1981 Kawasaki KZ550Welcome to ronh.org, Colorado, USA. Click for my home page.

1981 KAWASAKI KZ550

I purchased this 1981 KZ550 from the 2nd owner on Feb. 26, 1987. It had a broken float in one carburetor but otherwise was in very good condition at the time of purchase.

A thorough cleaning and additional detail work brought it up to its current condition as pictured. The KZ550 is entirely original and has received no restoration work at all - the paint, seat, exhaust system, etc. are all factory-original.

After last being ridden on September 18, 1988, I "revived" the Kawasaki on October 26, 2003. It was ridden 21 miles (34 km) to a scenic location for a photography session and has since been returned to long-term storage. For details visit my Motorcycle Storage Information Page. Total mileage on the KZ550 is 3588 (5777 km).

Overshadowed in its day by the faster GPz550, the KZ550 model offered a reliable and durable engine, comfortable riding position, smooth running engine and fine performance.

N39 43 55.07   W105 14 55.68     ?
LAT 39.731963  LON -105.248800
GPS Icon
The KZ550 is pictured above on Lookout Mountain west of Golden, Colorado

The KZ is also pictured on the cover of Clymer Service, Repair and Maintenance manual M449 Kawasaki KZ500/550 & ZX550 1979-1985, ninth and subsequent printings starting January, 2004. Visit the Clymer website to see their fine selection of manuals.

1981 Kawasaki KZ550

As with other machines in the collection, the KZ550 is only offered for sale via the terms and conditions detailed on my Q&A Page and associated Selling Page. In addition, there is no asking price.

Are you searching for KZ550 parts? If so, visit my Q&A page for a number of links and ideas for finding parts.







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--- This page was last updated 2010-05-20 ---Valid HTML 4.01!Valid CSS!


All photographs, graphics and text Copyright © Ronald Hurd, 2000-2010. All rights reserved.

Revision history:
2004-01-31 - Add revision history
2004-01-31 - Revise filename high-res link
2004-02-11 - Add Clymer link
2004-06-25 - Revise Q&A page prompts, add W3C image
2004-09-28 - Add additional Q&A page prompt
2004-11-03 - Revise page width
2005-08-04 - Revise storage page link
2005-08-11 - Revise for CSS coding
2006-02-23 - Revise title and keywords
2006-04-15 - Add GPS data
2007-03-27 - Add thumbnail combo image
2007-07-21 - Add file size total - hr image page
2007-12-31 - Revise description
2008-01-04 - Revise footer links
2008-01-14 - Add mcpage ad & link
2008-12-16 - Revise description
2009-06-17 - Add breadcrumbs
2010-05-09 - Revise description
2010-05-20 - Add image