that previous owners neglected to change the fork oil on a regular basis, and that can result in poor fork performance. Here's what I recommend -

- Use fresh fork oil to thoroughly flush out all the old fork oil and any residue that may be in the forks.
- Fill the forks to the correct level (using the instructions and specs in the Kawasaki Service Manual ) with fresh fork oil.
- Adjust the air pressure as the manual specifies, but do no pump the pressure up above the spec or you risk blowing the seals.

I use Bel Ray 15 w fork oil and it works great for me. If you find the forks to be too soft or too stiff you can adjust the Bel Ray fork oil weight by trying different weights or mixing to you find the sweet spot for you. Bel Ray makes fork oil in weights varying from 2.5w to 30w (see link below), so you will definitely be able to find one that works best for you. Ed

www.belray.com/bel-ray-high-performance-fork-oil

The fork seals could also be worn out. As long as you have them apart to clean out all the grunge, it would be, in my opinion, foolish not to replace the seals.

TexasKZ wrote: The fork seals could also be worn out. As long as you have them apart to clean out all the grunge, it would be, in my opinion, foolish not to replace the seals.

I certainly agree; if you decide to disassemble the forks replace the seals. If purging the old fork oil and replenishing it solves the problem and, more importantly, if the seals are not leaking they probably are ok. Ed

There's nothing in the forks to rebuild

The top and bottom bushes can wear, also the fork leg body which gives a clunky feel under braking. Wear here will be easy to see.

The top bush is replaceable, but how high would the mileage be before it was worn? I had my forks apart at 46,000 miles for cosmetic reasons and the internals all still looked like new. With more than 60,000 miles my front forks still work as they did when new. I would think the bike would have far more than 100,000 miles before things began to wear out inside the forks. Maybe RonKZ650 could shed some light on the subject. One of his bikes has more than 165,000 miles and I do not think he has ever replaced parts inside the forks; only the seals. Ed

Inspect the fork tube chrome where the seals ride up and down. Make sure thee is no pitting, or the new seals will leak. How many miles are on this bike?