by
Neil Petty
After a few years riding off road in Enduros on a couple of Hondas I was looking for another road bike.
Competition on a big two stroke and other hobbies left little time and cash so I bought a very sorry looking Kawasaki ER250 Scorpion off a friend and another out of MCN for less than £200 the pair. I took the engine out of the newer bike and put in the older chassis, sorted through all the parts and managed to get a serviceable bike out of the pair of them for a little extra cash. The good engine turned out to be not so good and after a broken big end bearing, some new parts and the crank out of the broken engine it ran OK, for a while.
The belt drive was very good – I took the engine out more times than I adjusted the belt – but alternator and bearing failures, tyres deciding to go flat over night and lots of other odd annoying things made up my mind to get a replacement machine, better wages and a bit of saving helped.
The short list was only two, Kawasaki GPZ500S or GT550G7, both about the same price, but the GT had shaft drive (no maintenance like the belt). I had never owned a Japanese transverse four and being 6’5” needed a comfortable riding position. In February 1993 I put down a deposit on a brand new GT550G7. A couple of weeks later I collected it and was on the road.
The ER250 that first got Neil on the road and the GT550 in its earlier days
The GT, like any other Kawasaki at that time, came with
free Kawasaki Riders Club membership and I was invited to the BMF show
to be on the club stand. This I duly attended and found the Kawasaki GT
Club marquee about one or two along. I took home a membership form and
sent it off straight away, so I have been a member
since May of 1993.
The first long trip I had taken was the 100 or so miles to the BMF, a windscreen was added a couple of months later to cure the arm and backache caused by the upright riding position and some panniers and a top box added soon after.
For the first couple of years I went on trips with my brother on his GPX750, Sunny Hunny and a few other KGT events, but the GT was put in to storage at the end of 1995 as the family moved from Essex to Norfolk. In the summer of 1998 it reappeared, but a couple of minor problems did spoil some of my plans.
An overhaul at the end of 1998 saw a twin head light Power Bronze fairing fitted as the lighting and weather protection needed to be improved for Norfolk, and some other mods and fittings, then a brief spell with a king
and queen seat subsequently replaced by the original and an air cushion.
Since then I have made nearly all the AGMs (occasionally in the car) and taken the camping gear to the BMF, (this year I did the 200 mile round trip on the Saturday and Sunday), the 1999, 2001 and 2004 National Rallies and a trip to Spain in 2002.
I have also managed the ACU National in Rally in 2004 and 2005, riding a total of about 800 miles in about 24 hours with less than an hour’s sleep. A cheap SatNav helped (it has waypoints but no routes), but my mileage has slowly declined from 7,000 in the first two years, peaked at 9,000 in 1998 and now is about 3,000.
With my brother I have been to Scotland, the Lake District, Northern and Southern France, Switzerland, Austria and several countries in between. Italy would never be my favourite because they drive like s**t and you want to leave a country in the same condition that you entered! Most of the time we camped, but the last trip to France we used cheap hotels (my GT looks like a pack mule when camping).
Neil’s GT550 today
I bought a second machine in 2003, a 625 KTM,
as I wanted to go green laning again. Some of you may have seen the
orange machine, but that is another story.
My commitments to other clubs reduced in 2006, so I took on the role of Eastern RC when Ade became club secretary, since I thought it was time to put more input in to the club, but I only managed one run before
Sunny Hunny, as always work and other commitments tend to interfere but I am getting better at managing them.
So what of 2007? I have started planning already – not just bike events but other things as well. Hopefully by the AGM I will have some dates organised and a few ideas as well, work, weather, health and finances permitting!
Competition on a big two stroke and other hobbies left little time and cash so I bought a very sorry looking Kawasaki ER250 Scorpion off a friend and another out of MCN for less than £200 the pair. I took the engine out of the newer bike and put in the older chassis, sorted through all the parts and managed to get a serviceable bike out of the pair of them for a little extra cash. The good engine turned out to be not so good and after a broken big end bearing, some new parts and the crank out of the broken engine it ran OK, for a while.
The belt drive was very good – I took the engine out more times than I adjusted the belt – but alternator and bearing failures, tyres deciding to go flat over night and lots of other odd annoying things made up my mind to get a replacement machine, better wages and a bit of saving helped.
The short list was only two, Kawasaki GPZ500S or GT550G7, both about the same price, but the GT had shaft drive (no maintenance like the belt). I had never owned a Japanese transverse four and being 6’5” needed a comfortable riding position. In February 1993 I put down a deposit on a brand new GT550G7. A couple of weeks later I collected it and was on the road.
The ER250 that first got Neil on the road and the GT550 in its earlier days
since May of 1993.
The first long trip I had taken was the 100 or so miles to the BMF, a windscreen was added a couple of months later to cure the arm and backache caused by the upright riding position and some panniers and a top box added soon after.
For the first couple of years I went on trips with my brother on his GPX750, Sunny Hunny and a few other KGT events, but the GT was put in to storage at the end of 1995 as the family moved from Essex to Norfolk. In the summer of 1998 it reappeared, but a couple of minor problems did spoil some of my plans.
An overhaul at the end of 1998 saw a twin head light Power Bronze fairing fitted as the lighting and weather protection needed to be improved for Norfolk, and some other mods and fittings, then a brief spell with a king
and queen seat subsequently replaced by the original and an air cushion.
Since then I have made nearly all the AGMs (occasionally in the car) and taken the camping gear to the BMF, (this year I did the 200 mile round trip on the Saturday and Sunday), the 1999, 2001 and 2004 National Rallies and a trip to Spain in 2002.
I have also managed the ACU National in Rally in 2004 and 2005, riding a total of about 800 miles in about 24 hours with less than an hour’s sleep. A cheap SatNav helped (it has waypoints but no routes), but my mileage has slowly declined from 7,000 in the first two years, peaked at 9,000 in 1998 and now is about 3,000.
With my brother I have been to Scotland, the Lake District, Northern and Southern France, Switzerland, Austria and several countries in between. Italy would never be my favourite because they drive like s**t and you want to leave a country in the same condition that you entered! Most of the time we camped, but the last trip to France we used cheap hotels (my GT looks like a pack mule when camping).
Neil’s GT550 today
My commitments to other clubs reduced in 2006, so I took on the role of Eastern RC when Ade became club secretary, since I thought it was time to put more input in to the club, but I only managed one run before
Sunny Hunny, as always work and other commitments tend to interfere but I am getting better at managing them.
So what of 2007? I have started planning already – not just bike events but other things as well. Hopefully by the AGM I will have some dates organised and a few ideas as well, work, weather, health and finances permitting!