Would you rather a z550 or a 454 LTD?

[Cipher]

Im looking at bikes and well 375 for a LTD and 600 for a z500.

A poor boy could paint the z up like a gpz no one would know.

[rphillips]

Are you talking a KZ550?? The Kz550 & the 454LTD are completely different bikes. If you like a regular bike, the KZ550 is it. If you are in to disco cruisers, taller bars, lower seat, higher front end, the 454LTD will fit that style. Also, do you want a 2 cyl. or 4 cyl. Personally, I would have no use for a 454LTD, but would love a KZ550. But there are other folks that wouldn't have a KZ550 & would love a 454LTD. You need to do what is best for you, nobody can decide what you like..

[gsrick]

Hands down KZ550.

[Cipher]

oddly its a z55 and no the number did not fall off the side panel. I assume its the same basic engfien as the gpz with the exception of cams. Must do a read to see if a head swap is possible esp if the valves are different sizes. 54 to 58 hp is not a lot but one spec page says the gpz made 15% better power than the z500 or kz in the states. Thats a huge improvement

[scratch]

If those are the only bikes available and you are a smaller rider looking for cheap transportation, the LTD makes more sense, parts are everywhere and cheap. If it's about anything else? The Z500 is nifty...
(If you are taller, forget the 454 at once, if you need a small non-GS low-slung cruiser for a bargain price, hunt down a Maxim 550, they are a hoot and better than the 454 in every way imo)

[Nessism]

I'd go for the 550. Nice bike. See steve's thread in the Other bikes forum on his GPz; super nice bike. Kawasaki made from 400 to 550 with the same basic engine.

[Pawlik]

If those are the only bikes available and you are a smaller rider looking for cheap transportation, the LTD makes more sense, parts are everywhere and cheap. If it's about anything else? The Z500 is nifty...
(If you are taller, forget the 454 at once, if you need a small non-GS low-slung cruiser for a bargain price, hunt down a Maxim 550, they are a hoot and better than the 454 in every way imo)

I made a couple of mistakes before not taking into account how handily parts are available and I paid for it, literally. This is why I'd go with the LTD too.

[Chuck78]

KZ550's are ripping little lightweight bikes... pods and pipe and drill the TK22 jets out (see Lou aka loudGPZ's tutorials) & you have a fast little machine that handkes very crisply! Power wheelies can easily be coaxed out of them in this mildly modified and performance tuned form even...
You can also add a Wiseco piston kit for the GPZ 550, and a GPZ 550 head and cam shafts. Then you will have a very serious lightweight little ripper...
The GS 550 with a 650 top-end is definitely a tougher engine, but longer wheelbase and heavier buy a slight margin. The KZ stuff is equally good in different ways due to slightly more agility and less weight, very quick!

[Chuck78]

With the twins, I would avoid the Kawasaki twins. The only reason for going with a 1970s Honda twin is for the classic looks and aftermarket support. The only way I would go for a smaller Japanese vintage twin would be a GS 400 / 425 / 450, you can get a little more performance out of them. 400 / 425 with Wiseco K844 pistons and megacycle or GR650 Tempter cams and some chassis mods makes a great small two-cylinder performer! A GS 450 bone-stock is a really fun city & backroads bike, just not anything stellar on the highway

[Nessism]

The allure of a twin is simplicity. Not performance. No way I'd get a 40 year old twin if I wanted to go fast. Tons of newish riders like the low weight and low buy in cost of an older twin too. Small twins are the foder of choice with many of the bobber/cafe crowd too.

When I started riding I was into 400's and over my early riding years I owned a bunch of different models. I loved most of them. Never owned any of the KZ's though. I did own a 1981 GPz550 and it was awesome. To me the comparison between a four cylinder 550 and a 454 twin is apples and oranges; the bigger bike is in a totally different class performance wise. To me, the only reason to get the smaller bike instead is if the simplicity of the smaller bike is the main allure to you.

[rphillips]

Very well said, the only thing the same, not apples to oranges, they both have 2 whls. & require a motorcycle license plate.

[Chuck78]

Yes, basically, if you want fast acceleration at highway speeds, a small 2 cylinder definitely will not get it for you. Unless you step up to a modern bike like a Honda VT1000 superhawk, or similar platforms made by Ducati, Suzuki SV's, etc...

Although I have been pretty inspired to take this GS425 I have here and have the cylinder resleeved to run these big 72mm pistons I have here as leftovers from a blown up 920cc GS 750 engine I trashed, plus a ported head, and big custom camshafts, flat slide smoothbore carbs... RapidRay told me how the GS500 race bike that they built many years ago would pull past modern 600's on the back straight at his local track back then...So I know that I can build a 500cc (489cc) GS425 to go really fast! But I will have to dump A LOT of money into it compared to making a little bit heavier kz550 for significantly cheaper!
I'm very driven in this project to build a 325 lb lightweight WERA Formula 500 racer / Canyon Carver