1981 GPz550 Full Restoration

I'm finally to the point of re-assembly of the Gpz550 with the completion of the powder coating of the frame.

below is frame, took some pictures this afternoon and the 1981 GPz1100 project, that I'm still tweaking.

Looks like a fun project. The 1981 GPz550 is my favorite KZ so I'll be following along.

BTW, if you "insert" your photos they will show up in high resolution instead of as thumbnails.

Good luck

Ill be watching this one too. Looks good so far.

Well this sucks butt big time. Two weeks ago as I was commuting to work on my 2000 ZRX1100...sweet ride, a guy in a minivan jerked in front of me from the right lane because his was coming to a stop and he couldn't make it, and slammed his brakes on. I had no room to stop, about 10 feet. I was able to just jog to the left trying to get around him and clipped his left rear bummer with my right fork leg and went down. Gear saved my butt, however, like most numb-nuts, I was only wearing thick jeans and my right knee cap had a chunk of skin taken off the size of quarter or so. Like a cookie cutter, you could see right down to the bone and stuff. Also left hand was smashed or bent, right arm bruised with a huge hematoma, shoulders banged up and bruised, left arm bi-cep pulled and sore ribs. Also my face smashed inside my helmet on the right side causing my teeth on the upper right jaw to be numb. As shitty as this was, I was lucky, had I hit straight on into the van, I'm not sure I would be typing this now. I tribute my 30+ years of Offroad racing and riding for giving me the instinctive reaction to at least try to go around it.

So now I have ANOTHER project bike...the repairing and possibly modding of the ZRX. Damage was not too bad, handle bars forward toast, right fork lower toast, radiator & shroud, fender, bars and tank. What I was thinking, and even before this, was upgrading the meters to a more modern set, and changing the fairing to a ELR type for greater wind protection. It would give it just a little bit more nod to the original ELR. OR, go for a full race bike look of the 1981 KZ1000 S1 that Lawson raced. With the number plate for a fairing and integrate the headlamp into it. Finding a real ZRX fairing is next to impossible that matches my bike color, ebony, that was a rare color.

577-

Oh man that sucks. I've said hello to my knee caps once as well. Surprisingly very little blood there.

Make sure the Zrx motor is good. I thought I recall the motors have a problem if they are left running for any amount of time while laying on their side. My buddy had one that went down, and he had to swap the motor.

Good luck on healing up. The mechanical stuff can all be replaced.

Glad you are not seriously injured. Seems like too many of us wait until something like tis happens to seriously consider installing a Kwick Kill. I found an alternative to it. About ten years ago I went down with my Rex. Seems that as I was hyper extending my thumb, the rest of my hand hit the factory kill switch on the way down. Proba
Bly not the most reliable method :silly:

Hate to hear about anyone going down. Reminds me of my own mortality and inevitability...
On the plus side you have two of my favorite bikes so...
Glad to hear you are all right.

Thanks all for the well wishes. Pretty sure the engine stalled I hit the brakes pretty hard and don't think I clutched....because my left hand smashed into the back of the lever.

Sorry to hear about your close encounter with the minivan. Crashing Sucks!!! The older you get, the longer it takes to heal up too!!! I used to hate being walking wounded.

I dropped my GSXR last year when I just plain lost my balance. Should have listened to my Doctor when he told me to stop riding my bikes. Unfortunately I thought I knew better. Even at 25 MPH or so, my old body hurt like hell for a few weeks after that.

I really don't feel safe anymore when I ride my bikes after that last crash.

Hope you are back to riding real soon!!

Dr. Gamma wrote: Sorry to hear about your close encounter with the minivan. Crashing Sucks!!! The older you get, the longer it takes to heal up too!!! I used to hate being walking wounded.

I dropped my GSXR last year when I just plain lost my balance. Should have listened to my Doctor when he told me to stop riding my bikes. Unfortunately I thought I knew better. Even at 25 MPH or so, my old body hurt like hell for a few weeks after that.

I really don't feel safe anymore when I ride my bikes after that last crash.

Hope you are back to riding real soon!!

As much as I don't like them, convert to a trike if balance is the problem.

Update....and a big one....

I've been working out the engineering, and have decided at this point, to get a little radical. I've been proof of concepting a retro-fit of a GPz600R (first gen) engine into the GPZ550 frame, and pulled the trigger on doing it. Mounting, spacing, parts have all been worked out, and the bits purchased, shipped and received.

What a fantastically fun bike this is going to be with 85HP+! Stock ~55hp, Stock GPz600r ~85 hp, 30+ more hp! Thats gonna be a hoot!

577-

Ok...the people have spoken, and the Restoration is going to be Stock, with minor suspension upgrades for safety.

And now the assembly can begin...finally.  wheeww...

577Nitro