This was one of the first bikes donated to the club by Emma Reardon having sat unloved in a shed for several years. It had suffered a mechanical failure and having been supeceeded by newer machinery was left to quietly gather dust. A previous owner had begun the process of chopperising the bike. This process was continued with whilst the bike was in the Reardon household with work being done on it by a bike builder in Carmarthen. If we have the right end of the stick, the bike started life as a KZ550 Limited manufactured in the early 1980s. The model was not imported to the UK, so is likely to have been first sold in America before being bought to the UK. This made getting some of the Spares needed to rebuild it a little challenging. Many of the spares that have been used came from a bike that was being broken by DK Motorcycles in the midlands.
Click on the picture to the left to see a video advertisement showing what our project bike might have looked like if it had been kept in someone's living room for the last 40 years.
A little more about our bike...
The bike wasn’t running when it arrived at the club workshop, and as you can see from the photograph, it was in a really poor state, having stood outside, unloved for many years. The whole bike has been stripped down. The engine has been rebuilt, and put into a new frame. A new frame was largely required because an attempt had been made to 'chopperise’ the bike, meaning that portions of the original frame had been cut off or substituted with something else. Everything has been repainted that needed to be. Many parts have been purchased both new and second hand, to get it to the fine condition that you see in the photos. These include rear light, rear mudguard, new shocks.
Other work has been done on it including having the front fork tubes re-chromed. Club member Andy Jenkins (AJ) specialises in rebuilding classic Japanese bikes, and his expertise was very helpful in getting this sad machine back to good order. Club members had managed to get the engine running before the serious rebuild started but, not surprisingly, it was smoky and the exhaust was noisy.
AJ started work on this early 80's KZ550 ltd after it had been stripped down by members of the club. Unfortunately, bits of the bike had been misplaced - so the whole situation was pretty much a basket case.
Initially, it was difficult to establish what the bike actually was, due to the original owner having chopped and changed it so much. There were modifications to the front and the back end was chopped.
Essentially, it's a Z550 Kawasaki ltd edition.
AJ has had to identify the correct parts for the bike from what was found in boxes around the workshop, so it really is a bit of a 'crossbreed'. A cross between a Z550 and a Z550 ltd.
It has the original engine, however there was a lot of work to do on it. We stripped it down ready for cleaning, vapour-blasting, welding and repair (on the front of the engine).
In order to get the engine out of the frame, the engine lugs were broken off. AJ took all the main engine parts, including the cylinder head, barrels, and cases away for cleaning and vapour-blasting and had the damaged areas re-welded so he could then re-fashion the mounting lugs.
All the internals were checked and refurbished where needed. AJ also used this opportunity to run demonstrations on internal maintenance, such as bore honing, valve grinding and assembly practice for the benefit of the people in the group who wanted to learn such techniques. In effect, the engine has been completely overhauled and rebuilt. It is now in the frame and ready to go.
We don't think the forks are original. The front caliper is from a GPZ 550 but fits with the addition of some spacers. We now have the correct headlight wings, and there has been a change of handlebars to a flatter Z650 style which necessitated swapping the master cylinder in order to keep it level. The indicators originally would have hung on the handlebars, however, because we changed the handlebars (and the lack of availability of clamps), AJ and the team modified the headlight mounting to incorporate the indicators there instead.
There are several variance issues (because of the bike being a cross Z550/550Ltd), and so AJ has had to completely rewire the wiring loom etc, so that every electrical component could be incorporated. He has used two or three different wiring diagrams to create a hybrid that suits the bike.
Another area that required some thinking and investigation, was the 'clock' mounts and meter display unit. It took several tries to get the right parts and fittings, but now looks fantastic. The handlebar switches and clocks have also been repainted. All the electrics have so far worked fine.
During the workshop on the 18th November '23, AJ was working on putting the carbs together and fitting them along with new connecting hoses. The ancillaries; rear light, mudguard, rear chain/sprocket and indicators etc went on, as did the wheels with new tyres. We also sourced an original air box, which meant that it matches with the carburettors as in the original setup.
Latest updates since the December 2023 break.
The exhaust is now on. It is an original four into two system (four downpipes into two mufflers). Considering it's age, it's in very good condition. Jessica and Rachel intially cleaned the pipes up, which were then handed over to John Spooner, who has done a fantastic job of finishing them off.
There is still a little way to go before the bike is finished, e.g. It now needs a bit of tuning and we need to connect the remaining electrics and buy new brake hoses for the front caliper.
We still have to source a front mudguard and get a couple of levers re-chromed. We need to re-paint the tank and side panels. AJ found some brand new Kawasaki tank badges at a bike show, so they will be fitted to the tank.
We have a tank which seemed initially solid but the bottom edge has corrosion holes all along it, so we are now deciding whether to plate it or source a replacement. We have also sourced the correct seat. John has cleaned it up and repainted the base ready for a new cover to be fitted.
But we're nearly there - and finally - on February 10th, after 2 years of sometimes head-scratching work, the bike was successfully started. It was an amazing moment for the club, especially for the members who have worked hard alongside AJ and Jack to achieve this.
Finally starting on February 10th 2024 after its major rebuild
A huge thank you to Andy Jenkins and Anna Charalambous-Greenfor putting the vast majority of this article together and of course to Andy Jenkins for the time, effort and knowledge he has invested in restoring the bike.
A pictorial History from February 2024 back to mid 2018...
