Buying a GPZ900R

I agree totally. But when you pay £10 for the whole bike and it even had
Allspeeds fitted, you can't grumble (until that is, you strip the lump and
find a 2-piece crank!)

JB

 

But on a collectible early one, you don't really want to do too many
mods. You just want to make sure everything in the braking system is
in top condition, with good modern pads. The bike will be very
rideable like that.

 

That's pretty much my take on it. Or mods that are done should be
easily 'reversible'. For example, on the 400 Four I've fitted dogleg
levers, but kept the originals.

Well, this is the one I'm going to bid on:

Ebay item 160272468572

I've contacted the seller. He lives two miles from Glasgow Airport, so
if I win it, it'll be a cheap one-way flight up from nearby (to me)
Gatwick, and a ride down. Hence, Bruce (if you're reading this), the
hope of an overnight stop - depending on what my flight time is.

 

What I call the 'fly-ride' - I did this when I bought Colin's
Thunderace and Hog's Gixer Thou. Flights are dirt cheap and the fastest
way to cover big distances, plus the ride home gives you a chance to
assess the bike properly.

 

Why do you want one, if you're honest with yourself? What will you do
with it, both short & long term?

--
Krusty
www.MuddyStuff.co.uk
Off-Road Classifieds

'02 MV Senna '03 Tiger 955i '96 Tiger '79 Fantic Hiro 250

 

This is bang on the money, except that you understate just how slowly
the 750 steers ;-)

"Doesn't want to deviate from a straight line, not even if you wallop
the end of the handlbar with a four-pound lump hammer" is more like
it.

My memory of the original GPZ9 is that it steered surprisingly
well,probably because it was designed for a 16-inch front wheel,
whereas a lot of the similarly-shod bikes at the time just had them
bolted on to frames that were never intended for them in the first
place. I'm thinking of the Guzzi Le Mans Mark Four here.

Yes, you're correct.

 

My GPz550 (air-cooled) had a small "z" on the side panels.

 

I want because because I remember testing one when they first came
out. Also because it's been on my wish list for a long, long time.
Because I want another long-term 'keeper' classic to accompany the 400
Four. Because I can earn a crust writing about it. Because, as I said,
they will never be this cheap again.

I'm surprised prices are as low as they are, frankly. This bike was
the spiritual successor to the Z1, and had much the same sort of
impact on the market. If you weren't there (were you?) you will have
difficulty in understanding that impact Its influence on bike design
was absolutely colossal. It was nearly 10 years ahead of the rest of
the pack: it took until 1992 and the Fireblade before anyone made the
same sort of quantum leap. There is a direct line of descent from this
to the current Kawasaki ZZR1400 (not so much the 10R). Consider that
the 900R is nearly a quarter-century old. Now think what people would
have asked for a really clean original Z1, 25 years after its launch
(so in the late 1990s). And consider what the Z1 sells for today. The
900R is going to appreciate, massively. A grand or so is quite
possibly the best investment in a motorcycle I could make.

 

Arse, I thought you were going to get it, fettle it and then punt it
back out on here, in which case i'd be tempted

It looks a nice bike, but the stable still needs considerable
downsizing.

P.

 

Funny you should say that, because I've been watching a few and I have
a real soft spot for them. They are a fair bit slower than the 900R,
mind: 130-135 instead of 150+. But they *feel* fast and they've got
character.

Good ones, though, are still around the £800-1000 mark, so they really
aren't much cheaper than the 900. But more importantly, they just
weren't kissed by the Classic Fairy, and the 900R was.

Funnily enough, I bought a GPz550 a couple of years ago as a fun hack.
Still a good ride, but the light front end is a bit of a pain. I did a
deal with my next-door neighbour involving a dead XS650 plus cash for
it, and he's still got it.

 

*shrug*

They do have a habit of officially calling a model by one name, but
putting different graphics on the fairing.

 

Heresy. And coming from you, with the world's largest private
collection of dead 250 Super Dreams, a bit rich

But like I said, the XT will have to go.

 

By which reckoning none of them are GPZs, however you spell them.
They, and the GPXs, along with the earlier Z notation bikes, always
head official names starting with ZX, IIRC.

--
_______
..'_/_|_\_'. Ace (b.rogers at ifrance.com)
\`\ | /`/
`\\ | //' BOTAFOT#3, SbS#2, UKRMMA#13, DFV#8, SKA#2, IBB#10
`\|/`
`

 

Even if it did have the red/black the right way round.

 

Oh, sure, but that's in addition to the difference between the
"publicity" name and the graphics.

 

All you do is take the "classic" bits off, wrap 'em in an oily rag,
and bolt 'em back on if you want to sell it.

Then sell the brake upgrade[1] to someone else who wants to enjoy it.

At least, that's what CBX owners in East London do.

[1][2] new m/c (Yam Fazer or Kwak ZRX), braided hoses, calipers off a
900F.[3]

[2] At least, that's the plan

[3] Exactly the same as CBX-B/C calipers, but cheaper, cos they're not
CBX bits.

 

Hmm.. I'd go for it apart from two things:

1. My hands are *really* painful at the moment - so much so that I'm
having problems holding a pen in my right hand in the mornings. So
riding a bike isn't going to happen unless I can rig it to that I can
pull the front brake and clutch in with one finger (oddly enough the
first finger on each hand doesn't hurt at all). And the main pain is in
the joints where the fingers meet the palm so gripping a handlebar grip
isn't going to be enjoyable. And neither is getting it out of the
garage, turning it round on the gravel drive and getting it up the
(gravel[1]) slope between two parked cars..

2. I fancy living for more than two nanoseconds after Cheryl finds out.
Although my parents are staying with us at the moment gives me someone
to hide behind when the flames start..

3[2]. I don't have room in the garage at the moment. Once I sold my
Tiger the space got re-used by 'stuff' and I'd have to find space to
put it.

Phil.

[1] AKA left-over builders rubble over lumps of leftover hardcore.
[2] OK - so it's 3 things. Extra value, much cheapness!

 

What are you taking for the pain?[1]

[1] Oh... hello by the way!

 

That's just Yamaha's way of designating models. RDs are 1A1, 1A3, 2R8,
2R9, 4L1, 4L0, 31K, 1UT etc, depending on if it's an early aircooled
250 or 400 with either points or CDI, 250 or 350LC or Powervalve. Each
new model has a new designation and they make absolutely no sense to
the man on the street. There's probably some logical explanation as to
how they come up with them, but Yamaha have never let it be known.

I like the Suzuki and Honda way, each year has a new letter or number;
like the 2008 model Suzukis are all K8s. Before this they went though
the alphabet starting in I think 1985 with F, and going up one every
year until 2000 when they just added K and the last number of the year.
That makes life much easier.