The Forgotten 500

Andy Bolas asks why the workmanlike and wonderful Kawasaki GPZ500S has been largely forgotten when there’s so much to love.

- Andy Bolas, Andy Catton

It’s 1987 and Kawasaki has just released the 500cc GPZ on the British public. Back then it was billed as half a GPZ1000RX, which at the time was the fastest production bike in the world. It’s funny how quickly the motorcycle industry moves on, and so it was with the parallel twin GPZ500S.

You see, having started its life as a mid-range kind of ‘my first sports bike’, by the time I started riding it was seen as little more than a cheap commuter bike, which is such a shame as the GPZ isn’t really a bad bike at all and is so much more than just an ‘A-to-B’ machine.

In many respects the GPZ started out as a fairly sexy model. On paper you’d easily compare the 500 to a 350 powervalve or such like, and certainly in terms of outright performance. OK, so the bike weighs around 20kg more than the 350 stroker, but to be honest it isn’t that noticeable, especially when you’re actually on the move. The 500 shares its wheel size with the RX, having 16-inch front and rear wheels, which will limit your tyre choice somewhat, but such is life. If you want to move to something more easily shod with modern rubber, you could choose the D/E model.

Of course we like older bikes here, and we have to say those ‘sexy’ first generation GPZ500s come in some rather pleasant colour schemes, which are quite restrained for the late 1980s early 1990s, but ones that set the bike’s original clean lines off perfectly. Of course, it wasn’t without its issues. Build quality (while better than some) wasn’t up there with the Hondas, and like many Kawasakis from this era, the GPZ500 suffered from carb icing, with many bikes having a heater kit fitted under warranty to cure this. Strangely, our test bike has had this removed – according to its owner – and we’re not sure exactly why.