I have to say that I never thought I'd actually sit on a GPZ while in possession of a full license. The only reason I've got this one is because my Suzy GS550LX custom has been at the mechanics for three months or so while it had life saving intensive care. I am a major fan of cruisers; the riding position (preferably forward facing, highway foot pegs) and style, the steady thump of the twin cylinders. MMMMMM. I couldn't understand why anyone would want to ride with their face kissing the tank, with all their weight on their wrists, with serious neck strain problems as they tried to see what the road ahead was going to throw at them. Well, I picked up this bike through a friend of a friend. It had been lounging about doing nothing in particular, with only 20,000 on the clock; there was minor damage to the plastic panelling, but it started every time and it was better than begging lifts. It was the best £300 quid I ever spent. It moves like a snake on ice - no, cancel the image you now have of something that skids from side to side and snaps at you - I mean it's smooth, it feels dangerous, and you can swing it around corners and generally make a twat of yourself without too much danger of coming off. It is a very forgiving bike. It has to be - after riding a cruiser, getting used to the riding position and the acceleration was a challenge. And fun? Ay, wot? Kawasaki invented the word. The brakes are a different matter. You have to put some thought into stopping, because the front brake on mine needs to be pulled all the way to the grips. Back brake is fine. Or maybe that 's just me; a little adjustment might make a difference. Then again, that's what what men in overall are for. Anyway, this bike has shown me that there is life beyond riding an armchair and counting the blades of grass as you putter along Britains byways and highways. The GPZ turns you into a predator, looking for gaps in traffic and stretches of road so that you can watch the boxers dwindle to nothing in your mirrors. For the first time in my life, I am seriously considering a day when my next bike might have me heading for the odd weekend on a race track to see what I, and the bike, can do. If you have an opportunity to pick one of these up, I command you to buy it. You will bless the day of my birth and my descendants and praise God for my advice. Do give some thought to hunting for spare bits, though; mine is twenty years old. I haven't had to worry too much yet because it's running like a tiger, but eventually it will need stuff doing to it/replacing. Get yourself access to the internet, thought, and you should be able to find someone, somewhere, with the right bits. Most of all, enjoy. Ride it every day, in all weather, and rejoice.
Speed, acceleration, handling, reliability, fuel economy, design, and feeling like you own the road when you're on it. Oh, and burning off the tossers who like to follow you at five feet with their headlights on full beam.
Brakes. Keep 'em sharp. And try not to drop it. Plastic molding appears to be worth its weight in Frankincense and Myrrh.
Reviewing a 1989 model.
White, with an itty bitty screen that might as well not be there for all the use it is. Good as a fly/bug swatter, I suppose.
Owned for 3 months.
I've had my GPZ500s for nearly 2 years. Shes always been reliable and great fun! Great round town through traffic and quite happy on a longer ride out (100 miles or so). Only faults, I find the pegs a little too high and a numb bum after a while in the seat and on start up sounds like a lawnmower, lol. Easy to work on and service, definately a great all rounder.
Reliable, nimble, nippy, light, easy to service
Bit tight on leg room, saddle uncomfortable after a while.
Just back 2 bikin after a 12 year break. Bought the GPZ as a pal used to have the 550. Cheap to buy insure run & tax. Had it up to 90 so far with no problem. Still abit shit feart as I am very old, but planning to at least hit the ton. Swinging arm is a bit rusty & brakes are crap so need uprated, which is on the to do list. Mileage 200 miles to the tank at least, no leaks & starts first time every time. Has its limitations , but then wat has'nt. Goos buy for the money. Once the brakes are fixed I will have afair bit more fun.
For someone who has just passed their test this has to be a cheap reliable big bike learning tool, if you drop it, it will forgive you, parts are readily available and cheap, fuel consumption (if you keep to speed limits) is very good, they start 1st time every time, brakes could be better but not that bad, handling is what you would expect from an older bike (don't expect it to keep up with GSXR's), overall a cracking 500cc 0-60 in 3.7 seconds bike.
Passed my DAS on 7 April and picked up my M Reg 500s (A6) on 21/05/05. In 2 and a half weeks of owning it i've put 1100 miles on it. It's a bit of a tired bike with 40k on the clock but it was cheap and for a first bike it's great.
I have had problems though. I have a couple of flat spots in the rev range which I have put down to the spark plugs and/or air filter, but I'm too busy riding it to change them. Also, having ridden an R1 around an airfield at very silly speeds and not felt a thing, I was disappointed by the amount of wind blast at motorway speeds. Even for my small frame (I'm 5' 6") all the screen does is deflect the wind onto my head. I also suffered a snapped exhaust due to my missus slipping off the pillion peg and standing on it. I replaced it with a full micron race system with 2 into 1 pipework. Not road legal but sounds someone pissed off the devil himself.
Carries pillions with no fuss and handles really nicely. You can really crank it over into some corners and I have scraped the right foot peg a few times. Single front disc is a let down but it still stops reasonably sharply.
There is a very slow oil leak on it which I can't trace but my friends GPZ305 has the same kind of leak so I have put this down to a Kawasaki trait.
I swapped the tyres for Bridgestone BT45's after a week and they are by far and away the tyre I would recommend, particularly the H rated dual compound ones if, like me, you do a lot of motorway interspersed with blasts of twist A and B road.
Don't let any of the above put you off though. I usually do around 500 miles a week in my car and in the 2 and a half weeks since I got the bike my car has done precisely 36 miles. I love it. I really must service and clean it soon but I'm just having too much fun.
I bought this 1999 'T' reg bike February last year (2004) with a genuine 3,000 miles on it. Was in very good condition with all service history etc...
I ride a regular 50 mile a day commute, which includes 10 miles of B roads and 40 miles of M1 motorway. So it's been used at least 5 days a week in ALL weathers all year round...
I've now had it 13 months and it's done 19,000 miles... a few thoughts for people looking for an all-year round bike...
Performance is very good, it accelerates well for its size. Even if you're doing 75mph (at 5,900rpm) on the motorway, opening the throttle will start it to pull steadily but positively up to 90mph-ish (7,000rpm, higher if you want). The bike is very comfortable cruising at 85mph all day, or until you need to stretch...
I'm 6'1" and whilst it's great for my 25 mile trip (and back) to work every day, longer runs like a 200+ miles to Bristol did see me stopping every 60 miles or so to have a stretch... The reach to the bars is fine for a small-ish bike (fairly upright but with a slightly-sporty lean on the bars), but the pegs are a bad combination of being slightly forward and too high. Mind you, I would guess that for people of 5'10 and below it would be great.
Reliability has been excellent. I have done oil and filter changes every 4,000 miles, and whilst the engine sounds a bit rough and noisy at cold (as soon as it fires, whack the choke on fast! Don't try before or you will flood it), it is very smooth when warm. Have had no major problems. The bike doesnt burn any oil between services. A Scottolier was fitted as standard when I got it, and every bike I own from now on will have one... they are fantastic! Only cleaned the chain once in 15,000 miles, and for the first 7,500 miles I didn't need to adjust it.
Economy has been excellent. Whilst my daily journey is fairly standard (see above), I need to switch to reserve at 200 miles (give or take 5 miles... very predictable), it costs £12 to fill it up. Worked it out at about a regular 60 mpg, which is very good (I usually hold about 80+mph on the motorway).
The reason my GPZ500 only gets 3 out of 5 for reliability isn't because of what's happened so far (it's been faultless), it's because of what's been happening now. After 18,500 miles, I have just had to replace chain and sprockets (£90), brake pads all round (£60), full exhaust (£270 - ouch), rear tire (£70), throttle cable which became very stiff (£15), clutch cable (£15 - see throttle cable). The bike is looking crap. Rust and corrosion everywhere (especially swing arm, frame, mirror stalks and brake disks). I wash the bike EVERY weekend and clean it (at least 1 hour) and it still looks like a 15 year old heap.
Am saving my money for something with more room and a better build quality / finish - will probably be a Honda because my previous Transalp lasted much, much longer in the corrosion stakes...
... But, on the plus side, the GPZ still makes me smile when on twisty roads and around town. Bridgestone BT-45's (recommended by many GPZ500 owners) are SO much better than the stock tires. I got 11,000 out of the rear and the front has done 13,000 and still has another 2 or 3,000 miles left in it). In the wet they are much more confidence-inspiring too.
At my height, the standard screen aimed the wind flow at my chest and shoulders. A taller screen made things much more comfortable but now aims it mid-helmet. VERY noisy but less tiring on the body.
Ill probably keep it for another 6 months then get another Transalp. I love riding bikes, and this GPZ500 has done its task admirably, but the terrible build quality and cramped riding position is making me move on. Great engine though
Bought a 1995 M Reg A6 GPZ last week, and I can't stop riding it. Its bloody good fun, I had a GS500 before it and this bike outshines that completely. It handles well, goes really well too, get it above 7000RPM and the bike flies. Brakes are good and so far the fuel consumption is excellent!
Bought a GPZ about a month ago as my first bike after passing my test. It's a 95 M reg with 18k on the clock and have to admit I'm very impressed with what you get for the money, it's a perfect first bike with enough power to have some fun on but not intmidating at all for a novice. Handling is great, really gives you confidence in the corners. All in all I don't think I could have chosen a better bike for starting on and I'd recommend it to anyone looking for a first bike or a solid commuter which you can still have some fun on the back roads with. There's alot of them about so parts aren't a problem and the insurance is cheap (along with 60 miles to the gallon)
Got a A4 version of the GPZ, my first big bike. Used it for a year and has about 55,000 on the clock. Bike was fine till one day i found my battery was going flat... Days go by, charged battery, same problem, over a few weeks battery went flat. (Mmm?) Then one day started out side work and there was a loud crack as i pushed the starter button and a lot of noise that sounded like the cylinders rubbing. I was as you could think quite worryed, but after a couple of miles going home the sound went. Still next few days... battery would go flat and would have to bump the bugger. Got into University one day, did my lectures, walked outside got on the bike, hit the starter button.... Engine wouldn't turn over and i sounded like an electric milk float. (Bugger!) The starter motor was turning but it wasn't engaging. Bumped it and went home. After further inspection i found... Starter rotor magnets had let go (the typical GPZ/EX500 problem)and were now little pieces of magnet mashed in the alternator. This had also had an effect on my starter clutch (directly behind) as the bits had warn out the clutch. Went to find out if i could get it fixed and it is very exspensive to get a new alternator rotor (£120+). The guys told me only the early models had this problem A1+ and the later D models have a reinforced Alternator rotor where the magnets are inforced to stop this happening. Oh well until i can get some money. Apart from that the bike has been great, guess ive been unlucky. If anyone know's where i can get a cheap alternator rotor (reinforced) in the UK, could you let me know. Thanks
Great Bike. Had it from new in 1998. Quick and good, fun to ride all rounder. New back tyre at 5,000 miles. New battery at same time. Rear wheel cush drive wears at about this time, but only £60 to have replaced in dealership. Low insurance for the performance 160-180 miles on a full tank (mixed riding). Performance/economy problems mentioned by some, I suspect they have that rubbishy two into one exhaust system. My advice: keeep the twin exhausts and invest in straight through BSM Vampire Exhausts (import from BSM in Germany - Dave Smith Ipswich gets them for you). Great sound, great performance, hearing is beleiving. Keep standard silencers for MOT though! I am thinking of upgrading to ZX9R, but will be sorry to see my GPZ go. Trying to sell it to my son (so I can get a ride on it now and agaain)! Would part with it to a carring person for £2,450.
Had mine since May '03. First bike and I'm pleased with it. Cheap to buy, can get over 210 miles out of it (not finished experimenting yet - sure I can get a lot more), cheap to service. Build quality is relatively poor, but only noticeable when you go looking for it. The bike definitely suits smaller riders - I find it a bit uncomfortable after an hour or so, but I am 6'2". It pulls cleanly from a standstill and is great for taking the p*ss out of boy racers ;-) The engine does a fine job if you aren't lazy with the gears and will blast along country lanes all day. That being said, I probably won't have it in 12-18 months time, if only because I want something physically bigger. No regrets though - a cracking first bike.
Just got myself a 52 plate GPZ and I am really enjoying it ! Got the touring screen fitted to help with the wind blast so cruising around is not a problem. Being nearly 6ft I find it a little cramp, but I can live with that until I get a bigger machine. Previously owned a Vara125 which suited my frame, but not my desire to keep up with other bikers. This really does fit the gap between a learner bike and perhaps an all-out sports bike. Find the single headlight look a bit dated, and I go around on full beam to ensure I am spotted by the tin cans out there. Love the p-twin exhaust sound....
Got a 96 model with 32k on the clock and a nexus 2 into 1 exhaust. It's my first big bike and I've got to say I'm chuffed to bits. I've done about 10000 miles on it, including the recent Mencap National Rally (600 miles in 20 hours through the night! - bloody knackering) and a trip to the Isle of Man and loved every minute. Don't try and keep up with 600 sports because it won't happen. Instead, be quite happy to out accelerate (most) cars on the road, happy in the knowledge that you're still getting 50+mpg and you're thrashing the pants off crappy novas with big exhausts. Enjoy the ride!
I bought my 500s in 1991; one year old with 2800 miles on the clock. It has now managed nearly 50,000 miles although I do spread my riding over a couple of other bikes. Generally, it has been reliable, fun to ride, handles well and is quite quick. It has toured France and Spain, been all over Britain (all two up) with hard luggage and is so much part of my garage I will never sell it. Problems along the way have included the famous rotor/stator divorce (magnets letting go) but this was easily (but not cheaply) fixed with the modified parts, helicoiling the plug threads, two starter clutches and a complete rebuild of the suspension with Koni dial a ride shock, new bushes and powder coating the swing arm before injecting gallons of anti corrosion gunk into the voids. Modifications have been a process of evolution over the years. Current specification is: Dynojet kit, K&N (makes quite a difference even if standard engine/exhaust), Nippon Denso ZU platinum plugs, modified race spec ignition, skimmed heads with mild port/clean up, Gazelle two into two stainless pipes with road baffle (BS AU) but has to be heard to be believed - loud and purposeful are not strong enough), new synthetic and genuine Kawasaki filter every 3000 miles and not starting the bike on the sidestand! The cams are as good as new and still on the original camchain/tensioner. One must do mod is an 80/100w bulb. I put one in when I got the bike and it is still there after all that time and miles! I also strapped a water proof digital Casio watch to the handlebar yoke; simple but effective. I take it to run what you brungs, too. Regularly runs low thirteens with terminals near 109mph. RaceCo in the US do big bore and race kits but I'm still thinking about a turbo!!
Recommended to anyone as long as you don't buy a nail (zero maintenance owner) and service it properly.
hi ppl was just reading youre comments on the quacker 500s being an expeienced mechanic i find the bike extremly unforgiving unreliable and i have to say it is one uuuuugggly looking machine its that scabby looking you dont know if you should give it petrol or start feeding it and by the way did anyone hear of the probs with the fly wheel??well you all being avid fans of the 500s im sure you all did if not youll soon find out but i suppose in reality there better off eating there insides up the world would be a better place without them honestly there underpowered noisy and ugly buy a real bike and stop kidding yourselves ps ....i have worked on more than five of these excuses for motorbikes so this opinion is from personal experienc
I have had a variety of bikes in my time from a Honda C90 (I owned 3) to a Triumph Speed Triple. I bought the Geep after my Honda CBX250 gave up the ghost and I am very pleased with it. Mine is a 1987 A1 model with 46K miles on the clock. It gives me 60mpg, gets me ahead of the cars and is really good fun with good acceleration, a comfortable seat and good range (200 miles). If you are looking for a good commuter then I would recomend the GPZ.
I recently bought my GPZ500. It was recommended to me by a friend who knows quite a bit about bikes. After riding it I can see why he rates them. For its modest engine size it is suprisingly quick, and the handling is good as well. I am very pleased with mine, and would recommend it as first big bike to anyone.
I've had one for 5 months now and so far it has been fun. This is my first 'big' bike and the kawa is easy to ride and takes off from the corners well. It can be a little bit vague at the back end in the wet but not scary enough to get the heart pumping. The engine is easily accessible and easy to work on, although that won't happen often as it is 100% reliable. I love the sound of the twin engine and have put a nexxus power pipe on which is great sounding.Overall a comfortable fun bike good for learners and experienced alike that will leave you with a smile on your face if you open her up and find some twisty roads.Pillions will love it too.
Fantastic little bike, all you really need in a bike really. Never let me down or failed to put a grin on my face after a ride. Fast enough to be fun, comfy enought to tour, light enough to chuck around, takes a pillion easy, cheap to maintain, work on and run. Mine never did worse than 52mpg and the best I got was 60 mpg (and that wasn't riding everywhere at a steady 50 mph either!), hence easy 200 mile range. Great torquey twin that really takes off at 7500 rpm. Totally reliable - only down side is built to a budget so finish isn't great. Unfortunately you always want a bit more...hence now looking for a 600!
Owned for 2 years.
Preloved Visitor
Reviewed February 2004.
Performance
Reliability
Parts Availability
Overall Value for Money
Bought a (then) new GPZ500S in 1993. Great bike, very underrated in the bike press. The bike has been fast, economical and a real hoot to ride. Forget what the biking glossies say and enjoy great fun biking on the cheap!
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