Kawasaki GPZ500S (1987-2004)

I have owned my GPZ500 since passing my 33bhp test in May '11 and I only paid £500 for a '91 bike with 17.5k miles on the clock and just 2 jobs needing work for the MOT. It has been bulletproof since I got it, with only two major things going wrong...1) stuck float valve and 2) leaking rear shock. But these two are only age related things anyway ;) Love my GPZ, even restricted to 33bhp and it'll still do 100mph (on private land of course) and it still handles pretty sweetly for an older bike. I currently have a Motad NEXXUS s/s exhaust fitted and I would advise any owner to fit one...although Delkevics 2-into-2 full stainless replacements sound VERY VERY nice! --Mikey B--

Had the bike over two years now. This means i've been able to fix some of the quirks and de-restrict it. The bike is great like that, after two years you really notice the extra power available and the extra torque is great in higher higher gears at low speed (can now cruise at 30mph at 3.5krevs without it complaining or straining). For the price they cost and the cost of insurance (about £330 for tpft) they're well worth it, sure they're not as flashy, but i've dropped it/come at low speed and the only real damage was to my confidence in my intelligence (riding on ice is not a good idea, even if fun). Cracking little bike definitely worth a look if you're a new rider. First of all when buying check the exhaust before you buy, there is a bit (a balance bar?) between the two pipes and this does some unknown jiggery pockery to do with pressure through engine and stuff. Either way if this thing is holey (and it is the lowestest part of the bike that's not wheels) and it can be so without any excess noise (you need to feel for blowing down there) then your fuel consumption will drop like mad. There is a simple solution to this problem and that is A: get a new exhaust or B: (my preferred option) and have a friendly shop chop out the offending bit and weld the resulting holes over. Sure the bike sounds a bit more like a two cylinder but it's worth it in fuel comsumption. PS: if anyone is interested then i have a 33bhp restrictor kit available(well, it's two washers that go in the carb to restrict air flow) dead simple to put in and out.

I've owned my R-Reg '97 Gpz500 for almost a year now and its been fantastic biking on a budget. First of all i will say the front single 2 pot sliding calliper is awful, and really ruins the bikes overall impact as everyone complains about them. My fix, which i believe is the first in the UK, was to fit a Yamaha R1 298mm '98 4XV floating front disc, the hole pcd is exactly the same!, and same thickness too at 5mm, drill out the holes to 9.9mm dia and it'll bolt straight on(standard Gpz 500 bolts are 10mm shouldered bolts but measure 9.9mm diameter and the disc is located concentrically by the bolts and not the centre of the disc!), and i have also fitted a Honda Vtr1000 '97-'00 4 pot Nissin calliper. I made a brake adaptor from 10mm thick solid steel and machined the calliper to be able to mount it properly, so now instead of a 281mm disc and 2 pot sliding calliper, i have an awesome 298mm disc and 4 pot Nissin calliper with HH-rated pads setup and its utterly fantastic! I'm an engineer btw so have done all the work myself. 4hrs start to finish. Before this i had the standard 281mm disc but with a 4 pot Honda VFR400 NC30 calliper and again, my own adaptor but this wasn't a huge leap in breaking power due to the disc diameter. Anyway back to the bike, the engine will feel grumbly below 2.5k, but its just the charactoristics of the twin cylinder engine. It sounds great from 3-5k, real gutsy! But at 6k it seems to hit a powerband and takes off! Its such an easy bike to manouvre, due to its light weight, and can easily sit at 80mph comfortably with the screen deflecting wind well. I've made extension posts for the mirrors so they stick out a further 30mm as all you can see is elbows as standard! They still fold in to less than the handlebar width which is nice as i wheel my bike straight through the side gate with no faffing around. Tyres are Bridgestone BT-045's and transform the handling alot, making the bike much more confident around the bends, tho they do seem to cause the 'bars to waggle if you let go on a straight road, seems i'm not alone with this problem and these tyres are apparently to blame somehow. So no posing non-handed as you'll be off! MPG is around 60mpg on standard unleaded, never less than 57mpg even after a 50mile country road blast at high revs! Amazing really! I have stainless downpipes as the standard ones rust, and you'll find the end cans rust where they join the downpipes-i've temporary fixed mine because of this. I fitted a Halfords white light bulb to improve the headlight, and it allows me to raise the beam a little so i can see further without losing any strength. Unfortunately, i find car drivers do not give you as much respect as they do when i ride my bigger 1200 Bandit, and so they tend to sit closer behind you, or pull out of the junction when they would have waited for a bigger bike. Sad, but true, so be wary of that. I have used this bike in all weathers and handling has been very predictable, very confident inspiring when the roads are awash with water, and will make you give your bike a pat after a spirited ride around the twisties! I love my bike, it has sooo much charactor compared to most, reliablility has been brilliant, only a blocked fuel tank breather in the filler cap caused it to stop working as a vacuum created in the fuel tank and so it struggled to suck fuel! Check yours, if it hisses when you open the filler cap you have a blocked tank breather. Aside from that, my 29k Gpz500 has been a dream to ride, i love its old skool looks, twin exhaust, grumbly engine, starts time after time, a true 60mpg, cheap tyres, doesn't use a drop of oil in 3k miles, overall a fantastic bike either as a step up or a commuter bike. I've got a 1200 Bandit as well, had a '95 Fireblade for 5 yrs and i am still very happy with my little GPZ! Just be sure to upgrade the front brake like i have and you'll love it to pieces! If i were to be picky, i would say no fuel gauge and no clock are something i'd have liked, and less throttle rotation as you can wind it round quite alot, and there's no rear shock protector to stop road crud being thrown off the rear wheel and onto it. Picky things but useful mods. Just to finish, you should get close to 200+ miles from a tank, and finish is very good, 14yrs old and it still polishes up nice! I'd hate to see my Suzuki Bandit when its 14yrs old, as in my opinion the Suzuki is below par-paint wearing thru etc, whereas the Gpz is still a nice red, thick paint and decent tough plastic screen, panels etc. Recommended bike, i can't imagine selling mine!!!

My 1992 GPZ500 was my first big bike, and had it for three years, using it pretty much every day in all weathers. Aside from consumables and servicing, I had to replace the rusted stock exhaust...and that was it. It's certainly rapid up to 80ish if your prepared to stir the gears, it really wakes up after 7500rpm, but getting much faster becomes a more pedestrian experience. Despite some idiot mistakes and stupid heroics I've managed to stay upright – I’d say the GPZ500 is most forgiving, and not the sort of bike that will catch you out. I found that stepping from 125's to the GPZ500 was mind-blowingly fast. Now I find myself down changing and throttle full open screaming for more, if you have a penchant for speed then this bike will not last you forever, but it’s been a huge grin of reliable fun for me for the last 20k miles.

This was my first big bike I got after an RS125, the first thing I noticed was just the power difference. I could easily pull 130MPH and get there very fast, though the power goes right there and you wont be doing much faster. I really liked the engine because the power will suddenly come on like the RS and it just pulls and pulls. The downside is in the lower revs it does tend to be a jerky and feel unstable. The engine is so reliable and never gave out on me during the whole time I had the bike, I used it every day and done long miles on it. The ride is comfortable but the suspension is super soft and tends to just bounce round corners. I never felt comfortable pushing the bike to the limits as a result like I could on my RS or even my newer ZX6R. That's to be expected really, it isn't a sports bike like those and more for upright on the streets. The worst thing was the brakes, I suggest trying to get a newer one with dual discs on the front as the single model didn't have the stopping power. Even with them serviced and new pads, I could pull back as hard as I wanted and the bike would take forever to stop. You don't get any fancy equipment with the bike either. I went from a bike with a low fuel light to this one, which is without and ran out of fuel on my first ride lol. I kept forgetting it didn't have a fuel light and it nearly got me into trouble at work a few times. However you don't really need it as you can shake the tank or just fill it up every certain amount of miles. The dash is functional, doesn't look the best but it could be a lot worse. I had to put my GPZ to sleep because I crashed it and I plan to do it up in the future, I just haven't had the time. The crash was around 70mph and I cannot remember what happened other than it was my fault. The bike just slid across the road and the only damage was the front mud guard, gear stick and the handle bar. Some how the fairing, tank and engine went by undamaged. So I was quite happy with how well it stood up to a crash at that speed. I paid £620 for my GPZ, best value for money and I recommend any one who doesn't have a lot of money to get this bike. It's a great first big bike and also a great commuter bike for someone who doesn't want their real pride and joy clock up the miles.

First big bike after pratting around on a 125 for a while. Fast enough for public roads and pretty forgiving. Use her everyday for getting around and shes also fun enough for a weekend blast. The stock mirrors are rubbish, but ER6-F mirrors bolt right on and are much better, best money ive ever spent on a mod. Insurance is cheap and restricted its still fun, although i do get low mpg like the other bloke mentioned. Cant see me getting rid of her for a while now.

For me this bike is fast, handles well, looks good, sounds great and is generally pretty damn amazing. Only downside is the mirrors - good luck seeing anything with them.

The GPZ500s is my first big bike. I have had it only two days. It was purchased from a MCN classified ad. I have to say I think mkdave has pretty much hit the nail on the head with his review. The mirrors do suck a little, I have some replacements on order. I paid considerable more than mkdave for the same year but with slightly lower mileage. However I am smitten with it. It handles like a dream. During my direct access lessons I never really got over 4000 revs. Having read about the power band at 7000 I had to give it a try :-) I was just blown away. I am so glad I didn't get the gixxer, I'd be dead by now. The cush drive is shot on mine but I knew that before purchase, the rear bearings are also shot. Apparently the cush drive gasket thingy is a common failing on the GPZ500S (It may be on other bikes too) but it's a quick and painless procedure. I can see myself keeping this bike until it hits a very high mileage, she's a keeper.

I bought my GPZ about a month ago so this is only a first impression. She’s in red with the middle fairing, registered in 1998 with 23K on the clock. She’s in very good original nick, with a brand new rear and a very good front tyre. I managed to get her on eBay for £687! I’d never ridden a GPZ or for that matter a Kawasaki before but for that money I thought I couldn’t go wrong. I agree with other owners that the engine is a bag of nails until you hit 4K rpm. After that she’s very smooth to 7K and above that she’s a blast. The roundabouts in Milton Keynes arrive pretty quickly compared to my Yamaha XV535. I’m a born again biker having got the Yam last September (2009) but I fancied something a bit sportier than my cruiser and the GPZ delivers. OK I guess she’s not as quick as a 600 four but she’s very cheap to insure (£78), delivers about 60 bhp and hits 0 to 60 mph in less than 4 seconds. I’m 55 next and with the GPZ I’m likely to see 56 and still have my licence! She does 60 to the gallon, handles well and the brakes are marvellous compared to the Yam. The only drawback so far are the mirrors which give you a very good view of your elbows and bugger all else. I’ve searched for mirror extenders but so far no joy. When I was a lad I thought a Bonneville 650 churning out 46 bhp was fast but the GPZ would have left a Bonnie standing – in a pool of oil. All in all a bloody good bike and a well kept secret so don’t tell anybody else! mkdave

for 6 months now on a restricter kit (33bhp). The bike is fantastic and it's only failed to start once (on a cold morning, after i'd been messing with the idle mixture). I have to say the biggest complaint is the fuel consumption, by quirk of nature mine only gets 28mpg, if it wasn't for the fuel consumption i'd give everything 5 stars. It has enough power without being stupid and the handling is nice and predictable, I've lost grip on the front and rear wheels before and both times the bike found it again before things got messy (with avon roadrider tyres btw). Fantastic bike, it'll keep up with most bikes, very glad my friend suggested it to me and i'll be keeping it for a few years to come. ( i commute mostly, going out on twisty's when i can). Ah yes, http://www.ex-500.com/ is the forum for it (it an alternative name) just incase someone wants more details on it.