Will TK26 carbs work on my 1980 KZ550?

I've been trying to finish up my 1984 GPZ550. I bought a nice set of TK26 carbs off ebay but they were from a 1983 GPZ. I did not know at the time that in 1984 they went to TK27's. They are on my 84 GPZ now and are working fine other than the float needle tips are worn causing a high float level. I found a set of TK27's that are going to be ready to bolt on. So basically, I'm wondering if the 26's will work on my 1980 KZ550A. It has Mikuni's but has not ran since the 1990's. Hate to spend money on the Mikuni's if the TK's will work.

The engine-side throats are bigger. So you would have to use larger manifolds, but then the manifold screws are set too close together to bolt on the larger manifolds. You could probably do a lot of work to get it fit, but there wouldn't be much point since the intake ports are also smaller and would have to be totally hogged out to match the carbs. ... can't say it can't be done, but not worth the effort.

The 1980 550A should have come with TK22 manual slide carbs from the factory.

Would a GPZ550 cylinder head fit on my 80 550 cylinders? This seems as it would be a performance upgrade for a 1980 KZ550

HAFROD wrote: Would a GPZ550 cylinder head fit on my 80 550 cylinders? This seems as it would be a performance upgrade for a 1980 KZ550

That I'm not sure. But if you were going to do all that, you would want to take advantage of the GPZ's higher compression pistons, so you'd want to swap the pistons too. And if you're going to do that, you would swap the block over as well since they will match the pistons and you might not be able to get new rings for the stock pistons. Since you are then extracting more power from the motor, you will need the GPZ oil cooler which means you will then need the GPZ oil pan with oil-cooler ports. I'm not sure the pan will bolt up. THere is a good chance it will, but I'm not sure.

But really, why go through all the trouble? It would be better to just swap the whole motor. They are not impossible to find. A good used motor may even be cheaper than a good gasket set, if you can wait til one comes along.

The airboxes for the later carbs (TK26 and TK27) won't fit the early frame, so you will have to run pod filters etc. or modify an early airbox. The 1984 KZ550A3 airbox might work since that bike came with TK26 carbs.

I've already got the top of the engine off on the KZ550. It needs a valve job. Corey has a head off a GPZ so that was my thinking. Every time I THINK, it gets expensive :laugh: