Kawasaki Balius

[Meekey_Mouse]

Any one know what these bikes are like?

I've heard that they're the fastest Japanese four stroke out there and mechanically are reliable.. any input to that?

Thanks guys and guyettes

[SwanTiger]

Roughly 39 HP and 20 Nm of Torque.

Quick enough. But not the quickest.

I think these might have the ZXR engine in them, is that true, anyone?

[Meekey_Mouse]

Roughly 39 HP and 20 Nm of Torque.

Quick enough. But not the quickest.

I think these might have the ZXR engine in them, is that true, anyone?

Do you know what they're like mechanically?.. are they reliable?

[R6_kid:Me]

Its the ZXR enging in a naked frame. So basically you get some pretty mint power, with wide bars for easy turn in. Cant comment on the handling of them but as far as reliability is conerned as long as you keep the cam chain tensioner in check you should have any problems.

Cam chain tensioner is $80+ labour i think, and thats only if you need it.

Person to talk to would be Devil, thats what he had for his 250 days.

[Finn]

Here's the run down on the Kawasaki Balius.

During the boom times of the jetski market that Kawasaki dominated, they decided to manufacturer a smaller jetski targeted at a younger market. While this seemed like a great idea, the little jetski called the "Kwaka" was a failure mainly due to the outbreak of obesity in children which often meant the Kwaka either sunk or just couldn't get up on the plane.

Scratching their heads on what to do with the thousands of engines already produced, they decided to move them to the Motorcycle plant and mount them in a frame and sell them as a naked bike. The birth of the Balius.

Now what most of you don't realise is that the Balius still houses a marinised marine developed engine which makes it the perfect bike for wet weather. Also, coastal owners can be rest assured that their bikes are safe from salt corrosion.

The only catch is cornering. You need to keep the power on.

[Shadows]

Here's the run down on the Kawasaki Balius.

During the boom times of the jetski market that Kawasaki dominated, they decided to manufacturer a smaller jetski targeted at a younger market. While this seemed like a great idea, the little jetski called the "Kwaka" was a failure mainly due to the outbreak of obesity in children which often meant the Kwaka either sunk or just couldn't get up on the plane.

Scratching their heads on what to do with the thousands of engines already produced, they decided to move them to the Motorcycle plant and mount them in a frame and sell them as a naked bike. The birth of the Balius.

Now what most of you don't realise is that the Balius still houses a marinised marine developed engine which makes it the perfect bike for wet weather. Also, coastal owners can be rest assured that their bikes are safe from salt corrosion.

The only catch is cornering. You need to keep the power on.

[Meekey_Mouse]

Here's the run down on the Kawasaki Balius.

During the boom times of the jetski market that Kawasaki dominated, they decided to manufacturer a smaller jetski targeted at a younger market. While this seemed like a great idea, the little jetski called the "Kwaka" was a failure mainly due to the outbreak of obesity in children which often meant the Kwaka either sunk or just couldn't get up on the plane.

Scratching their heads on what to do with the thousands of engines already produced, they decided to move them to the Motorcycle plant and mount them in a frame and sell them as a naked bike. The birth of the Balius.

Now what most of you don't realise is that the Balius still houses a marinised marine developed engine which makes it the perfect bike for wet weather. Also, coastal owners can be rest assured that their bikes are safe from salt corrosion.

The only catch is cornering. You need to keep the power on.

Thanks Finn!

[Meekey_Mouse]

Its the ZXR enging in a naked frame. So basically you get some pretty mint power, with wide bars for easy turn in. Cant comment on the handling of them but as far as reliability is conerned as long as you keep the cam chain tensioner in check you should have any problems.

Cam chain tensioner is $80+ labour i think, and thats only if you need it.

Person to talk to would be Devil, thats what he had for his 250 days.

Thanks R6_Kid!

[Finn]

Thanks Finn!

Hey, don't mention it.

[Zapf]

Any one know what these bikes are like?

I've heard that they're the fastest Japanese four stroke out there and mechanically are reliable.. any input to that?

Thanks guys and guyettes

Devil had one. And its a very fast naked indeed

[Wheeliemonsta]

Gidday,
The ZR 250 - A (Balius) use the ZX 250 - C (ZXR 250) engine, to the bast of my knowledge it's in the same state of tune as it was in the ZXR, so the performancce should be more than acceptable for an entry level 250...

Just bare in mind that the service life for a "Domestic Market" model is foreseen as being around 7 years...

Don't expect consumable parts to be available for them forever...

I personally know two people who have done there 250 tenure on these bikes and have had nothing but good things to say about them...

You'd need to stay on top of the service on these as they are a high rpm 4 cylinder four stroke, I'd be looking at an oil and filter @ around the 5k k's mark with a squizz at the top end every 10 ~ 12 k k's...

I'm sure it will reward you with a good service life if you follow the above

Cheers

Have a good one

[R6_kid:Me]

oil changes are really all they need once they've been run in. Then a service at 24,000 and 42,000 to check things out.

They benefit most from making sure the carbs are tuned and balanced and the valves and shims are running at the right clearances. Like i said before they're only real downfall is the camchain tensioner which is generally a cheapish one-off fix.

I know of a ZXR that was recently sold on with 126,000km on the clock and still ran pretty much like new.

If you did get one the only thing i'd recommend doing to it is getting new chain/sprockets and making sure the chain is well lubed and tensioned, take it to a bike shop and get them to check out the cam chain (any one thats had one will be able to give you an idea of how bad it is by listening to the engine running) and get some good tyres like the Bridgestone Battleaxe or Dunlop GPR's.

[Devil]

Yip, I had one. Great bike.
Mine was a '91 model. Bought with 20k on the clock, sold at about 39k I believe.
Different tune to ZXR, more midrange, but had no complaints screaming to the 19,000rpm redline like an angry mosquito. Being 15 years old, it had its random problems, small things dying of old age heh. No issues with getting parts though.

Saw 175km/h on mine, but my weight held it back a bit (85kg).
At that age, the suspension is a little over the hill on just about any of the 250's, but thats life.