1982 GPZ 550

the grey one is the right frame.

I just had a look at the side cover panels and the lug would fit where that missing hole should be but on the other KZ models the plastics wouldnt mount to that hole as they dont cover that part of the frame due to the top of the shock.


heres another frame on fleabay with a few bits thrown in.
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/1982-Kawasak ... 41648d8995

heres another frame on fleabay with a few bits thrown in.
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/1982-Kawasak ... 41648d8995

DAMN YOU!!!!!

I'm watching that one just to see how much it goes for. I would get torn a new one trying to explain the purchase of yet another bike, let alone the extra cost to have it shipped here.

id buy that one and use your original as a donor, it will be cheaper in the long run. Its a slippery slope which we walk along to the money pit. keep all your reciepts as you buy bits, but dont look at a tally until its complete.

....Sorry Gos, but going by the manual (p 150 KZ 400, 500, 550 Kawasaki Service manual 4th edition Nov 1981) it would be the shock mount holes but they (kawasaki) omitted the bush and left two holes there as standard for the lower grab rail and the previous owner has cut out the section with the bigger hole......

you are looking at the earlier Z-series frames there mate - they are totally different to the GPz-style frames.

Here is a picture of a Z550 frame - the twin-shock version with the top shock mounts in the large gusset....(basically same as all pre-82 400's, 500's and the first 550) - those top-shock mounts are always welded smack in the middle of the gusset - this applies to every twin-shock Z made. Kawasaki never used holes for the top shock mounts on any twin-shock bike they made - it was always a big chunky bush welded right through the gusset, with a solid section for the top eye to slide onto, and a threaded end section for the nut.




Now here is a picture of the GPz550 mono-shock frame. Those little holes up on the top of the rear sub-frame are not shock-mount holes. They are the top rear mounting holes for the sidecovers.





Hope that clears it up - when Kawasaki moved to the GPz series, they changed a lot of things from the earlier Z-series bikes in lots of areas.....not many of the cycle parts from the Z-series bikes were transferred across to the GPz series.

Dutchy - that black frame is not a GPz550 frame, I am not even sure if it is a Kawasaki frame ? But that picture of the silver frame - that is definitely a GPz550 frame. If you could find one in good nick like this, you would be right !

Fair call, Gos. Perhaps I didnt express my self very clearly in my post but when i initially looked at the two frames (1982 C3,4 v 1982 H1) with the beer gogles on I assumed the gusset peice would have been the same just one with the mounting bush welded in and the other without it but still using the same hole as the side cover mounting hole to reduce production costs. I stand corrected and will now get back to my corner and shut up.

Fair call, Gos. Perhaps I didnt express my self very clearly in my post but when i initially looked at the two frames (1982 C3,4 v 1982 H1) with the beer gogles on I assumed the gusset peice would have been the same just one with the mounting bush welded in and the other without it but still using the same hole as the side cover mounting hole to reduce production costs. I stand corrected and will now get back to my corner and shut up.

Could be worse, you could have posted a picture of a totally unrelated frame on the thread


Just to fill in some time yesterday I took the headlight fairing off the bike. I started to rub it down a bit with the wet'n'dry to see what was going on. There are obvious repairs attempted with fibreglass by one of the previous owners. It also had some pretty hefty battle scars (which I unfortunately didn't photograph).




It became quickly evident that it had been resprayed. I had to keep rubbing it back to get rid of the rough-as-guts paintwork that was on it. I've managed to remove a fair bit of the scratching and deep road rash, and i'll start going over it now with a finer grade after I've attempted to patch it up a bit.

I bet youre glad you havent set a timeline for this project.

......Could be worse, you could have posted a picture of a totally unrelated frame on the thread .......

I think that frame is from a mid-size Yamaha of some type ? The style of that tank-mounting bracket looks to me to be pretty similiar to some Yamaha frames I have in the shed......

so whats been happening with the project ?

5/8'a of FA!

I'm actually thinking of doing something tomorrow. May have located another frame but still not confirmed it's the same model as mine yet.

As per usual, I've come off of leave and found myself with zero extra time.

how about an update dutchy? wheres your project at now?

hi dutchy
found this for ya http://www.gumtree.com.au/s-ad/norlane/ ... 1004562936 might be a better frame although everything else looks shagged

hi dutchy
found this for ya http://www.gumtree.com.au/s-ad/norlane/ ... 1004562936 might be a better frame although everything else looks shagged

God............fucking..............damnit!!!!!!!!!

It's just really bad timing...............REALLY bad timing.

isnt always the way.

I'm not giving up though. Negotiations start tonight!