GPZ500S Page

The GPZ500S is a water cooled 500cc twin producing 60BHP. It is equipped with a half fairing and a bellypan. The screen offers wind protection about average for a half faired bike. This makes life a lot more comfortable for Gwyn after the ER5. The handlebars are quite narrow by comparison with the ER5, Fazer or my ZRX but as the bike is so light they are fine. The frame is a steel box section construction with a single rear shock. There is also a disc brake on the rear much better than the drum of the ER5.

Also like the ER5 there is no storage space to speak of. We can fit the disc lock under the seat but that is about all.

The riding position is a little more crouched than the ER5 this is because the footpegs are set higher (probably to give more ground clearance) and the seat is slightly lower. The seat is extremely comfortable it seems to mould to your shape. It is long enough to be able to move position so you can slide back to lower wind blast or or sit forward for a more upright position. The height of the seat means that even a short rider would have no problem getting both feet flat on the floor. Getting the bike on to it's centre stand is the easiest on any bike I have tried it does not lift it high just enough to clear the rear wheel off the floor and it is sooo easy.

One thing I really like about this bike is it's looks the black with the red stripe, the twin exhausts and decals that change colour depending on where you are standing all make this bike look great. I like it's looks better than my ZRX. It looks compact and ready for business.

More and bigger pictures HERE

The engine of the GPZ is similar to the ER5, in fact the ER5 engine is a detuned version of it. The compression ratio is higher and I believe the cams/valve timing is different which results in 60bhp rather than 50bhp for the ER5

The GPZ must be run-in at 4,000rpm for the first 500mls, this equates to around 55mph. The initial running-in was not easy as the GPZ is not particularly happy below 2,500rpm so the rev range you can use is very narrow. This makes for never ending gear changes and the bike never enters its power band (which we discovered on the ER5 starts around 5,000rpm and continues smoothly from there I would imagine the GPZ is similar).

This bike is seriously easy to ride the engine very forgiving. There is a "positive neutral" feature which means that if you are stopped in 1st gear the bike will only select neutral. Great! no more fiddling at traffic lights!! You need to have a real talent to stall this bike! The rear shock is adjustable and the setting that it arrives with is quite soft this makes for an extremely smooth ride over bumps but I feel may be a little soft for 2 up or fast work.

Once the first 500mls have been covered the engine can be revved to 6,000 rpm this equates to around 80mph. above 4,000rpm you begin to get the feel of the potential of the bike.

The exhaust note is quite pleasing, at low revs it has a nice "twin" sound and higher up the revs it will not annoy the neighbours but is loud enough to give feedback to the rider when matching revs to change down through the gears.

All controls are very easy to operate and the instruments are large and easy to see.

One glaring omission is a fuel gauge. I cannot understand why one has never been added to this bike in its long history. The mirrors however are awful! Although they do not vibrate and turn the view to mush like the ZRX it would not make any difference anyway as you can see NOTHING through them -- well your arm! They are simply not wide enough to see around the rider. What is it with Kawasaki and mirrors!!!

The bike is quite easy to keep clean as there is not much "bright" work but with the bike having a bellypan getting to the front of the engine and exhausts is not easy the bellypan really needs to be removed to clean properly.

This is not too bad as it is secured with only 4 screws. The swinging arm is also difficult to get at as the twin silencers are very close to it and at the front there is little room to get at it. I feel it is quite important to persevere as the swinging arm is painted steel rather than alloy. I've seen second-hand examples where the swinging arm has begun to rust. I suppose as it is exposed to stones etc. from the rear wheel. I would imagine chips should be touched up regularly. The bottom of the single shock is also quite exposed so attention will need to given to this regularly.

Like the ER5 the acceleration is extremely good made better by the wide powerband and with the extra 10hp and the fairing I suppose it will perform much better than the ER5 after it is run in. Handling on corners inspires confidence It does seem to turn in quicker than the ER5 and although the rear tyre is quite narrow by today's standards it seems to stick like glue. All in all this machine would appear to have no real vices.

One other nice touch on the GPZ is that both the clutch and brake levers are adjustable for reach. This means anyone with small hands can adjust the lever travel to a comfortable position.

One note of caution! I put the disc lock under the seat at the back where the tool kit is stored ( the only place there is ANY space). It must have slipped forward under braking and jammed the mechanism for removing the seat. I had the devils own job getting the seat off. I had to turn the key, which half released the seat, bend the seat enough to get a long screwdriver underneath, feel about for the disc lock and push it backwards to clear the release mechanism. The moral of this story is forget putting anything under the seat!!!

The GPZ is all but run-in now and it cruises fine at 80-85mph and I am sure would be happy at 90mph even over long periods. One thing I did find on it is that the throttle twistgrip goes round a long way. It would be difficult to fully open the throttle in one "handfull". To open the throttle wide you need to re grip the twistgrip or you wrist ends up at a strange angle. I found this out because I was thinking to myself riding it "This should go better than this". I opened the throttle more - - and - - more - - and  - - more and still did not hit the stop. The bike however was off like a good 'un. I think my ZRX may be the same but I have never opened the throttle that far cos I'd probably fall off :-).

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