1981 KZ550A2 Update

Cleaning and maintenance is coming along good. I am digging this little bike. Have a tranny cover to replace, airbox ducts, and tires on order. So far...clutch cable, tach cable, speedo cable, tranny cover, various gaskets, new used timing advancer, some bolts and cleaner products. All in all a 200$ bike coming along. Enjoy. R

Some pics as well.










Going well, having fun! Maybe get a ride in this year if Z! backorder beats the snow.

R

$200.00??!! Dang, - you stole that thing!

Sweet!

Great find!

That's 200 into it, It was free to me. :silly:

R

Don't forget to check/adjust the valves. A LOT of neglected old bikes die a horrible death from neglect in this area.

I would go ahead & replace the rear brake shoes if their age is unknown. Get OEM or Vesrah (made in Japan).
Old brake shoes can fail, so a lining can come off and get jammed between the shoe & drum, locking the rear wheel.
It happened to me, so it does happen. mine were the original 30+ yr old shoes. doh.

At 3500 miles can't see them needing attention but will do as normal maintenance. Have to get a correct advancer. Are the pulse advancers the same across models ? I see they are different part numbers. NOS is crazy priced, but I can't manually turn the crank to check valves until the correct advancer is on there. R

Do you mean the brake shoes have low miles? The possible failure is an age issue. The adhesive that binds the linings to the shoes can fail over time --- the glue becomes old & brittle. I was lucky that it happened when rolling the bike off the center stand in the driveway. It would be a real drag at speed & far from home.

my mistake. doh. V V V V V V V

Ah cross-threaded, i was speaking of the valves, not the brakes. Thanks. R

Well latest is a bit depressing. The gas tank while it looks nice and came clean with acid, has at least one pinhole leak, but stopped filling at that point there maybe other problem areas. Was not wanting to respray as the stock paint is faded, but good. Perhaps a blue bike is in my future. :0 Anyone use JB Weld on these small holes with success or am I looking at sealing? The good, Tranny cover and gasket went on with out a hitch. Again gotta love Ebay. This used cover was also cosmetically damaged but the gasket surfaces and chain guard were perfect. Seals re-greased and looked fine. Clutch cable installed. My FSM has a misprint on the clutch cable install. There is a small supplement area for the 1981 A2 model clutch adjustment. The mechanism is ball and ramp on the 1981 A2. The book is printed to turn the clutch adjuster bolt clockwise till tight and back off. It took a few pops and clutch cover removals for me to realize the adjustment was fully open and allowing the mech to pull through the ball and ramp. Turned counter clockwise and backed off a bit and things were as they should be. Clutch lever input was nice and smooth with clear disengagement. Someone had bent the toe shifter rod out for a small foot, I returned tit to proper orientation. Will be looking at front fork seals and dial/dash clean up, tach, speedo cables, tire mounting, and some solution on the gas tank. I can see it moving out down the road. R

You can use a tank sealer if it's not too bad, then repair the outside for paint.
Steve

While you're at it, it would be a good idea to check & clean all of the plugs & bullet connectors with some Deoxit contact cleaner/rejuvenator
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Pete