New Project

I will post pictures of the progress of this rebuild as there are many unknowns, ie. will it ever run + I will be trying some, new to me, methods, like hot lead filling on the tank & forming a new side panel from glass fibre. At the moment I am just walking around the bike & scratching my head. I paid US $100.00 for the bike, & I will have to see if this was too much.

 

Well Wiz at least you won't be bored. Could be a fun project

 

This bike has suffered a fractured frame & has been repaired with non-stick weld.

 

Hey Wiz - "non-stick weld"? I'm not familiar with the term. Does not look good in the picture for sure.

 

That's when there is blobs of weld all over the place & no penetration.

 

chop and hardtail it then.

 

Maybe you could splurge, say another $200 and find another one; play mix-n-match and get one whole bike. God knows what else has befallen the frame; even repaired it might not be straight. Interesting bike, I don't believe we ever saw those Stateside. GPz550s were chain drive at least here. Looks like a cool project.

 

Yeh, Fitz, interesting, I recon I could set the frame up with trammels & get the sucker straight.
Possitive: got some oil down the barrells & the pistons move easily in the bores.
Some PO has filtched the HT leads, but unlike the XJ they are a screw in.
Negative: excessive wear to the front discs.
The gear selecter shaft slops about in the casing, could only engage #1.

 

Wow that it the worse wear I have seen on those rotors. I wouldn't use a rotor past the noticeable wear point. Obviously someone or several someones kept on going..

 

Look at the rest of the bike. I think that was their philosophy. But hey, it's a shaft drive 550!!! (Your cue, Bill...) Honestly, Wiz, it does appear quite complete and it's probably nowhere near as bad as it looks, you won't know until after you get a few inches of mud off. I don't remember seeing quite that much dirt accumulated on a street bike. You wanted a challenging project my friend; I do believe you have found one.

 

Yes, Fitz, you have to be philosophical, or nuts.

 

Post some pics once you get it cleaned up a bit, I'm fascinated. I'll bet the layer of dirt had a protective effect on some things. Do the front fork legs actually taper a bit toward the bottom or is that photographic distortion?

 

I just noticed something in the brake pic--all that neglect, abuse, dirt--but the little rubber cap is still on the bleed screw.

 

Nah, Fitz, it's just the infinity perpsective.

 

:lol: my time has come!

 

Do you think any of this is going to work?

 

The regulator / rectifier, amped out fine, as did the ignitor, but the starter relay has a wire broken away from the coil, inside of the winding, I am going to rewind it, see you next week.

 

Might want to scrub it clean first... I honestly have not seen such a grubby street bike. You're lucky ANYTHING works. You need to know about these folks: www.nwvcp.com NOS Yamaha and Kawasaki specialists, good folks.

 

Rewound the starter relay & it works (not a job for the faint hearted) unwound the 2 miles of wire from the spool onto a 1/4 liter paint tin, put an 8mm bolt through the spool & put the bolt in the chuck of the drill & fed it on. Useful tip, while the unit was apart, turned the copper contact bar over, all brand new now.

 

Wow that is a lot of work to rebuild the relay.I like you home made winder idea.

That bike has a lot of rust, dirt and whatever on it as you tear it down. At least it is keeping you out of trouble.

 

It's becoming more and more apparent that Wiz is, if nothing else, as ambitious as he is resourceful. That Kawi is going to be quite an uphill battle but I have the feeling he will prevail...

 

That's better.

 

wow, that is beautiful, good job

 

How'd you get the heatsinks so clean? Soda blast? It does look phenomenal.

 

paint?

 

Dang Wiz great job! Looks like all new parts.

 

I think wiz found a source for new old stock and is trying to pull one over on us...

 

As if!

 

I just read that the '82 Kawasaki GPz550 had its valve shims located UNDER the buckets, requiring camshaft removal to adjust the valves. Is your GT550 going to present the same challenge? And you thought the carbs are bitchy...

 

Shims, Fitz, yes under buckets, lets hope they are all spot on I might get to have a look this week. Hot wired the starter, spins the motor, compression poor, maybe those valves :cry:
Can anyone give me a heads up on these TEIKEI K22P carbs, they are called "constant depression" they got that right.
They look a lot like the XJ HITACHI, but the vac ports are on the carb body, not the boots, we have a fuel line, a vac line, but what are those other two? ballance lines / vents? not shown in my manual :x
All input very welcome.

 

TEIKEI CARBS PICTURE

 

Apparently, the extra 2 pipes are "bowl breathers"

 

"constant depression" is probably a better description than "constant velocity." I'll bet a less literal translation would yield "constant vacuum." I LIKE the idle adjuster being "piped" over to the side unlike the XJ; is that a mouse nest between 3 and 4? Also, looks like #4 is miserably failing the "clunk test."

 

the choke is down on the carb bodies as well, not sure if that is good or bad.

 

Here are some pictures of the cleaned rack, one of the diaphragm with pin holes & one showing the jets set up, for info' .The # four float was frozen & the bowl full of white powder, like someone had been smuggling some "Bob Hope"

 

They were all pretty black like that under all the grime??? It doesn't appear that you've repainted them...

 

yeh, that's stock, don't intend to do too much with the rack, maybe jazz up the ouside of 1 & 4 when it's all finished.

 

I'm just amazed at how nice they still are under all that crud. Like I said when you first picked it up, the grime may have had a preservative effect; those look magnificent just the way they are. I'm just surprised that was what was under there.

 

Impact damage to the cluster casing, will post repair M.O.
One piece of good luck, found the third screw with bit of usable plastic inside, with the redbacks.

 

Ouch! Get me a part number and I'll see if I can track down an NOS rear housing for you that one looks pretty bad.

 

Thanks for your kind offer, Fitz, but I am determined to repair the case & get it looking like new brand.

 

It appears to be ABS. Good luck. I always consider smashed plastic to be sound justification for replacement.

 

Ssooo, back to the valve adjustment. How many miles on this gem (at least before the cluster got pranged?) Based on the mileage as a predictor of maintenance, I am fascinated to find out what you find once you do check the valve clearances. I cut my teeth on (and have eons of experience with) rocker-arm valve adjusters, I'm new to the much more efficient bucket-and-shim method and really curious about service life. I know a LOT of the older XJs that guys stumble upon with 10K, 20K, 30K miles have NEVER had any proper maintenance performed; I wish everyone would post their valve clearances when they check them especially if it might be the first time it's been done. Kawasaki's arrangement seems back-assward but might be a better mousetrap, who knows? I'm going to start reading up on NEW bikes and see which concept (if either) survived...

 

Picture 1 shows, the shattered pieces of the inner case tacked together with Q Bond, masking tape"formwork" in place & metal bracket straightened, with the dislocated bolts in place ready for G.R.P. repair.
Picture 2 shows, G.R.P. poured.

 

Cluster finished in plastic fender & trim paint.

 

WOW

 

Coils & right hand switch assembly.

 

Valve clearances.
Book says: exhaust .006 to .0010
inlet .004 to .008

we have: exhaust: 1- .008 2- .007 3- .008 4- .008
inlet: 1- .004 2- .005 3- .004 4- .004