Kawasaki GPz900R
Scott Redmond once more looks at real-world spares prices from the bikes he breaks. This month, he buys a classic Kwackerº
Ifeel slightly awkward standing before my latest victim in the Motorcom workshop. The Kawasaki GPZ900R is one of those motorcycles that moved the motorcycling game on when it arrived in 1984 but you have to remind yourself that at the time it was launched it sat alongside the last of the air-cooled monsters in the Kawasaki range. This leads me nicely into introducing this mucked about with' GPZ900R. The previous owner stayed loyal to Kawasaki when looking for parts to aid his upgrade plans. The original front-end is long gone, replacing it is a set of ZRX1100 forks and yokes. The front wheel is an old ZZ-R1100 one, and a pair of Tokico six pots have been drafted in to replace the weedy twin pots from the 80s. At the rear there' s a 5.00 x17 Kawasaki rim; it' s even been properly tted! The rest of the bike is pretty uninteresting from the point of getting my pulse racing: it' s pretty much just another unloved 900R. My spanners only turn one way, so within a few hours of it arriving set to work liberating yet more used GPZ parts to the world of ebay. Despite being a mismatch of colours from various models the bodywork isn' t too nasty, the tank carries an odd ding there and dong here, but it is fuel tight, a major plus. t' s the prize of the painted parts, not wanting to be left with odd panels will shift the body-kit in one hit. Chances are another project builder will come forward to re-home it. With the clothes off can see how the rest of the bike looks. The frame is pretty rusty in places, and one side of the rocker cover is in worse condition than the other. or a 2-year-old bike it' s not aged too well really. This is why you really need to look closely at any classic bike you consider buying always look beyond the shiny bodywork. didn' t bother trying to start the bike up before laying into it with my socket set, mostly because a GPZ900R engine doesn' t fetch much money. Besides only paid 600 for the whole bike, so there' s not too far to go to get my outlay back. On the plus side that three-spoke rear wheel sports a brand new tyre! Would anyone buy
new rubber for a bike with a knackered motor? Doubtful, therefore predict that the engine will be right as rain! The upgraded front-end could be touted on in one hit, but am going to split it down mostly because the ZRX1100 forks and yokes are a scarce nd on the open market, with prices for all ZRX models climbing the chances of them reaching my end of the food chain get slimmer with every new retro cash in model that Kawasaki brings to the market. The forks and yokes should reap me 150 easy enough, though those pesky Tokico six pots look pretty manky. f they were in good working order could' ve pulled a ton for them; due to them being ropey d be lucky to get half of that amount. The discs are 10mm items and will t loads of other Kawasaki models from the 80s and 90s including ZXR7 50H1 and ZXR400L. So they shouldn' t hang around for too long. The Micron 4-2 exhaust at rst looks in great shape, but all is not what it seems. Having had these pipes in the past know that the bafø es often rot away inside. A uick look aided by the torch on my phone and my gut instinct was bang on: the bafø es not only look like the colour of fallen autumnal leaves, they disintegrate with the same amount of effort. Talking of effort, it' s therefore not wasting any of mine taking it off! can feel a plan brewing. With an engine that can' t guarantee, a rusted frame and self-harming exhaust system on my hands will leave those three parts to last. A casual nibble with the spanners relieves the remains of its coils, CDI , and carbs. The carbs conae rm that this 9R hasn' t been run for a while: stale fuel. The carbs are tted with the anti-icing kit that basically drew hot water from the cooling system and ran it next to the carbs to prevent carb icing and possible injury if your bike fails to respond to your throttle commands: a crude answer to an unwanted uestion if ever saw one, in my opinion. How fuel ever iced is beyond me. Other than the Honda VF 1000R ve never owned a motorcycle that would run so hot, that also explains the toggle switch in the fairing that was tted to give the rider a chance of cutting the tiny fan in earlier than the thermostat dictated. The radiator can stay on my ever growing stack of parts can' t be arsed to undo. There' s plenty of parts on the GPZ900R that are common to other Kawasaki models from the era, things like the clock-set, winkers, master cylinders and mirrors. t' s always worth the extra effort adding these models into any advertising descriptions, just in case a GPZ600R owner needs a front brake master cylinder assembly. Within a few hours m ready to take my parts to market, with a 600 hole in my bank balance to repair m conae dent that will recoup my outlay fairly swiftly!