I got the 1992 Kawasaki 550 Zephyr dead cheap because it was in such poor cosmetic shape. The engine ran okay but the bike was blitzed by corrosion and rust. It'd been left in the street for six months, over winter, whilst the DR owner recovered from a broken leg. He was the most foul mouthed chap I've ever come across. He was out of the DR game for good and wanted enough cash to get out of the country. His accident had involved several vehicles and innocent peds, his lack of insurance meant he was in deep shit.
As the bike had two flat tyres a friend with a van was summoned and I didn't actually ride the ZR for about a month. It took that long to sort out the chassis. The clock read only 9000 miles and the engine sounded beautiful, enough encouragement to keep me going through the dreary nights of work. Once rust gets a hold on the chassis it runs very deep. Basically, I had to strip the frame right down and get it shot-blasted. Some used chassis parts were also needed.
In the end, I wheeled the rebuilt machine out into the harsh light of day. It looked better than new! The Zephyr's a compact machine with a reasonable riding position. The power flows in easily, as it should as the engine peaks out at only 50 horses. In many ways it's more exciting to look at the Kawasaki than to ride it; but it's a competent machine, well bred and at home in most conditions.
The first time I tested the bike it was almost a disaster. It went like this. Long bit of straight on an A-road, 90mph on the clock, about to zap a cage that was in the way. Out on to the other side of the road, down a gear and nail the throttle to the stop. There was just a deep nothingness from the silencer. The Zephyr had run out of power. The cager decided to match my own speed and an oncoming car appeared in the distance.
I glanced over to see this bald, podgy guy with a benign smile, as if trying to kill me was a jolly jape. By then I'd found fourth gear and was flat out, making a hell of a racket. The car coming towards me appeared to speed up. I whacked up to fifth, this time finding the power, then 100mph on the clock. I finally pulled ahead, shot into a gap of about two yards, with seconds to spare. The two cars saluted themselves on their horns.
This lack of power at the top of the rev range was transitory, as far as I can gather unique to my machine. It was either a blockage in the carbs or the ignition breaking down. It happened about once a month, far too infrequent for any mechanic to trace.
I suspected the ignition because I had some problems in the wet with one or more cylinders cutting out. This wasn't the do or die failure of earlier models, just a momentary loss of clear running, not having much effect on the back wheel. There was enough forward motion to keep us going. One dark, dank night when the rain fell heavily I glanced down to see a fireworks display, sparks leaping from the plug caps to the cylinder - it was like something was on fire under the petrol tank!
Looking at another Zephyr I noticed that the caps and HT leads were different. I went along to the friendly local breaker who had a set of coils and HT leads out of 300 mile ZR550 that had been mashed almost beyond recognition. The coils weren't the same as the ones in my bike, the new stuff clearing up the sparking. However, the strange loss of power was still there so maybe it was, after all, the carbs.
90mph cruising was a bit of hard work. I suffered wrist ache and a numb bum after about a hundred miles. Vibration was low to the point of non-existence and the pegs were placed so that they didn't cramp my legs. Holding the ton for any length of time was close to impossible, a combination of neck pain and a lack of power. Laying down on the petrol tank was no fun at all, the pains in my back were like red hot needles. Posing in town was as easy as lounging in the armchair in front of the TV and much more fun (who was it who said it was better to catch VD than watch TV?).
On coming back to the bike one night, some young girl came rushing up to me just as I was putting my lid on. She demanded a lift, saying some louts were after her. I think it was just the slinky style that pulled her, although this was the one and only time it happened. Anyway, after a ten minute hell-raiser ride through North London, she looked a bit weak in the legs and didn't object to a night of sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll. She was a bit young and scraggly for my tastes so I wasn't too upset when she disappeared.
Two up riding on the Zephyr was a bit of a pain. A large friend had me sitting on the tank, the shocks down on their stops and the tallest two gears a waste of time unless you wanted to do an ad for Slumberland. The back end weaved about a bit, the twin shocks looking more trick than they were efficient. The bike really strained up steep hills, gasped in relief as we crested the top and fair flew down the other side. If you do a lot of two-up riding, especially if the pillion's heavy, go for the 750 version.
An illustration of how pushed the bike was with a pillion was that fuel dived down to 35mpg under hard use. Normally, I could expect between 40 and 60mpg, the latter only achieved by keeping revs below 5000 where there was useful enough grunt for quite respectable rates of acceleration. Overall, I was getting 50 to 55mpg. Oil consumption was negligible between changes.
The rest of the costs were quite good. O-ring chains lasted about 17000 miles and Metz tyres went for 12000 miles rear and 15000 miles front. With 33000 miles on the clock the brake pads have yet to wear out, a reflection on my relatively mature riding style and their power, just a gentle squeeze of the lever gave tremendous braking.
The most traumatic time I had with the braking was when an artic bellowed across a junction, convincing me it'd broken through the time-continuum - literally coming from nowhere. I was doing 40mph, had to hit the brakes in total desperation. The tyres screamed and the whole chassis shook in fury but we came to an halt...with an inch to clear. The rush of air from the artic almost knocked me off.
These lorries had a strong dislike for the Zephyr, coming on strong every time they saw us, especially on the open road. The four cylinder engine had to work really hard to see them off and I often wished for the excessive torque of some 1200cc multi...then I thought about the cost of running one and the horrendous insurance.
I fell off twice but didn't claim on the insurance. Both times it was due to the back wheel letting loose on greasy city roads when the tread was down to about 1mm (I always run my tyres down to the carcass, the only way to get decent wear out of 'em). The engine bars and indicators took most of the damage; only my pride was dented as I wear leathers and body army.
The best thing about the Zephyr's that the cosmetics can often go off quickly. This is just superficial, but the surface appearance of the bike's its greatest asset - hence a perfectly good motorcycle (under the rust) can be bought at a bargain price. That you might have to take the bike right down to the frame to clean it up is just one of those little trials that makes life so interesting. The Zephyr doesn't get deep into your soul and I feel it's about time to move on to something with a touch more charisma,
Henry Slater
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Two years ago I became the proud owner of a Zephyr 550. This modern interpretation of the retro looked the business and the 420lbs of shining metal was a snap to ride. The 50hp DOHC four cylinder engine is shared with the GT550, its mild nature immediately apparent. The old GPz550 used to be a much harder, higher revving device but I didn't mind, I didn't want a fire breathing sportster.
My timing was perfect. No sooner had I bought the bike than the summer weather broke out after an indifferent spring. All the joys of motorcycling were immediately apparent. Even the most fervent cager was eyeing my dash through the traffic jams with envy. A few times it was too much for them, they tried to knock me off!
In such circumstances I had the choice of swerving around the obstacle or grabbing the really excellent twin discs. A wild grip on the brake lever howled the tyre and pulled the bike up in incredibly short distances. On the other hand, a gentle stroke of the lever produced mild braking that made for safe retardation in the wet. The rear disc seemed a bit out of place on this type of machine and a bit too fierce for my taste.
The front forks, under heavy braking, are on the soft side but it was never so bad as to upset the handling. A tough tubular frame and a mere 115mph top speed ensured that things never became desperate. Coming out of fast sweepers under power brought in a little bit of wallowing, but it never came close to being dangerous.
Choice of tyres made a significant difference to the feel of the bike. The Japlops it came with were down to about 3mm in tread depth and squirmed about over white-lines and cats-eyes. By the time they were down to 2mm wet weather riding had become rather like walking on ice in old bedroom slippers. Asking around the local bike gang, where there were a couple of Zephyr owners, Metzelers emerged as the best choice.
The 550 doesn't have a centrestand, which made removal of the wheels a real pain in the arse. The tyre dealer proceeded to brutally attack the cast alloy wheels, leaving large dents and ruining the finish in several places. The tyres needed about 250 miles of scrubbing in before they settled down. The wallowing had been all but eradicated, so all the effort was worthwhile. The rear tyre lasted for just over 5000 miles, the front for 11000 miles.
It was just as well that I did the tyre swap, the following month I was part of a pack of young motorcycle hoodlums in search of good times. Cruising speed up to Scotland was around the ton, which the 550 could take but my neck was stressed by the wind blast. The riding position was fine up to 80mph and as much as 500 miles in a day was possible without ending up crippled. I woke up the next day with a stiff neck that held my head at a strange angle to my shoulders. My so-called friends found my appearance hilarious but I soon recovered.
Fuel on that thrash was a pathetic 40mpg, which gave a range of only 120 miles. Milder riding gave as much as 60mpg, 55mpg being relatively easy to achieve. Oil changes were done every 3000 miles, no topping up needed between services. Strangely, the motor has an oil cooler, which in its low state of tune hardly seems necessary.
A service is needed every 3000 miles according to Kawasaki but I've left it to 5000 miles without any traumas. The local dealer charges £75 for a valve and carb job, which given the hassle of shimming the valves was quite reasonable. I left the spark plugs and oil filter for 10,000 miles.
The only engine problem occurred during the freezing winter when the motor would stop dead for no apparent reason. It was the dreaded carb icing. This was a '91 model which didn't have the extra plumbing around the carbs of newer bikes. Changing to four star fuel rather than unleaded stopped most of the stalling and even gave a marginal improvement in economy. Why an aircooled model should suffer from carb icing is beyond me.
Rather neater was the beefy alloy swinging arm with eccentric chain adjusters. After I bought a paddock stand chain tensioning almost became a pleasure, although ultimately it would've been tricker to have incorporated the GT550's shaft drive. Despite being an O-ring type there was still a lot of oil thrown off the chain, pillions often having their footwear ruined. The chain only lasted for 10,000 miles, which made me think that full enclosure was called for.
Along with the minimal chainguard there was a disturbing lack of mudguarding. The front guard was particularly nasty, just riding on a damp road sufficient to coat the front of the engine in a thick layer of grime. Once the summer was over, daily cleaning sessions were required to keep the Zephyr in good shape.
The paint, alloy and chrome, under the winter onslaught, didn't give the impression of being of high quality. For a three year old machine the quantity of paint that fell off the frame was unacceptable. The only thing I found that was completely impossible to keep shiny was the chrome four into one exhaust. By the time the spring arrived it was a complete rust bucket.
Having paid £2500 for the Kawasaki I had no cash left to buy some small commuter for the winter chores and no intention of using public transport. On Metz tyres the Kawasaki was generally assured on damp or icy roads. The only traumatic moments came from the front discs - the pads were wearing down to the metal (about 7500 miles life) and the calipers were starting to seize up. Before I'd put in new pads and rebuilt the calipers, I ended up with an on-off switch for a front brake! I was thankful for the relatively low mass when I had to put a foot down to save myself from the slides.
After the winter my overall impression was that the Zephyr's designers didn't expect the bike to be ridden in bad English weather - to be fair, the GT550 was their answer to people who insisted on practical wheels.
The spring of '94 didn't turn out to be very nice with regards to weather. I was tempted to ruin the looks of the Zephyr by fitting a full fairing but bought some new waterproofs instead. Appearance continued to degenerate as I gradually began to lose interest in spending every evening polishing and touching up the bike! It's dead easy to tell the owners who just ride in the summer by the appearance of their machines. I decided mine had to go while there was still something left to sell! It sold very quickly for £2200, so depreciation was minimal.
The engine was neat, the frame strong, the handling more than adequate and the overall shape beautiful. I didn't mind the lack of outright performance as it was a very relaxed ride that could have got away with four rather than the six gears Kawasaki deemed necessary.
The concept, then, is good but Kawasaki seems to have done the bare minimum to the engine to make it fit for the purpose and refused to pay attention to lots of minor details that matter if you want to ride all year around in the UK - finish, mudguards, final drive, fuel consumption and maintenance intervals.
They cost over four grand new and £1500 for a really rough '91 model, although as little as two thousand notes can pick up something quite reasonable. But for that kind of money it's possible to buy a really nice NTV600. I did and I'm a lot happier.
Donald Lee