TOPIC:

Hi all - first off, congrats on an incredible forum.

I'm considering buying what I hope would be a fairly easy winter project: a 1983 kz550 M-1 with about 10K miles on it. It runs, but appears to need a good carb cleaning (current owner claims it hiccups around 2300rpm). This is the shaft drive model, which I believe has different (non-Mikuni?) carbs from most of the KZ's. I've yet to see the bike, but I assume at some point the boots between carbs and airbox are going to be trouble. Z1 Enterprises (a good source of KZ parts, from what I understand) doesn't list the boots as available for this bike, nor do they list the Emgo pod filters under this model. I guess I'm wondering if anyone has any guesses on whether the chain-drive bikes' boots and/or pods will work? I've yet to e-mail Z1 to see if they have any thoughts, but thought I'd check here first.

Also, the current owner claims there is a small oil leak out of the shift lever. Would it be overly optimistic to hope that this is nothing more than a shift lever oil seal (or is that in itself a bigger job than it sounds)?
I'm far from a master mechanic, and wouldn't want to put too much money into something like this, but at $500, the price seems fair to start, depending on condistion of course. Last year I resurrected (similar carb work) a Suzuki VX800 - it runs too well now and I'm looking for something else to play with over the winter! I've always liked the looks of the KZ's

Thanks for any thoughts or suggestions.

-Andy

Great bike choice stpauler and welcome to the forum. I have the same bike with 22,400 miles on it now. The carbs are Tekei K26V x 4. Mine were cleaned after the bike sat for 9 years and operate perfectly - in fact everything on the bike does, it runs great, it's quick and great fun to ride. I installed a K&N drop-in air filter which leaned the bike out a little, increasing the fuel economy slightly. Your carb boots may still be OK but stiff - mine were. I would never change to pods on mine, but if you are interested in mods you should check out Trav's posts, he rides the same bike. Also check out the archive searches, there's a wealth of info in there accumulated before the site was updated.
Best of luck with your KZ550 and post a pic or two in the gallery.

Hello all, I have been off line for awhile.
Reference to: 1983 KZ 550-M1-F1.
Seen your posts.

I happen to have a factory manual sitting, never used!
Kawasaki part # 99924-1041-01.
I am in Buffalo, NY USA
Anyone interested? Post a reply.

Marty in Buffalo

Theres a link to the 550 manual in PDF format in one of the Engine threads - definitely DL it.

Also, I posted a picture of my 550 with bicycle inner tube over the boots and intake side of the carbs instead of trying to shove the boots back on the carbs. It makes the carbs hella easy to remove, as all you have to do it roll back the inner tube.

I've gotten about 1000KM on the bike since reinstalling the carbs this way, and have absolutely no complaints at all..very easy to work with, and no performance problems.

As for the shift lever - don't know much about that.

$500 sounds like a good price. That's what I picked mine up at, which would translate into $400 USD or so I guess.

Oh - and get intimate with the parts diagrams on buykawasaki.com. They'll really help ya out.

Welcome to KZr!

Wow - thanks all!

Well, the acquisition of this bike just got a whole lot easier to (hopefully) make. The price hasn't changed, but I am now aware that there is quite a bit of help available.

While I had already downloaded the workshop manual (thanks!), I wasn't aware of the forum archives or the buykawasaki fiches. I had looked unsuccessfully for such parts diagrams. I haven't found the shift lever oil seal yet, but have yet to really dig in.

As for the pods, I mentioned those really only as a last resort in the event I can't make the original boots work (or find replacement ones). I'd just as soon keep the bike as stock as possible. Perhaps my fears that the boots are hard or close to ruined are unfounded - or maybe I'm just planning ahead for when I ruin them taking the carbs out.

The inner tube idea sounds interesting pyxen - when you say you've posted a picture, do you mean the two in your "gallery", or is there more of a closeup of the carbs?

I'm hoping to check out the bike tomorrow and buy it if it checks out - waiting to hear from seller.

Even if this one doesn't work out, I think I've got to find a nice KZ for the winter - there seem to be quite a few around, but I prefer the shaft drive and like the sound of only 10K miles.

Thanks for all the help and welcome. I'll keep you posted.

There are always ways to fix the boots etc. There are a few jet kits out there for your carbs, but some of the jets may have to be drilled to your liking. One type of Keihin jets should fit the TK carbs.

As OldColdAnkles said, Trav is the guy you want to talk to. He spent a lot of time researching what's available, swappable, and drill-able for those carbs. He also bored the motor to 615 cc, and put in GPZ cams.

Here's a link to the thread, and a closeup pic of the boots between airbox and carbs:

kzrider.com/component/option,com_joomlab...id,3/id,83709/#83709

Hope it helps!

First update: I bought it!

The good: Started right up and idled fine, tires only about two years old, only 1K miles on them, and the carb/airbox rubber bits seem fine.

The not so good: one cylinder not firing and dumping gas (it was getting spark though), oil leak out of shift lever as mentioned, couple dents in the gas tank and a little rust and some scratches on the pipes.

All in all, about what I'd hoped/expected. It also has highway bars and the sissy bar/luggage rack.

Unfortunately I gotta head out of town for a week - at least I can go through the shop manual on the plane. Maybe I'll post a link to some pics at some point.

The first question I have (and please refer me to the engine forum if that's more appropriate - I figured better here than start a new thread) is about the shift shaft oil seal. I haven't been able to find any kind of oil seal kit for the KZ550. I've checked most of the parts sites and can't come up with anything. I did find a whole gasket kit somewhere, but was hoping to avoid that if I could - though I'm guessing I'll need a new gasket for the cover that will have to come off. I also figure as long as I have the cover off, I might as well replace any other seals. This link is the closest I could find to what I'm dealing with: kzrider.com/component/option,com_joomlab...id,2/id,10598/#10598

Any suggestions? Thanks!

Well, in case anyone is looking for this oil seal in the future, it is part #92051-005. I found this out courtesy of Rob at Z1 Enterprises - they will definitely be getting my business as Rob was incredibly helpful on finding this part and answering some other questions I had. Judging from some of the other posts in this forum, they are the place to go.

Congratulations on buying the bike Andy - I hope you enjoy it. That's a very common seal, used in a lot of Kaws. I don't recall anyone else having a leak from that shaft. I guess that speaks for the success of the seal.

Shaft might be bent and that could be the reason for the seal failure. Look for signs of it being dropped on that side. Most likely not the reason but checking wouldn't hurt. $500 is a good price. Photo's???

Most guys go after the why it doesn't run so well but I'd be sure it will stop and steer first. Check the tires for dry rot and that the brakes work. Flush the resevoir with new brake fluid dot 3 or 4 and adjust the brakes. Let us know what the date code is on the tires, it isn't unusaul to find these bikes with the original tires on them. That can result in hard rubber and easy dumps in the twisties!

Thanks for the thoughts.

Nope, I don't think the bike has been down, but at any rate the highway bars (looks as old as the bike) would have help the shift lever there anyways.

I met the seller (and the bike) a few days ago. Tires are 1 year old, hardly used. I tried the brakes when I sat on the bike - seemed fine. Best of all, the seller seemed entirely trustworthy. He was paring back from 4 Kaw's (was keeping a '76 KZ900) and just wanted to free up the garage space. I'll get the bike in my garage next week to take a closer look and some pics.

At worst, I think it needs a carb rebuild, an oil seal, and some shining up. At best, it might just need a tap on the carb to unstick the float, some Seafoam, an oil seal and some shing up.

Either way, I'm looking forward to it.