zxr250 opinions?

**gamgee** · 19th October 2005, 21:05

i'm about to join the kawasaki crew, just have to go check the bike out and am just wondering if there are any inherent faults with this model that i should be looking out for, i haven't been able to find anything in old threads and they sound pretty good to me
it $3000 has done 29000km fairing etc look mint original kawasaki green white blue colour scheme

**N4CR** · 19th October 2005, 21:16

Just make sure valve clearances have been done or get them done (just makes it faster and more reliable - good for doing it at that many kms), get carbs tuned and most importantly get the cam chain checked on a zxr.

Apart from that its a great bike. Look out for rust or rough bits on the fork sliders as well.

**R6_kid:Me** · 19th October 2005, 21:45

fork seals, and pitted forks... run your finger in behind the shiney bit of the forks, if it feels rough any higher than 1inch front the very bottom look and see if its dirty or 'pitted'... if its pitted its not bad but requires attention.

Check there isnt substantial residue on the fork (shiney part again)

Rear shock - push the seat down, if it feels stiff its good... if its like a pogo stick it needs a new shock.

Check the indicators work sweet both ways. Try two ways of turning them on.. push across, hold and then release... and flick... they tend to wear down after a lot of use (shouldnt happen at 29,000km tho)

umm other than that, rattles in the engine (cam chain, big end/little end bearings if you know the differnce)

ALL zxr's make noise, but essentially if it doesnt sound too bad, it isnt!!!

NOW!!! Dont get put off, these are all things i have learnt while building up a crashed one that is now at 50k, so your's should still be fresh!. They are mint bikes and awesome fun while on L/R licence, fuck even when im on my full i wanna go and thrash it!!! Sounds like a reasonable price too!

**John** · 19th October 2005, 22:02

As above.

run your outer side of a finger down the fork, pitting is ok its rust that will cause problems, if it is pitted and it isnt sharp then its OK, if it is sharp just smooth it with some steelo and you will be away laughing.

front disks - check for warping - push it around with as much brake preasure you can apply and feel for any feedback (trying to push your hand off the break leaver), or ride it and apply the same tactic.

cam chain should be adjusted every 10,000km or less and replaced every 20/30,000km. Engine noise can be reduced by putting a heaver spring in the automatic tensioner or converting it to a manual - simple.

Engine will make an audable cam noise, completely normal cams are always slightly homo on bikes.

Rear shock - they were shit from start the most they ever lasted was 20,000km if your lucky - its not much of a problem you will probably NEED to replace it around the 50,000km mark - which will be cheap remebering that the dogbone assembely is pretty much identical with the H1 (?) zxr400.

You will infact find most parts of the later model 400 bolt straight on.

Carbs are fine, floats are useless make sure that it hasnt been sitting to long with no fuel in the tank as this causes the tap diaphram to fuck itself you can see a quickfix for this problem in one of my threads I posted, nothing major the carbs are fine.

Have fun.

sprockets cost about 80/120 front rear respective and a good o-ring will be around 80-100, tires for a decent pair fitted you would look at around 450.

Good things to know when buying a used bike.

Just a note, the reason they sound like they are shit is because we actually have the balls to post the problems that our bikes have. unlike some gay honda shit.

edit: The bike has a very cammy idle - if it seems to idle rough its more likely the cam as aposed to the carbs within reason - always good to do a full service on a new buy.

**R6_kid:Me** · 19th October 2005, 22:19

lol, what you have to remember is that me and john have both had completely fucked bikes eg.. mine was crashed, and a dog decided to help john crash his.

They are mint bikes, and dont really need expensive work till up over 50,000km and thats if they havent been looked after (mines still going strong) and most of them go past 100,000km on one engine after being raped for their whole life.

My suggestion... get on it, ride it. If you like it buy it. And if you have any troubles we will help you out later on

**sefer** · 19th October 2005, 22:22

cam chain should be adjusted every 10,000km or less and replaced every 20/30,000km. Engine noise can be reduced by putting a heaver spring in the automatic tensioner or converting it to a manual - simple

Just hijacking the thread slightly, but can anyone tell me what I actually have to do to convert the tensioner to manual? The automatic one seems to be ok for now (might look at that stronger spring idea though), but that'd be useful info for future reference.

I've found my zxr to be a great bike, but as everyone has said, check for pitting on the forks, and the fork seals.

Sprockets will actually only cost arong $25 front and $40-50 rear, chain price is spot on though

**R6_kid:Me** · 19th October 2005, 22:27

umm go in and talk to a shop about it, its normally a bit dodge doing it yourself unless you know what you are doing.

Sprocket sets are about $70-90 depending what you get, and my chain is a DID **GOLD** which i got at $140... done 12,000km and still got heaps of adjustment in it

**John** · 19th October 2005, 22:33

Originally Posted by sefer

Just hijacking the thread slightly, but can anyone tell me what I actually have to do to convert the tensioner to manual?

Well actually the proccess is very very easy, and can be done for a couple of dollars if you have some tools about.

their are a few options that you have, you can get a manual tensioner for a larger bike such as the zxr400, it will fit (should). or you can make it yourself by butchering your current tensioner with a drill and bearings.

tensioners basicly work by holding the chain at an optimum tension so as not to fly off the drive or cam, this is done in most bikes by using a spring and bolt type thingo that pushes against the chain maintaining the tension.

so all you need is to rip all the internals of the tensioner appart (scarey) - and cut the top half off and fit a flanged bolt through reversed and a nut to limit the travel - and voila done.

I will go into detail howto do it at a later point but I am crook at the moment.

but in saying that, if you're not really careful about adjusting it, you can fuck up the plastic block that sits against the chain, which is a bitch to get at and pretty much requires a full rebuild.

Originally Posted by sefer

Sprockets will actually only cost arong $25 front and $40-50 rear, chain price is spot on though

ah ok I dont know what I got quoted on maybe it was some alu ones, in saying that make sure you get steel ones.

**gamgee** · 20th October 2005, 09:43

ok thanks, sounds like they are pretty much trouble free, i'll get the things checked out that you said, and probably have a zxr250 in a few weeks

**sefer** · 20th October 2005, 11:52

Sprocket prices varied a lot, 40 and 80 were my highest (from the local kawa dealer), but Cycletreads had a much better deal. Motomail have also finally got back to me (could have been sooner), $160 for a kit.

I'm about to go change mine, hence why I know the costs

**HDTboy** · 20th October 2005, 12:00

They're slow, get a CBR, I walked past Gareth when he was going hard

**gamgee** · 20th October 2005, 12:07

cbr are a rip off though, i know $3000 for a 15 year old bike isn't cheap either but cbr's are going for like $5000 and they are only slightly quicker