Godfather: 1982 Kawasaki GPz1100

Here is a bike that should need no introduction. The last of the “He-Man” bikes and the best of the rest as the motorcycling world teetered on the verge of technology overload, the Kawasaki GPz1100 was THE bad boy on the block in the early 1980s. This bike is very far from rare in terms of production numbers – the only limit was the number that could be shuffled through the showroom floor. Tack 35 years onto that memory, however, and what you have is something that is a bona fide collector in the kind of condition that we see here (nostalgia only helps). Being sold by a dealer out of Connecticut, this GPz1100 is a survivor that looks tremendous and sports only 12,261 miles on the clock. Interested? You should be. Read on!

1982 Kawasaki GPz1100 for sale on eBay

Young Padawan learners take note: Long before the days of liquid cooling, four valve heads, fuel injection, rising-rate single shock rear suspension, upside down forks, big brakes, ECUs or radial tires, motorcycles still existed. They were just a bit more basic than what you know today. The quest for speed still existed, but the answer to most questions was displacement. Want to create a legacy? Build a bigger bike. Want to sell more bikes? Bore out whatever you have to something larger. Dousing the resulting product in “arrest me – now!” red paint never hurts. Backing it up with the most decent chassis of the day, adding triple disks (a novelty) and capping it with a bikini fairing (oooh, racy!) pretty much made this THE big bore bike to have back when Magnum PI was the hot ticket on TV.

From the seller:
1982 GPZ1100 KAWASAKI
Absolutely Stunning, an Original Paint, Antique Kawasaki, A Rare Museum Quality Piece!

A member of the “Red Revolution” as it is beautifully painted in Kawasaki’s “firecracker red”. The color just seems to hover above this bikes remaining parts (frame, engine, exhaust, mufflers, forks, handlebars, mirrors, etc.) as they are blacked out chrome. Creating a seriously aggressive look! It’s the second year Kawasaki produced an 1100cc and they were serious about having the best superbike! The B2 is similar to the B1 however it is unique due to its cockpit fairing, clip on style handlebars, LCD fuel gauge display, 4 digital fuel injectors mounted directly into the cylinder head, digital microprocessor to measure airflow, throttle position sensor (to eliminate throttle lag and lower emissions), reflectors on both sides of the tail light, stiffer fork springs, compression and rebound damping for a better handling on either track or street.

The GPz was indeed a revolution for Kawasaki; an evolution of the Z1 and the KZ series, the GPz was the most sporting of the Big K lineup, and became the legend behind the forthcoming Ninja. It didn’t hurt that the Kawasaki was very successful against the onslaught of Honda went it came to Superbike racing; while they eventually succumbed to the V-4 Interceptors, the GPz reigned supreme in their final years of competition. Not bad for caveman technology. But then again, a simple club wielded effectively can be a formidable weapon. Today, simply finding one of these archaic rocks can be a chore. Finding one with relatively few miles and looking like this is a dream.

Bidding is currently below $4k USD with no reserve. There is a fair amount of interest in this machine; I’m not surprised given that the last GPz we posted (a lowly 550 model) garnered a good deal of attention from our readers. I cringe when I hear this referred to as an antique, but maybe that is just my age-related pride. This particular example looks to be fetching a far greater sum than the aforementioned 550, but even then it is still quite reasonable by collector standards. Check it out here, and feel free to jump back to our Comments section and share your thoughts on this era of the GPz. Good Luck!!

MI