Suzuki NZ 250 commuter/project.

**et al** · 16th May 2008, 15:51

Originally Posted by Mrs Kendog

The plot thickens!!!

or... "the plot sickens". Can't wait to see that paint job then - didn't realise they could be such demanding little feckers.

**Conquiztador** · 19th May 2008, 09:07

Originally Posted by Deano

From Tard Me:

"And one more for someone considering this one: I had 3 of them. Managed to scare one up to 180Km/h. Sold them as my boy moved to bigger bikes. There is heaps of parts around and she is easy to work on. Can't go wrong. posted by: axzon "

180km/h out of an NZ250 ?

Yep. That was mine. Trust me these things can scream!!

Things to watch out for:

- Tank. Rusts from inside in seams at the back. If you are gonna use the original one and not swap to something else, then splash around some tank sealer before you do anything else!

- CDI. Bike starts to fart and do strange stuff when starting up. But after 10 min of warmup she is OK. Had problems with two of them. Cut them open and re-soldered the joints.

- Throttle cable. Very short and if not spot on in right position she will rev up when turning right (or was it left..hmmm)

- Shims for valve adjustment. Not available anymore from Suzuki. But as you will need thinner ones as the valves settle in you can have them machined by a good engineering shop.

- Exhaust. That box under the motor rusts and is a pain to fix.

- Sparkplug. Tricky to get out w/o right tool. And you really need to take the tank off first.

Use good oil! The cam seats are prone to wearing as there is no bearings, but the cams sit straight agaist the alloy in the head. But if oil is swapped on regular basis you be OK.

And, and.... I think thats it re issues. The motor is a dream to take apart and put together.

And to who questioned the 180K/h. Balanced crank, HP coated head, valves and piston, total seal rings, change of sprockets, as it was the S model already had a small faering, tuned carbi, and opened up the breathing a fraction... These girls have air and oil cooling.

One day when I have nothing else on... I will get another one of these and see what some stroking can do. Recon I should be able to scare close to 50Hp and over 200K/h out of her. Should not be that hard: offset crank pin (as there is space in the crank housing), raise the cylinder, longer cam chain. Might even see what some bigger valves and a sharper cam with a fraction longer and higher profile would do...

One day.

Good luck with the project. My plan was to make a Player Norton lookalike out of one of them. But then my oldest moved to bigger bikes, so I sold off all I had of these.

**James Deuce** · 24th May 2008, 21:19

Guess what fired up tonight?

Topped up the almost dry battery this morning (I have a new Yuasa to pick up next week) and put it on the charger. A splash of fresh gas, a bit of choke, and 30 seconds of cranking and it putted into life.

No weird rustling noises, not rattles or knocks, just chuffing. I think the carb needs a clean. Maybe I could just clean up the carb in the box of spares and install that

.

Noice.

All the electrics are sound and all the bulbs and stuff do what they should.

I can turn my headlight off. Nyah, safety nannies. I'll HAVE to get an open face helmet too, and I know just the one that will match the paint job I have decided on.

**James Deuce** · 25th May 2008, 12:12

Despite feeling less than scintillating I just RODE IT ROUND THE GARDEN.

Twice.

It works!

**James Deuce** · 2nd June 2008, 16:27

Started dismantling yesterday. I spent a couple of hours labeling boxes and getting bracketry together to be painted.

I also took a large number of photos so I can re-route cables and pipes and see how things bolted together.

I've made an album.