krr150

[sefer]

Hey guys, I'm thinking I need to buy a newer, prettier bike and got to thinking, with the amount of effort I've put in to doing the engine on mine I might as well have had a 2 smoke from the start. Besides I've a very bad habit of pulling things apart so a 2 stroke might meet this need

I've noticed a low km'ed (4500) reasonibly new krr zx150 (04, reg'ed early 05) advertised for the not ridiculous price of $3200 and am thinking I'll go have a look tomorrow.(though that is starting to push it, I'm thinking $2700 - $3000 offer, depending on a few factors). Owner says it's like new, so at this stage I'm going with that assessment (could change of course). The main issues I know of so far are it has it's original (IRC) tyres, and this is the second owner (of a 4500k'ed bike...) so I can't find out the full service history, was it run in properly etc. Owner did say he got it from the local kawa dealer thou, so that (hopefully) means it was serviced then, and one can only assume the original owner at least did the warrenty needed services.

So first of all, what do you think of that price? I mean these things only retailed for $4995 to begin with BUT it doesn't seem that Kawasaki are getting any more in, so that does invalidate that a little.

Secondly, what is the general opinion? I know it seems a little strange going from a zxr250c to a krr zx150, most other forum users I've seen who have owned one go the other way (pays to be different ), but still it's a much nicer cosmetically than my own, and the lost of power/speed doesn't seem that bad (on paper anyway) and I mainly commute, so even that isn't a huge issue.

Finally, any advice on what to look for when I go see it? The main issue for me is probably 2 stroke or model specific stuff, general knowledge stuff (and an assumtion I need to do all fluids) is pretty much obvious.

Thanks guys. Some people who know the huge amount of cash and effort I just put into doing some engine work to my bike reciently will probably think I'm nuts looking at selling it now, expecially since I probably won't get anymore for it than I would of before I did the work, but it just furstrated me so much (getting the parts mainly) that I keep babying the thing everytime I go out now.

[sefer]

.. and yes I know getting some Kr parts is likely to be harder in NZ

[James Deuce]

sefer, go for it. TonyB from Motoequip (www.motoequip.co.nz) can help with engine parts too. They are neat bikes, and a heap of fun.

[sefer]

Yeah i noticed that motoequip has the pistons and rings for a very good price, which is defiently a plus.

Basically the minuses I've found so far, either via discussion here or elsewhere are:

Speedos ranging from optimistic to wildly optimistic
Crap standard tyres, which may be hard to find replacements(why I mentioned this in perticular)
Rusting exhust pipes (probably not an issue here with a lower humidity)


Those are the only minuses I've really found so far though.

Now that I've got my mind set on this perticular model bike i'll probably try to get one, in fact if you could still get them new I'd probably do that.

[Potzman]

Hey dude,
I went the other way round, started on a new(ish) krr150, brought it with the same km as that one, then decided i wanted something more suited to open road riding. sold the KR with 8500km on the clock still going really strong. all i ever did to it was get the exhaust professionally painted as it was starting to get rusty and change gear box oil cause it looked a bit grey. didnt do anything else, it was still on original tyres, chain and sprokets when i sold her!
just make sure it has been run on a good 2 stroke oil right from the start and it should be all good.

I can see why u want to do the move, i miss the good looks of the kr and for the share fun factor that it had. my zxr has scratches and rust all over it from being over 10 years old and is also very difficult to ride slowely in traffic compared to the nimble kr.
The kr needed to be riden like a race bike, always in powerband to have enough power to keep it at open road speeds, which some times meant changing down to 5th or even 4th in a head wind or up a hill.

Good luck with what ever you choose man!

[ZorsT]

When I got my RG 150 it still had the origional IRC tyres.

I have now replaced with Pirelli MT75's and Dunlop TT900GP's.

The TT900's are quite expensive, but are very stickey.

You can also get some Bridgestone tyres which are apparently quite good.

[sefer]

Cheers for that guys.

I guess the exhust is worth checking out, don't really care if it's a bit rusty (not much effort to clean them up after all), but could be a good bargining point

Yeah the reason I like the idea of the krr is that it looks good, and sounds to be reasonibly low maintance (for a 2 stroke). With the work I've done to the zxr it shouldn't need anything more anytime soon, but in the end it's still a 15 year old bike with its share of marks.

I wanted to check out the tyre situation because when I brought the zxr I needed 2 new tyres, and found that due to the rear size I could only get either cheap commuter tyres or expensive sports tyres, nothing mid-line really, so this time I'm trying to make sure I know what I'm up for.

Is the RG a similar size? From memory the krr is 90/90/17 and 110/80/17.

[KLOWN]

I have an rg150 and my tyres are 90/80-17 at the front and 110/90-17 at the rear.

[Racey Rider]

Yes the origional IRC tyres are crap.
Dunlop TT900GP's are sticky.
Bridgestone BT39ss are good. Have one on the front of my racer. Never given me any grief wet or dry.
Pirelli MT75's cheaper, but still better than IRC.

[FzerozeroT]

KRR and RG150 mare basically exactly the same bike, power, tyre sizes top speed etc.

I sold mine with 16,000 on the clock (9 months) for $2,200, and three months later he sold it for the same price.

things to do:
rearsets
tyres
taller gearing
get rid of big ghey indicators

-as long as you don't mind people whining "oh yeah, you're real fast on a little bike but wait till you get a big bike"

-and getting dropped on the straights when everyone else is doing 170+

you'll love it, there's nothing like loosing the front and then bringing it back up with your knee to make you feel like a hero

for the same/less money you could get an RG150 and give it a recon'd motor, new tyres and a suspension overhaul - but that green is nice ay :P

[sefer]

Yeah I considered the rg when I decided that a two stroke was the way to go this time, but the krr is just so damm cute looking, its like a baby zxr
I've also looked at a few 250 2s, but in the end that's speed I don't really need and will probably hardly ever to get the chance to use. I'm not too concerned about the loss of speed (changing bikes) on the straights for the same reason, in the end I rarely go hard out, I like both my licence and money

I figure if I get this one for $3000 it'll prob devalue around $500 or so quickly, but ultimatly retain a value of around $2200 provided its kept in good condition, so that's not bad, just different to having a four stroke 250 that I should be able to sell for pretty much what payed.

[sefer]

Ok, I've been doing a little research into the tyre situation for this bike and it seems that you simply cannot get stock sized tyres.

The bridgestones that are 110/80/17 are in fact a front, not a rear. i'm not sure the 90/90/17 front is right however, it maybe 90/80/17. Hard to tell since I'm relying on a semi-english website for the info.

So bearing that in mind is it a huge issue to be using 110/90/17 or 100/80/17 (or similar sizes) on the rear? Maybe someone should explain how sizing really works to me like I'm stupid then post it as a sticky since judging by the number of times people ask about tyre sizes I can't be the only one who doesn;'t really get it

[Jamezo]

If it's like an RG, then the stock profile will be 90/90/17 and 110/90/17

The good tyres, TT900s, MT75s and BT39s seem only to come in 80/17 sizes, and as for widths, I could only find 100 wide rears.

A 90/80/17 100/80/17 setup won't be a problem, though the 80 sidewall will cause the speedo to over-read even more.

[TygerTung]

I'd go into a tire shop to ask about tires as they usually have heaps of options

It doesn't seem to be a problem to run similar size front and rear, I have exactly the same size front and rear on the CG and it sticks somthing wicked.

[sefer]

Well I brought it last night

You know when you ring someone about something and they say "yeah mate, it's like new, wait till you see it" and you think "yeah ok mate...", well this bike really IS like new In fact for 4500 ks it barely looks ridden. The tyres look almost brand new, they still has chalk marks. I guess I'll keep them for now and look at changing them before the rain starts.

Aparently the story is that some lard arse (no offence to all those larger bikers out there ) brought it new and clocked up most of those ks before selling it back to the dealer cause it was "gutless" (wonder why ), the current owner brought it for his wife to get her off the back of his bike, and she's never really liked riding it.

Picking it up tonight, so pics tonight or tomorrow