GPZ 750 1984 restoration project

[The_Fixer]

G'day guys.
Been about 15 years since I last rode (CB750F 1976). Up and down about wether I would do it again.
Sydney is a hairy prospect for taking up riding again.
Anyway, was at work and saw this bike sitting there all neglected and ended up asking the owner of the company next door who owns the bike out there?
He said "You do, if you want it".
Long story short, I got it. Free. Hasn't ran in 5 years, not busted, it just got forgotten about.
1984 GPZ 750a. Looking a bit sad, but not as sad as I thought it would be.
Have started working on it. It is my first resto project and I'm keen to see how it works out.
Will post pics when I figure out how to!

[BrettZZR]

Winner winner! Those are awesome, and definitely worth fixing.

Post some pic... Oh... Umm... click HERE for a quick how-to on posting pics on a forum...

(-8

[pkay]

Winner!
Nothing beats a free bike. You'll find that many of the parts are still available so shouldn't have too many issues puttting it back on the road. There is a lot of parts interchange with other models of this vintage so make sure you grab yourself the parts book and search by part number. Ebay is your friend although the posatge can be a bit nasty. You'll be suurprised what you can still get from Kawasaki.
I have one too, great bike, not going to pull your arms out but fun all the same. You can see apicture of it on my facebook site Brisbane Clasic Motorcycle Collection.

[The_Fixer]

Ok, I'm back Uploading my pics to Photobucket was slower than a wet epoch.

The bike is complete, I had taken some bits off before.



Had a little accident with the tacho, oops...



The fairing liner was ugly, so cleaned it up....







Took off the rocker cover, wow, look at that! these pics are as it happened....

[The_Fixer]

BTW, thanks for the welcome guys.

The last Kawa I owned was the good old 500 triple. What a lethal weapon! Don't know how I'm still alive after that one.

[Mister_T]

That is quite a cleanup job you have there. It will eventually make a fine candidate for club rego. Somebody must have really liked the colour blue.
Lots of pattern parts available for these, places like http://www.wemoto.com.au (based in Wollongong and supplied by the mothership in England) are worth a look for the more common wearing bits. I bought some genuine grips from them the other day which are much nicer than the aftermarket jobbies the Resurrection GPX was wearing when acquired.

How are the insides of the fuel tank? I'm guessing stale fuel and outdoor(?) storage have not been kind to the metal. Keep us posted. It looks like you are well stuck into it.

[The_Fixer]

It had a heavy cover over the top of it, so it had some protection.

Surprisingly, the tank is very clean inside with no signs of rust. It was empty and has a strong stale fuel smell. Small amount of rust on the fuel level sender and the wiper bar on it wasn't touching the slider, which I've fixed now.
Carbies are reasonably clean inside, but will run a new kit through. Softening up the rubber mounts at the moment.
Can't believe how clean it is inside the rocker cover. Like it's brand new. Oil filter looked new too. Looks as though it was looked after before it was put aside.

Brake master need fixing or replacing. Muffler had some water inside, so I'll pull that apart and have a look.

[pkay]

Bugger about the tacho. Very complete you've done well. Usually missing bits are the pain but doesn't seem to be anything missing from the photos

[The_Fixer]

Okay guys, another question.
What is the best coating system for the frame?

I'm not overly taken by the original paint scheme and had other ideas n mind. But the missus thinks the original scheme would be the best.

Opinions?

[BrettZZR]

... What is the best coating system for the frame? ...

Powdercoating is excellent, I did it once and never again! Good two part paint - easy to do, easy to touch up.
Got to be black!

As for the colour scheme for the bike, you could go OE black:


or emulate the turbo:


I'd be very tempted to try replicate the later 9R scheme:


I think the kawa green is overused, but will always attract attention, and with blue and white works nicely:


Talking of white, I saw this in the google images and there are those on here that would approve:


(-8

[pkay]

Once you go black - and you can get the decals from the UK as well.

I have powdercoated in the past but now paint. Easier to touch up when damaged (like when you try to put the engine back in). Plus I think it is cheaper too.

[The_Fixer]

Yeah, I have heard powdercoating and 2 pack comes with issues over longevity with maintenance. Just looking for viewpoints about it all.

Maybe you're onto something there pkay, a reason for the traditional ways?"

[Gosling1]

Powdercoating is fine, as long as the frame prep is 100%. My local powdercoaters also have a blasting shed, so the frame and any other bits are all sandblasted properly, immediately before the powdercoating is applied.

Looks like a great score for $0 !! These are the best bikes

No surprise to see the internals in good nick - these old 2-valve motors are bulletproof. You should not have to replace anything internally. The externals - clutch cables etc - may need looking at.

There are a lot of places that do spares - one of the best in Oz is wemoto.com.au - they have a great range of pattern and OEM parts.

Looking forward to the progress photos of this bike

[pkay]

I had to replace the starter clutch on mine and the spark plug threads in the head had suffered from stupidity and had to be redone. Other than that I probably need to set up the carbies as can be a bastard to get going when I haven't run it for a while but once it's going starts on the button. It does have 80,000km and is whisper quiet and blows no smoke.

[Sulli]

I may have a tacho for you talk to me https://www.facebook.com/john.sullivan.3597e