1981 KZ550 A2

Greetings Again.
Never told y'all bout my mini-me.
He's 18. Wants to ride.
Today we bought a 1981 KZ550 A2.
Great shape, 10k. Maintenance deferred.
needs rear brake shoes, air filter, possible carb tuning, possible shock rebuild, lots of little tweaks and adjustments.
Any resources, links, connections, suggestions would be appreciated.
heres a pic, better pics to come.
Now I gotta go work.
2 bikes needing supplies, so I better not call in sick.
( I might actually be as excited about this venture as my son is. Maybe more, but we won't tell him!)
He took rider safety course last week on a 125 cc Eliminator, handled it well. With supervision, He can ride this!

Perfect ... you two will enjoy the quality time together, both wrenching, and riding!

That's awesome! My husband has a ball riding with his dad! Big difference in age (almost 40 and pops is almost 67)!

can't wait to get an opportunity to ride with my mom!

Nice A2! Just a year older than my hubby's! Great bikes!

Have a ball!

Rae

Great looking bike!

Thanks Folks!!!
I can't hardly wait to get this thing proper and on the road, though I must stifle my own reckless abandon just a tad so's I can set a good example for the young'n.
Gonna order a Clymer's off Ebay today... still looking for a Factory Service Manual. If anybody sees one please give me a nudge.
Rae, I think I may be in love with your husband's mistress. When I show those pictures to my son, I have a feeling he will gain a whole new perspective on the potential of these 550 Standards. (He was a little disappointed that we couldn't get the 1983 550 Spectre, which he thought looked sexier)

Shoot Lee! You've got a GREAT looking A2 to get started with! My husband gets tons of looks and compliments on his mistress (even from HD riders! )baha! Typically peeps tell him she's "mean looking" or a good 'ol "Bad Ass!"

First change I would make to modify the look is get rid of those "puppy dog ear" mirrors and add some sweet bar end mirrors! I just changed mine out with some nice chrome ones from Python Motorsports (ebay) and absolutely LOVE them!!! They look tough as hell (IMO) and I can actually see EVERYTHING behind me!! The others are ok if you want to put make-up on while you are riding or something cuz that was about all I could see in mine was myself! Definately lots of potential "looks" wise with what you have especially if it's mechanically sound!

Rae

nooooooooooooooo dont buy a manual>>>here is one

www.metrovationinc.com/christemple/KZ550.pdf

better then clymers!!!

yeah deff get some bar end mirrors, they dont vibrate at all because they got expanding rubber inserts in the end of the bar.. mine are napoleons, i love em..

Nice bike man, the a2'a aint to common now days...im 18 and the 82 550 a2 was my first street bike, excellent bike to learn on hands down.

Yeah, the ones on my husbands black Cafe are Napoleons also, GREAT mirrors! I'm also digging the front fairing on your "green machine" there. Was that on it when you got the bike? I didn't think the A2 came with a fairing, was it added?

Rae

yeah it was on it when i got it, but ive found some for sale on the internet...Z1 i think it was.

There like 90 bucks plus paint....

I like it, keeps a place for a water bottle, or a hat...ect.

550A2 wrote:

nooooooooooooooo dont buy a manual>>>here is one

www.metrovationinc.com/christemple/KZ550.pdf

better then c**mers!!!

BTW, that is actually the c**mers, but keep it on the down low.

If you plan on doing valve clearance work, be sure to read the warning about the valve cover versus cam chain tensioner. It's not like on the older bikes. You must release the tensioner before installing the valve cover.

Here's some info about 550 cams and cam timing (as there are errors in several 550 manuals).
home.comcast.net/~loudgpz/GPZweb/CamsKZZ...KZZXZR550500400.html

ahhh hell....well it it was 4/20....no excuse though...its still free!!! you are the one who gave it to me loudvhx, srry.


yah.. what he said, or else your gonna have a hell of a time getting the valve cover on right...