Kawasaki GPZ 600 R

Parts these days are starting to get really hard to find, this bike is a sleeper, being that its becoming rarer and rarer and you will wake up one morning and find that value has increased more than you imagine, my GPZ was built Dec 1984 and registered Jan 1985 with frame/engine number 720, I pay articular attention to the front anti dive system and I also have a after market suspension, brake lines and coils. I have done just over 44,000km and I recently had to do the starter clutch which is inside the engine. What suprised me was that when I pulled it out, there was damage and though it had been droppedbefore being fitted. Other than that I havent had any problems with the bike, but to be fair im getting on in age and only ride the bike in fair weather, then again it is hitting nearly 33 years old. Im really pleased that wheels are still being made as both of them are 16" rims. I had the exhaust system custom made to match as close the the original as possible. Overall I am very happy with this bike.

Its April 1985 and I had just become the owner of a brand new kawasaki GPZ 600 R in ebony and red. I was in the forces at the time and having been posted to Germany I got this bike for £2500 tax free. I had wanted the 900 but my budget just could not stretch.

I acquired this machine from Thruxton motorcycles in Andover - a kawasaki dealer. This was the best 600 on the road at the time and looked like a race bike. It only had 75 BHP, but boy could it move. It was quite rapid, good for 135 mph - which was impressive back in the day for such a mid size machine. It drew admiring looks wherever I went and I loved to ride that thing.

It handled well and it never gave me a problem in the 2 years I owned it. I rode to Germany on it in August 1985 on a lovely summers day, travelling from Lincoln to Fallingbostel (35 miles north of Hannover). A run of 800 miles and a 5 hour ferry trip from Folkestone to Zeebrugge. It was one of those magical days when everything was seamless and the bike behaved impeccably. I remember doing the last 230 kms (140 miles) in one and a half hours. That part of the journey required the entire fuel load that the tank could hold. I diced it out with a Honda NSR400 and that little 2 stroke was as quick as I was. We swapped road position several times and ended up parting company with an acknowledging wave. It is still like that today in Germany, where biking is as popular as drinking beer and eating bratwurst. Probably why I stayed.

The 600R had a lot of road presence in 1985, although I concede that the Honda CBR 600 blew it of its pedistal (performance wise) when it was released in 1987.

However, for my money the Kawasaki looked the better bike and it was not that far off the pace of the Honda.

It was, as far as I can recall, the very first 600 cc liquid cooled 16 Valve inline 4. It won awards in 1985 and everyone wanted one - or its big brother the 900R.

Would I have another. Yes, and I am actively looking to purchase a red and ebony one (does anyone know the current whereabouts of B127 XHM!!).

I'm approaching 50 now, but I still ride all year round and currently have have 2 bikes in the garage - a '99 Triumph Trophy 900 and an '87 GPZ 900 R.