The GPz550 brought racebike power, handling, and tunability to the street.
- MAN CAVE OR WEEKEND RIDE - THIS ONE IS NICE ENOUGH FOR BOTH
- RUNS STRONG WITH CLEAN WA TITLE
- RECENT PROFESSIONAL COMPLETE SERVICE INCLUDING CARB REBULD SERVICE, TOP END, CLUTCH, SUSUSPENSION SERVICE, BRAKE CALIPER + MASTER AND TIRES.
- KERKER EXHAUST
- INCLUDES NEXT OIL CHANGE SERVICE
- INCLUDES DYNO SESSION
- INCLUDES CUSTOM SUSPENSION BASELINE SET UP
- FINANCING AVAILABLE & TRADE INS WELCOMED
- SHIPPING AVAILABLE NATIONWIDE FOR ONLY $535....subject to fuel surcharge
PRESS:
For all practical purposes, 1980 was still the ’70s in the world of motorcycles. Handlebars were still generally high, footpegs were out front, and sportbikes were, for the most part, hot-rodded standards. The hottest of these was Kawasaki’s KZ550, a handsome-enough sunset-striped middleweight UJM that combined reasonable weight with decent power to rule the box-stock class at local racetracks. In fact, when Kawasaki noticed that its dealers couldn’t keep the KZ in stock and that racers were buying them used for new-bike prices, it put together a bike that wound up changing the entire motorcycling landscape. The GPz550 is arguably one of the most influential motorcycles in history, and its four-year run absolutely launched the sportbike as we know it.
The magic of the bike was simple: Kawasaki simply took what racers were doing to the KZ and put it into production. The 1981 GPz550 got the KZ’s oversquare two-valve 553cc engine, but with higher compression, hotter cams, electronic ignition, and an oil cooler. The rest of the bike got a second front disc, a disc instead of a drum out back, an air fork, adjustable damping on the shocks, lower handlebars, and rearset pegs. A little cafe fairing was fitted to the headlight, the engine and exhaust were blacked out, and Kawasaki sent it out into the world.