Kawasaki Sportsbike Riders Club - Australia - Online Forum

hi all. i am first timer and hope that i am doing this right.i just join up mainly because i have just purchase a gpz 750 turbo and was hoping if anyone could shed some light on the value of these bikes and are they actually worth collecting for a investment.the bike was a barn find and in pretty good condition for its age and only paid $600.00 for it,any help would b appreciated.

Unfortunately this thread is worthless without pics . Would love to have a go on one, and would think that you got a bargain for the price if it runs .

Welcome to the club.

Bogan wrote:Unfortunately this thread is worthless without pics . Would love to have a go on one, and would think that you got a bargain for the price if it runs .

Welcome to the club.

yeah the bike runs as for the pics i will post some when i can work these computers out a bit better or can get the daughter to stay home long enough and con her into doing it.thanks

Yep, the bike is surely going to be a good investment over time. All four nippon manufacturers produced one, Honda a CX based, Yamaha a XJ650 based, Suzuki a GSX based called an XN85. Think the GPZ was rated the best out of all at the time. The Suzuki is the rare beast, with not many around esp in Aust. Lovely bike the GPZ, I think for $600 you can afford to hang onto it, lucky bugger!

Thanks Hoges for the info im pretty new to the collecting of motor bikes with my first being a 100% complete 72 honda 125s and now the kwaka so any info i can obtain is a bonus to me.cheers H.B Bear

$600 is bargain of the century !

As far as what they are *worth* - well its the $64000 question really...

They are fairly rare, but more common than any of the other turbo bikes of the time. They were the best of the 4 jap turbo bikes by a long shot.....the response from the turbo in these models was way better than any of the opposition.

There is a good 750 turbo website that you can find here. This site is entirely dedicated to 1 single model within the Kawasaki range......

Basically, these bikes used a low-comp z750 motor, and the boost was set fairly low, I think it may have only been 8psi at max boost. It still had heaps of mumbo, I had a good mate who owned one back in the mid-80's, and rode it a fair bit. Good in the fast open stuff, but not so good in the twisties, where the lag became much more of an issue. Parts are hard to find, so even if your paintwork is not so good - keep the original panels. You are unlikely to find spare panels at any local (Aussie) wreckers. The turbo was just a basic Hitachi unit, and like any turbo, it needs all the seals to be in good condition in order to work properly......any mechanical workshop that deals with car turbo's should be able to help you with this one, if it needs work.

There is a member on Kawiriders - GPz750Turbo - who I have dealt with in the past, top bloke, and should be able to help you out with any detailed specific questions you may have.....

Some pics would be good.......here is a 750Turbo that I had a look at a few years ago, for another mate from Melbourne. He paid $3500 for this, in this condition. That is a benchmark of sorts......I would guess that in original excellent condition, you may be able to squeeze maybe 5 large ? It all depends on how badly the buyer wants one .....

Thanks Gosling 1.Mine aint as flash as your pic yet but its all their and with a coat of paint she will look mickey mouse,the motor runs great and the 6 speed gearbox seems to work great as well so i can say im pretty happy with my purchase all i need now is to pull my finger out and get her cleaned up so i can start showing her off.CHEERS

6 speed box ? These bikes used a 5-speed box - the bottom-end is basically identical to the standard z650/z750 bottom end.

I will have to find out for sure i just road it down to the gate and back but previous owner told me it had six speed box, i only got to 4th

hi.Goslin 1.your right just went out and had a look and has the 5 speed stamped on it

- I would have been pretty surprised if you had gone for a spin and found a 6-speeder ! Although, according to some sources - apparently a GPz550 6-speed gearbox is almost a bolt-in conversion for the 650/750 bottom end....it's not a conversion I have tried.....yet .

From the sounds of things, if the bike starts and runs well, you may have in fact picked up an absolute bargain! I have a few bikes that have been bought in the $600-$800 range......it's a good range !!

You should do an oil & filter change at the earliest opportunity, and use a good-quality mineral oil. I don't know if you can still get the OEM filters from Kawasaki Oz - but that link above to the turbo site, should help with parts if you can't source them locally...

Thanks for your help Gosling must go now big day tomorow.cheers

that is a bargain i recently bot 2 off them but one is in a workshop and the other is coming from US cant wait to take them for a ride very nice bikes. for a one in good condition i would pay $8000.

Thanks Ivan.the one i bought is all there goes well has 77,00kms on clock but needs tank and ferin respraying the motor doesnt but i will give it one,the only problem i need to solve is some parts like the mirrors and light switch controls are faided and im not sure wether i need to get new ones or there is some way they could be brought back to new by respraying them or whatever that i will find out in due course.

h.b.bear wrote:Thanks Ivan.the one i bought is all there goes well has 77,00kms on clock but needs tank and ferin respraying the motor doesnt but i will give it one,the only problem i need to solve is some parts like the mirrors and light switch controls are faided and im not sure wether i need to get new ones or there is some way they could be brought back to new by respraying them or whatever that i will find out in due course.

the faded plastics i sprayed with tyre shine spray a couple of times and that did the trick but if you wont new ones go on international eBay they sell that stuff for cheap.