New bike! Gpz500s

[crofty1984]

Well, new to me. Needs a couple of little jobs (indicator and a fuel tap rebuild) but I'm pleased with it.




And in with the others. There's 5 bikes in this picture, see if you can name them!

[Bob_Defly]

Congrats!

[anonymous-user]

Very nice. Back in the 80's I really wanted one of these as the next step up from a Yamaha RD125LC but got a Honda 400/4 instead (mainly as they were older and cheaper). But still had a soft spot for the GPZ500 (and still have) but then later I saw the GPZ900, FJ1200 and Honda CBX 6 cylinder and eventually plumped for the FJ1200 as the more sensible of the three.

Yours looks very good condition, a great commuter bike imo.

[Wacky Racer]

Two BSA's.

!969 250 Starfire and 1971 Thunderbolt?

[gareth_r]

Twin carb, so the A65 is a Lightning (or a Thunderbolt with a Lightning head ).

[crofty1984]

gareth_r said:

Twin carb, so the A65 is a Lightning (or a Thunderbolt with a Lightning head ).

dingdingding! yup, Lightning. only 7000 miles on it, but that's because it was crashed at some point in the 70's in America then sat at the back of a shed for 40 years presumably. Long job.
And yes, '69 starfire.

[Pat H]

crofty1984 said:

There's 5 bikes in this picture, see if you can name them!

Hmm.

1971 US spec A65L.

Starfire.

GPZ500S.

Is that a Guzzi Nevada?

And can I see bits of a 1974 CB200?

[Rob 131 Sport]

Lovely bike the GPZ500. Did they not do it in the late 80’s in Kawasaki Green with a Bright Blue Seat

[Wacky Racer]

Off topic, but for anyone interested in BSA's 1968-73 I can highly recommend this book.

[gareth_r]

Wacky Racer said:

Off topic, but for anyone interested in BSA's 1968-73 I can highly recommend this book.

Just finished watching a youtube series on the restoration of a "grey frame" A70.

[Piston-slapper]

I had one! Older model though. First non-rubbish bike I ever had. Loved it! (Just like this one. But not this one). Enjoy!

[Earl of Hazzard]

I had one of these when I got back in to biking back in 2014. Even took it to France on bike trip; easily handled it.

During my ownership the only thing that I had to replace was a broken clutch cable - luckily I had a Kawasaki dealership round the corner.

Great bikes indeed. Enjoy!

[Bl0ndie]

I had one of these as my first big bike (definitely restricted to 33bhp officer). Mine was a 2002 with twin discs at the front and only 10k on the clocks when I picked it up in 2010 for £1650. Not the best handling bike out there, but I just about kept up with a Bentley GT on the M1 at over 120 leptons and the 120+ mile trip to Leeds to see my then girlfriend was done in relative comfort. 180 miles out of the tank before switching to reserve, the standard exhaust was comically quiet which made it even more fun when it started to sing at 8k revs. I sold it after 2 years for £1500 and bought a fireblade, but damn I had a lot of fun on that bike in my bachelor days

[LFB531]

Cracking little bikes, got me back on two wheels after a thirty year gap, only sold it last year.

[Pat H]

Yep, they're great bikes.

Our maud had one when she passed her test. Pretty quick for a 500 and a very big step up from an RV125 Van Van.

[Fire99]

crofty1984 said:

Well, new to me. Needs a couple of little jobs (indicator and a fuel tap rebuild) but I'm pleased with it.

Well done.. I used to have a GPZ500s as a daily commuter. I thrashed the living daylights out of it. It was a cracking little steed. It always felt pretty light and was surprisingly quick.

[Derventio]

I had one, too. Quite frankly, it was brilliant. Fast enough, reliable, comfortable and once some decent tyres were fitted, it had far more handling than folk would give it credit for. It was £950 very well spent!

I have seriously considered having another on numerous occasions.