29 years waiting for a GPZ 900R

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29 years waiting for a GPZ 900R

Postby lotii10396 » Tue Sep 17, 2013 12:29 pm

As an 18 yr old country kid with an XR200 - the release of this bike in 1984 was momentus. Not only did it change the way I looked at motorbikes but it changed the way I looked at life - I was going to save (ha!) to buy one of these goddesses and ride around Australia. The dreams of the young & the restless - of course instead I got a girlfriend (which meant car required), uni, jobs, cars, house, etc. etc. BTW I don't blame the girlfriend, especially as she is now my loving wife & mother to our two great tinlids AND she is OK with this project!

My 80's mechanical obsession has been somewhat satisfied with a:
    - modified 1984 Toyota Supra - the only model I liked, 1:27.07 around Malalla (2500-3000 Class) and still miss it every day.....
    - rebuild of 1981 Lotus Esprit Turbo - (dry sump) - an equisite piece of engineering, both in looks and performance. But hardly ever on the road, the cost of parts was astronomical, it almost sent me broke......love/hate memory that one.
Perhaps the greatest experience I have from these two is that they definitely satisfied my need for speed, I definitely do not need a bike to get me anywhere in a hurry, and cruising is the goal. I know I can handle an 08' GS 1200 Bandit so I'm not too fussed about the physical size of the bike, and although I realise these are still powerful bikes the more relaxed delivery nature of this era seems right up my alley.

So the wheels continue to turn, and I am now seriously looking to get myself this dream bike, but having worked with these cars previously I'm a little (top) gun-shy. Whilst I'm reasonably mechanically inclined (rebuilt the XR motor several times) I've read about the difficulty in replacing starter clutches, so it highlights that I know nothing to look out for when purchasing one of these bikes - or any bike for that matter.

I know it will need TLC, but I would greatly appreciate any pre-purchase tips & advise on the GPZ. Cheers, Adrian
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Re: 29 years waiting for a GPZ 900R

Postby h.b.bear » Tue Sep 17, 2013 5:09 pm

Being a old bike there is always going to be something that's not quiet right unless it has been well looked after, generally just give it a real good going over .One thing I usually do is touch the motor and make sure shes stone cold, that way if it sounds good on start up your halfway there, some guys warm them up as they run better warmed up, check the swing arm for movment, wheels for wobble, brakes ect. ect. At the end of the day everything can be fixed but it is nice to buy a bike take it home and ride it when you want.
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Re: 29 years waiting for a GPZ 900R

Postby lotii10396 » Wed Sep 18, 2013 11:57 pm

It was a tight contest with a restored 1980 CB750 (serious cool factor), but I am now the proud owner of a 1991 GPZ. Apart from a few fixes required from a v.low speed drop (bent left h/b, broken l/h rear indicator) the bike is cosmetically in very, very good condition - in fact it looked better than some 200x vintage bikes I have seen in the dealerships. Seller told me he was pleasantly surprised at how easily it fired up after 9 months (when he last rode it) and when I saw it it started easily from cold (zero smoke) and quickly settled into a nice idle. Revved cleanly (to me anyway) after only a minute or two.

Apart from the cosmetic condition what sold me was the fact that the seller had owned it for the past 14 years & it was not only obvious that he looked after it well but he spoke as if it were part of the family - I even believe the mileage of 48k. As an old bike I know it could all go wrong the very next day, but that sort of ownership record is about as good as it gets. And I only just found out the rego GPZ - MA8. Bonus - and there I was thinking it was an A7! BTW the GPZ was sold as it had been ursurped by a Yamaha FZ6 and just wasn't being used.

Bike is totally original except for 4-1 exhaust (came when he bought it) and sand-blasted/polished foot-pegs (a bit of bling). It also comes with:

New front tyre (70% rear). Although seller wasn't a fan of the tyre, he said that was what caused his one & only drop of the bike!
New front discs & pads
Recent new front fork seals
Almost brand new rear Hagon shock
Re-upholstered seat
New chain sprocket set (slightly lower gearing) - not installed

He was honest and told me everything he could think of that was wrong with the bike, including a mid-range blip he thinks might be a carby main jet. Apart from the work noted above he has done nothing except service the bike and replace consumables. As I currently have a sore wrist I didn't even ride the bike, which might seem odd but the reality is I wouldn't know what to listen for anyway. The seller, history & price were enough for me to take the plunge.

Whlist I will get my hands dirty at some stage, the first thing I plan to do is get the bike serviced at a proper mechanic, so I would appreciate any recommendations here in Adelaide. I would also appreciate any thoughts on whether I should get anything else checked out, such as:
Carb balance
Valve clearances
Etc.

For those who are wondering the purchase price was a whopping $1800 - and to me that was a bargain not to be missed. Very glad to finally be a Kawasaki owner, shame it has taken so long.....
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Re: 29 years waiting for a GPZ 900R

Postby zx899r » Thu Sep 19, 2013 1:58 am

What side of town are you from
GO GREEN!
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Re: 29 years waiting for a GPZ 900R

Postby bonester » Thu Sep 19, 2013 7:50 am

Same here- gotta luv the old 9. I always reference bikes on how much I like them on how they remind me of my old 900. ZRX might be another good choice. Bloody cheap for old models too. :D
2 X ZRX1200R 4 X ER6N, GT550, 1988 ZX-10, 4 X GPZ250R, 4 X GPZ900R and GPZ750R :) Yeah I like Kawasakis.
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Re: 29 years waiting for a GPZ 900R

Postby lotii10396 » Thu Sep 19, 2013 2:24 pm

Thanks to everyone for posting. I'm just south of the CBD but have friends in the Barossa & Clare so won't need much to enticement to visit these regions - nothing at all to do with the wine! In fact I'm hoping buying the bike will give me more incentive to get out on these day trips and catch up with old friends. I also have a shack down at Goolwa, so for those who know Adelaide my planned run from the city will be: belair > crafers > stirling > aldgate > mylor > echunga > meadows and then cruise down Bull Creek and onto Goolwa. A great route that I have driven many times before, however it will definitely be more sedate than when I had my cars, especially the Lotus - that beast had unbelievable grip and used to scare bikes whenever it got bendy! Even scared me at times but fortunately it was a better car than I was driver - and that is a luxury bikers don't have... :(. I know I need to take plenty of time to get used to road riding again, plus I can't afford the speeding fines here in SA anyway (>10 but <20 km/s over = $340), and so much of this route is now posted at 80km/h.

I suspect it will be at least a week or so before I get her back on the road registered (more due to sore wrist from falling off skateboard....), but I'll post whenever I'm heading down to Goolwa, all are welcome to join me and have a coffee at the shack. Just expect a lot of noob questions......
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Re: 29 years waiting for a GPZ 900R

Postby bonester » Thu Sep 19, 2013 7:30 pm

91 model has improved brakes and mirrors. Nice pickup. I'm guessing it is red? Dude who owned the 91 model two wheels mag used to review the new model used to live around here. Got a pic somewhere. :D Rode it a couple of times
2 X ZRX1200R 4 X ER6N, GT550, 1988 ZX-10, 4 X GPZ250R, 4 X GPZ900R and GPZ750R :) Yeah I like Kawasakis.
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Re: 29 years waiting for a GPZ 900R

Postby bonester » Fri Sep 20, 2013 7:46 am

2 X ZRX1200R 4 X ER6N, GT550, 1988 ZX-10, 4 X GPZ250R, 4 X GPZ900R and GPZ750R :) Yeah I like Kawasakis.
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Re: 29 years waiting for a GPZ 900R

Postby lotii10396 » Fri Sep 20, 2013 1:24 pm

bonester wrote:This is cheap. Usually around 200.

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/GPZ900R-ZX90 ... 607wt_1024


thanks for the heads up - assuming the postage isn't ridiculous this will definitely be my first accessory purchase.....
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Re: 29 years waiting for a GPZ 900R

Postby lotii10396 » Mon Sep 30, 2013 1:35 pm

OK, a full service & check on Friday. $400 - plus another 1.5 hours labour sorting our why the manual fan over-ride wasn't working - and it definitely needs the fan override in city riding.

Took the old girl (and me) out on our first big run on Sunday arvo. Absolutely perfect weather here in Adelaide and all I had to do was follow a couple of very experienced riders (+30 years) on a FZR1000 (I think he said the one before the R1?) & 2008 GS1200 Bandit. The bike was absolutely amazing, everything I could have possibly hoped for and surely recognition of what a great bike this was, and still is. Old school lazy & smooth power delivery yet easily enough get-up-n-go to keep up with the two bikes ahead of me - and I don't think I even had to rev it past 7000rpm. As for handling, well it's difficult to define as I can't compare it with anything else. But from my perspective it was just so.....solid. Obviously it was invaluable having riders in front of me to set entry speeds but you just tipped it in and basically adjusted cornering radii with lean angle and throttle, great fun and incredibly stable. It just exuded confidence (almost boredom) in what it was doing which gave incredible confidence to a noob rider like myself. The ride covered all types of runs from very tight and twisty to more open and some straight stuff. Through the really tight stuff around Clarendon (35km/h posted corners) you do notice the size & weight of the bike - it's not a problem but this stuff clearly isn't the bikes forte. The best road was the the Strath to Ashbourne run for those who know the area, especially as there were absolutely no cars.....

The bike was incredibly stable on the straights and handled cross winds without a problem. However whilst the fairing is pretty good to get wind pressure off my arms I had to basically lie down over the tank - which wouldn't have been a good thing for my back on a long ride! I read that the GPz was possibly the first "sports-tourer" - sounds about right to me. Also I'm just 5'8" and as the riding position seemed perfect to me I suspect bigger riders might find it a bit cramped.

Had a good chat (and a cold one) with my mate (GS1200) afterwards. He said that was as hard as he & his cousin normally ride (not silly but no slouches either), and he was impressed that both I and the bike were keeping up. Clearly the FZR1000 is a faster, better handling bike but it's all relative - you would need to be going a LOT faster to start to push the GPz handling/tyres and those speeds would just be crazy on these roads. I also suspect group riding tends to be a little quicker than normal and to be totally honest I don't think I will normally be riding that quickly. Nothing to do with the bike but simply because at the posted speeds it's still plenty of fun & basically I'm a tight-arse who doesn't want a speeding fine!

For me the speed:fun factor is the immediate difference between a bike and car on these roads. In a good sports car posted speeds are pretty boring, especially as you inevitably get frustrated behind slow cars with almost no overtaking opportunities. On a bike posted speeds are still fun, and even if you are held up for a bit by cars it just lets you really enjoy the wonderful scenery for a minute or two till you blast past, which is kinda fun too.... So if you can get a good one the GPz is looking like a great option for folks like myself to cheaply get back into bikes. If I can get two summers out of the bike I will be most satisfied - at that point I will know enough to either buy something else or I might even just keep the GPz and fix her up completely.

It is an old bike and it goes without saying there will be gremlins. The bike ran like a train for 3.5 hours (and sounds a treat once it is really warmed up), but just as I was pottering back into Adelaide the bike began to run rough off idle and the tacho needle began jumping all over the place. Got me home and it settled down, but with the tacho jumping around it's something electrical - was thinking there may possibly be a heat issue with the coils? The bike mechanic is quite knowledgeable and when I asked him about Dyna vs OEM he said "Dyna of course - but if it ain't broke don't fix it!" Whilst it might be coils it could be anything really - he wouldn't be able to help if it only shows up after 3 hours of hard riding so instead wait and see, if/when it starts doing it regularly then bring it in.

At the end of the day I have only one word to describe my first road riding experience - awesome... :D
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Re: 29 years waiting for a GPZ 900R

Postby lowfly » Sat Dec 28, 2013 2:17 pm

Great bike these, I have two of them :D
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Re: 29 years waiting for a GPZ 900R

Postby GPZEE » Sat Apr 12, 2014 8:37 am

Great read. We must be about the same vintage. I'm just waiting for the delivery many to deliver my 900r A2. Hopefully I'll have it next week
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