TOPIC:

Hi folks, it´s been a long while but I´m back. I´ve left my dear KZ550A back in Paraguay. Now, back in my country (Argentina) I´ve purchased an ´84 GPz550A1 (ZX550A1) which is in a pretty good shape, except for the fact that it´s been painted in yellow and the lack of the front cowling. The original color is grey, as its stated in the bike´s papers, and I´ve already downloaded a great deal of pics showing grey GPz´s, mainly to copy the decals schemes. I intend to paint it in the original grey tone, or the most approximate one, if anyone has good info on this it will be most appreciated.

It´s good to be back in KZ rider, and it´s great to be riding a Z-bike again!

Welcome back! I don't know anything about the Kawasaki scene south of Mexico. Tell us about Z bikes from South America...common, rare, types...etc. How about the bike scene in general?

kawadruida:
Welcome back to the board!
I called ColorRite... their West Coast office is in my hometown (Palmdale, CA), but I had to call their PA office to get the info.
Anyway, ColorRite has the original Galaxy Sliver paint for the '84 GPZ550. It is urethane (base coat/clear coat), and they said that one quart sould be enough to do an entire bike.
The cost is $165.95 per quart, and the ColorRite P/N for the paint is 3030.
Their phone # is 800-358-1882, and I spoke with 'Tim'.

Good luck!

Thanks guys for your welcome (2nd time!), as I said before, It´s great to be back and riding one of our beloved Kaws again!

McDroid: Down here in Argentina are a lot of motorcycling enthusiasts, riding everything from Brit old timers (Norton, Triumph and so), trhu all kinds of mid 80´s jap bikes to 2006 RR's. Prices are much higher compared to USA, so buying and maintaining a bike is quite an effort for most of us argentinian (and South American in general) moto fans. As an example I paid 1,500 dollars for my ´84 GPz550, in pretty good shape but needing a few repairs here and there, plus a new front tire!

There are quite a lot of Z bikes around, many 440´s, a lot of 550´s (KZ, LTD, Gpz) and you may see many 650, 750, 900 and 1000 still going strong. Though it´s a little rare, you may still spot a few 1300, so you might say for sure that we have a lot of Kawamaniacs riding down here. Of course, you will find a lot of Ninjas and newer machines, but I guess you are talking about the good old iron, right?

Ltdrider: Thanks ol´friend! Unfortunately, we don´t have any Color Rite shops down here, maybe they have a m atching code for other brands, i.e.: Sikkens or Akzo Nobel. Or maybe I can send you a check and you can buy that quart and send it obver to me, but I´m not sure if paint cans can be shipped by plane...

I don't think you need to send me a check...
ColorRite has a toll-free number, call them. They should be able to figure a way to ship you a quart. Or, maybe they can send you a color chip, and your local paint shop could match it.

Thanks again for your advice man, I already sent them a mail asking if they can ship me the paint or the color chip, let's see what I get.

Cheers

Too bad that Color Rite can´t ship paint cans and also they don´t have color chips available... Plus, my bike has no traces of the original Galaxy Silver tone, so I guess I´ll just choose a nice metallic grey from an auto paint maker and go for it!

Thanks guys for your advice, will be posting my bike pics before and after the paint job, but first I have to change the top end gaskets, then paint the engine, then the rest of the bike...

Cheers