1984 Kawasaki ZX550A – GPz550

Update: This bike SOLD!
1984 Kawasaki ZX550A – aka GPZ550
Miles: 15,070
$1,800
Near Rochester, NY

SELLER
>>> Please reply with name / number and time to call if interested <<< I am not walking around with the internet in my pocket and only see messages in the evening on my office desktop – calls only. The bike is located in western upstate NY 14559 zip code. It has 15K and is being sold with a bill of sale.

This 1984 ZX550A – aka GPZ550 – was on the road until 2019 when it was sidelined for loss of spark and put in to storage. The fuel was drained from the tank and carbs and that has been verified by me with a borescope in to the tank and removal of 1& 4 float bowls. The only real flaws that I see are a U shaped crack at the bottom of the original windshield where a fastener was over tightened, odometer trip knob is missing and the left rear signal lens is taped on.

This 40 year old survivor bike is as found with a flat battery; but all the lights and horn work when I put a charger on it; including the fully functional LCD tank pod. It was originally purchased with some very cool accessories like the optional Lockhart belly pan kit and Telefix fork brace. Later ownership dealer installed mods were the Bassani pipe and Dynojet kit in the very desirable TK carbs with K&N filter. The 550 is in the same engine design family as the larger bore models and is basically the mini me to the big dogs.

This is the first year of the ZX series combining all of the latest updates learned from the 81 to 83 KZ & ZR series bikes. The tires are in great shape on nice wheels, the chain and sprockets show wear and the brakes work well. There is a tattered original seat as well as the Corbin that you see on the bike. It has 2 original keys that operate all 4 locks, the tool kit is present as well as a full set of oem repair manuals. The tank is dent & ding free, there are no flaws in the plastic sides, tail or fenders aside from paint age patina and the belly pan kit has no cracks or repairs.

The grips were changed at some point, the center stand and a couple of trim buttons are missing; but aside from that it’s all there. The levers and cables work fine and it shifts in to 1st & 2nd gear when rolled. There is absolutely no evidence that this bike has ever been wrecked or dropped. I only wrench & ride 1972 – 80 bikes, but learned with a little research that the 550 was a top performer in the middleweight class for many years with no less than 15 major magazine reviews from 81 to 87. This bike would be a solid foundation for a restoration or an awesome parts source.

RSBFS
Thank you Skip for sending us this cool bike. On the heels of the controversial Jelly Belly, this gives us another opportunity to ponder… what is rare? Concerning the GPz, I’m going to quote Mike because he said it so well.

“Rare (adjective)
1. (of an event, situation, or condition) not occurring very often.
2. (of a thing) not found in large numbers and consequently of interest or value.
3. unusually good or remarkable.

Before the flaming starts, I thought I’d hit up the olde Oxford Dictionary and set the ground rules for discussion. Nobody in their right mind (or even their left one) would confuse the scarcity of a model – say an oval piston NR750 – with a mass-produced, run of the mill middleweight such as a GPz550. But if RSBFS was simply about listing model names, we could accomplish the goal without photos and just publish a spreadsheet. Not much fun in that! Instead we search for the best of what’s out there on any given week, and try to highlight things that jump out at us. And what jumped out at me is one of several tens of thousands of a not so rare model belting out it’s best Gloria Gaynor: I will survive.”

You see, sometimes we just have to show these survivors. They have earned their way into the rare circle. They add character and realism to our niche. A GPz will turn heads at bike night, at the gas station, on the road. It is a time capsule. We used to see them everywhere, until we didn’t.

Motorcyclist wrote “in the fall of 1980, Kawasaki announced the now legendary GPz550—a motorcycle that would alter middleweight history. The GPz550 was Japan’s first real hot-rod middleweight, a glossy-red poke in the eye of everything that was boring and staid on the sporting landscape. Fast, sexy, and nimble, the GPz not only catapulted Kawasaki into the leadership position for middleweight streetbikes, but it helped forge the foundation of what would soon become Kawasaki’s iconic Ninja nameplate, an epically successful brand if ever there was one.”

Good luck to the buyer and seller!