Kawasaki GPZ550 Uni Trac

With so many Kawasaki 550s to choose from it’s not surprising that none of them have really rocketed in price over the last five years. They remain overlooked by those who are looking for an air-cooled GPZ fix. The GPZ550 was a massive seller in its day and many people must have a fond memory or two of the eight-valve, four-potter. Those same people probably have invested their wonga in other bikes from the day. So, these bullet-proof Kawasakis remain largely overlooked, unloved and unnoticed, but why is this? I paid £350 for this one back in 2011 and I’m pretty confident that I could find its equal today for not much more brass. When did you last hear someone get excited about buying a GPZ550? This got me thinking, back in the day most of these bikes were purchased to be cheap transport, a job that they did with amazing ease. Many were parked and left for dead, like people getting excited about a Yamaha Diversion; it’s not going to happen in my lifetime. That isn’t knocking the Divvy, it’s a great form of transport, but you know what I mean, right? The very first D model GPZ550 is the one that commands a bigger ticket price, but even then, do they ever sell? The odd Uni Trac 550 appears on the CRMC grid but that’s not even been enough to lift their desirability, unlike manky FZ600S that now have inflated prices because there’s a race class for them: just ask CMM’S Spike Edwards how pricey they and the associated parts have become! This one ended up being sold to a fellow trader. The lure of the fresh shock, exhaust and tidy bodywork meant its fate was sealed. It was broken for parts and I dread to think if any other parts have sold since 2011…