20 Most Recent 1996 kawasaki GPZ 500 S - GPX 500 R Questions & Answers

A good quality semi synthetic 10w40 oil will be fine. Make sure it is specifically for motorcycles. Car oils have anti-friction additives which could cause your clutch to slip.

if the reservoir is overfilled then water may be forced out when the engine is too hot. The engine can get too hot if not enough antifreeze/coolant is in the system or the radiator doesn't have enough air flow over it. Another thing that could be going on is the engine is pressurising the water circuit because of a crack or blown gasket. Do you have a milky residue on the oil filler cap?, If you remove the expansion tank cap is the water surface clean and if you then start it does the level rise.?

could be the starter solenoide failing
Cheers Rob

must take the fork out of the t-post. then open the top cover. drain remaining oil. push down top part of the fork until it reaches to the end. put oil leveling the top. pull the top part of the fork again. spring must be inside when filling it with oil.

Does the engine crank OK?- was it running?
Is there fuel? check for a spark by pulling off the HT lead and fitting a plug & cranking - Spark? No? Check clutch switch, neutral switch & sidestand switch & kill switch work OK.
Spark? Yes?
Drain carbs via bottom screw to get clean fuel / any sediment out.
Clean plugs. Check choke linkages,
Good luck!

Hi and welcome to FixYa,

If only a single cylinder is not firing, initial possibility to consider and/or check since "...good spark and comprestion..." would be the carb; or more specifically presence / absence of fuel in the carb bowl and its ability to deliver fuel through the intake manifold to the combustion chamber.

A simple check would be to collect the fuel from the carb of the cylinder not firing through the drain hose (bottom of the bowl) and loosening the drain screw. Note the quantity and quality of fuel. Doing the same with the other 3 carbs would give you a reference.

Good luck and thank you for asking FixYa.

changing exhaust pipes to a different than stock i.e.free flowing,system necessitates re-jetting carburetters. one hot cylinder indicates a too lean condition often caused by maladjusted float level or restriction of fuel flow to ,or within the carb of the affected cylinder.multi-carb setups must be 'calibrated' so they work in unison.

Sound like your brake caliper for the front (I'm assuming that it's the front) is hanging up. They get corrosion and the caliper piston sticks. Have it rebuilt, or do it yourself. I take it off, and use compressed air at the hose connection to "blow" out the piston, with a piece of wood where the pads go to protect the piston from the blasting out. Be careful when doing this because it comes out like a shot!!! If it wont move, I have made a grease fitting fastener that threads in, and pumped grease into it to remove the piston, messy but safer. Clean up the piston and caliper real good and re-asemble. Use brake fluid to lube up the seal.

you need to bleed out he break fluid in the brake.

1989, and yes.

Check the routing of the wires under the tank. Also check the wire connections. It sounds like the installation of the tank is pulling on the wires causing a momentary disconnection of a power wire.
Alternate to that, are the spark plug wires grounding against the tank?

Please rate this solution. Thanks!

If you are not VERY mechanically inclined...and have the special tools required... .please take this to a professional!! it will be less expensive in the long run.!! It takes some special tools that only dealers have.

Rebuild the Carbs!!!
Had Same Problem with my 750..
Your Welcome
HotRod42069

Before you attempt to take out the ignition, call a dealer and ask him if they can get you a key for your bike by using the VIN as reference. Harley and some metrics can do it this way.

.030 to .035

check coil or wire from coil. could be blown fuse or bad brain...aka CDI in which case you could open it after locating it and possibly discover a bloated capacitor which you can snip off and solder in a new one for 2 bucks. at a radio shack or electronics parts store

sidestand lockout switch is sticking...bike thinks that you're trying to ride away with the stand down so it kills the sparks.

Not likely, but it can kill a battery.

If you have a wiring diagram, trace out the ignition system this way you trace problems. But you could pull the plugs and put them in the wire and ground it against the head, away from the spark plug hole, turn the engine over and see if it fires, i use a spark tester, but a known good plug will do. If there is no spark then check to see if you have volts at the primary side of coil "the little wires that hook to it test them with the ignition on" if no volts there then begin your volt chace checking all wire and connectors. You will need a multi meter ok. let me know how it goes, just takes patience and time k.

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