Kawasaki ZZR 250

**Donor** · 13th February 2007, 18:53

'97-'98 with 28,000ks on the clock

Pros and cons please!

It's red and shiny - PRO
It's red and shiny - CON

(Errr, con cos it could lead to mischief...)

**Disco Dan** · 13th February 2007, 18:58

for a 250, its pretty heavy. More a touring bike. Top end is pitiful (140kph).
crashes well, ie little damage and pretty sturdy/solid. Poor wind/air flow for highway speed, and very prone to crosswinds blowing you into next week! Great for a learner - predictable throttle response and forgiving handling and clutch control. Prone to popping the bottem end bearing and making one smeg of a noise at idle.

..my 2c.

**Drum** · 13th February 2007, 19:03

PRO - That is pretty low K's for those sturdy Kwaka 250 engines.

**Gremlin** · 13th February 2007, 19:41

Originally Posted by Disco Dan

Top end is pitiful (140kph).

At least 160kph indicated :whistle

Originally Posted by Disco Dan

crashes well, ie little damage and pretty sturdy/solid.

no, not really... front indicators are usually the first to break, due to being so prominent. Can't buy them wrecked.. as they are usually broken. Despite the bike being made for 14 years, it will still cost around $70 PER indicator. Fairings usually follow right after that. Just Fairings in Hamilton makes them tho.

Good little bike, what I learnt on. If you weigh around 100, be prepared to bottom it out... regularly, despite stiffened suspension.

Its certainly not the fastest, no matter how I tried, I couldn't match the zxr/cbr, despite being on the gas earlier.

Otherwise... good little learner.

**Donor** · 13th February 2007, 19:48

Cheers for the info so far folks... I've had one offered to me at a reasonable price, and am finding it just too damn tempting.

Daisy is a nice bike, but is not "me"

I'd have to sell Daisy, then my cage, and probably just be able to buy the Kwaka, though the wife is all about "what if you want to go back to a car" and "what about if you need to pick the kids up"

Well, I plan to never go back to 4 wheels. There is no joy in it for me anymore - 2 wheels have ruined me for transport. I even m'way to work and home now!

Pick the kids up? Shit, I work 11 hours and finish at 6pm, chances of that happening are minor to zip! Worst case, we have friends and family with cars, they bleed free tech support off me, they can bloody well do me a favour once in a while.

But, as I will never be able to make myself understood, I'll probably end up selling Daisy, and waiting 30 years til I retire, then looking at another bike.

Bloody women!

**MotoGirl** · 13th February 2007, 20:20

The ZZR is a damn good bike. Cajun and I owned a '94 model and ran up 50,000km on it while we were learning to ride. OK, it'd probably feel gutless after riding my 1k, but at the time it had enough power to do what we wanted.

We easily used to ride two-up and cover 600km in a day. We kept it well maintained and serviced, changed the oil every 6,000km etc, and never had a single problem with the bike.

If anyone says they're slow, they're lying. I went to the Akarana Rage back in '99 and was happily blowing away guys on Harleys two-up! Cajun had the speedo off the clock...

**zeocen** · 13th February 2007, 20:52

Godamnit Donor go for it!
We can be engine buddies! (ZZR and GPX have the same engine)

ZZR's were my first choice but the GPX offer I got I couldn't pass up, assuming your riding style hasn't changed since we last met I would say the bike would suit you very well. It took me a lonnnng time to get confident at 100k and the gpx was very forgiving at letting me get there, and sail's quite comfortably at 100(...and a little beyond hehe).

Just do it! And then let me test ride it to see what I missed out on!

/Edit, oh yeah, what Disco Dan said is true.. they can almost sound like wannabe mini ducati's at idle, but I don't mind the sound. It's quite unique

**Donor** · 13th February 2007, 21:33

Originally Posted by zeocen

Just do it! And then let me test ride it to see what I missed out on!

Heh, hopefully, I'll be in takanini test riding tomorrow arvo... want me to txt ya?

**Ixion** · 13th February 2007, 21:39

You'll regret it.

But if you do want to sell Daisy let me know. At the very least we need to vet and approve any new owner. Not just anyone is worthy of a two stroke you know.

**Donor** · 13th February 2007, 21:47

Originally Posted by Ixion

You'll regret it.

But if you do want to sell Daisy let me know. At the very least we need to vet and approve any new owner. Not just anyone is worthy of a two stroke you know.

Yes I will, and yet no I wont.

Daisy is a character bike, a classic really, and is a good ride. But I am not comfortable with her - and to be honest, the love she needs to be restored to fuller beauty, I can't afford to bestow upon her.

I have had rumblings from some chap of certain asian/bushwhacker descent, fervently prattling on about wanting her as a track bike. Not sure how to take that one frankly... I'm not sure who would be bad for who, nor in what sense really...

**zeocen** · 13th February 2007, 22:52

Originally Posted by Donor

Heh, hopefully, I'll be in takanini test riding tomorrow arvo... want me to txt ya?

OOoerr, that's pretty tempting!
I might be off to Whangamata tomorrow but if not I might be dead keen!

Alternatively if you test ride it and still aren't sure you're more than welcome to give my GPX a go, a few things aside I'm pretty sure it would handle just like the ZZR ?