Kawasaki GPZ600R (ZX600A) 1985

Last Updated on Tuesday, 06 September 2011 20:11

I had a problem of not being able to start the bike. Lights were ok and I had an intermittent start problem which deteriorated to not starting at all. I looked for what the problem might be and one culprit was the starter solenoid, but this ended up being a red herring. I shorted out the 2 connections on the solenoid and the bike would start okay. So this told me the started motor and battery was okay, anyway I started to think about what it could be. I ruled out the side stand as I had recently installed a new switch. Anyway I eventually found the problem, somehow the electrical connection that goes into the handlebar switch on the Left hand Side handlebar had come out of its connection. I simply pushed it back in and now problem solved. It pays to check all your switch connections before starting the wild goose chase. By the way, there was no clicking sound when trying to start the bike up.

If anyone can send me scanned reviews of the GPZ600R, I will post them on this site. I am also thinking of putting up an owners section, so if you have pics, writings or even a website, then please email me with the details and I will start a new section.

I have been Motorcycling for around 30 years now and over this period of time have had about 15/16 bikes,

I currently own a  this Kawasaki GPZ600R  currently  in a rebuild. (hence the reason for this website) and I found it really difficult trying to find any kind of information and now this website is basically made up from 50% of my own experiences and the rest of other peoples, the specifications information was taken out of the manuals and collated here just to make things easier to find, such as PSI, degree timings etc.


The Kawasaki bike is a 1984 model made in December of that year, we know they were released in 1985l. It was the 734th bike made.

The bike was working (Just) when I got my grubby hands on it, and the reason for these website pages  is due to the fact that there is a just a lack of Information with regards to the Ninja. The SV650 on the other hand has a mountain of Knowledge.

In My project page you will find information and pictures of my GPZ600R, I will be detailing various problems and adjustments I have been making over the time of the project so please keep coming back, or if you have a question please email me and I will endeavour to find the answer for you.

I was originally born in the North East of England and emigrated to Australia in 1987, which I might add was the best thing I ever done. I am Married with 3 children and run my own Business (Which has nothing to do with Motorbikes.)  The kind of bikes I have had over this period ranges from Honda 50cc step through, GS550, GPZ600R, REBEL T250, TS125, GS250, CB250N Super Dream, RD250, GPZ600R, SV650K5, XS400, SV650K6,   and a few others to boot. (Yes 2 GPZ600R'S) The reason for the other smaller bikes, was that in the UK there is lots of snow/ice during the winter and the roads are gritted with saltstone, So I stored my decent bikes in the front room and ran around on old hacks during the winter.

Please email me if you have any suggestions on how to improve this site or you have tips, found mistakes that I have made etc.

Dont do this to your Bike....

From the movie "One crazy summer"

Last Updated on Tuesday, 06 September 2011 20:10

I have just added a forum board so that visitors can discus their problems and try to find solutions. I am new to setting up a forum board so bear with me.

here is a recent picture of my Gpz600r with its new custom made exhaust system. I will post close up pics as soon as I have it back on the road. I am currently doing a service, including tappets, filters, carb balancing etc, I even had the rocker cover polished, you can see pics on the front of this page.

Last Updated on Monday, 07 June 2010 15:58

If you are restoring a old bike, then its really important to have as much information as you can at hand. such as all the different names that the bike may be called around the world. In the case of the GPZ, it also has names such as zx600, zx600a, gpz600r, ninja 600r. Then look up the part number that you need noting that different countries may have a different number for the same part. The year is also important and the frame/engine number can also help. the biggest tip is that Google is your friend. after all its how you found this website.

Last Updated on Sunday, 09 May 2010 13:27

This website is constantly under construction and probably never finish the website as I would expect I will always find new things to add to it, this will be obvious when you click on some links and you find nothing to do with motorcycles, if this happens just try coming back in a couple of days or weeks. If you feel that you could contribute something to this site that will help GPZ600R owners for years to come then please drop me a line with your story, solution, pics or general information. My email address is This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it