Saying goodbye to an old friend

This is my 1981 KZ250 single. I got her when I was 13 and have alot of fun on this little bike. It was actually thrown out on spring cleaning day, left for the garbage truck. My dad and I took it off the pile and was told "it just won't run, lots a parts you could use though". We bought a repair manual for it and soon discoverd why it "just won't run". Being a KZ250 D2 it had a transistorized ignition, and the crank pickup was facing the wrong direction... so we turned it around and set the clearence. What do you know it started right up! There was a wopping 1200 miles on the odometer, and I had my first street bike. I rode for years without a license, to school, work, just out to the middle of nowhere.


By t_f_b , shot with FinePix S3100 at 2008-05-10


By t_f_b , shot with FinePix S3100 at 2008-05-10


By t_f_b , shot with FinePix S3100 at 2008-05-10


By t_f_b , shot with FinePix S3100 at 2008-05-10

About 4 years ago I had it painted True Blue Pear for about $100 bucks and had a smaller sprocket cut for the rear wheel. Other than that its bone stock. It only has 4000 miles on it, and its original tires. It has mechanical drum brakes front and rear, spoke wheels, a five speed and a whopping 19 HP! It quite surprising for a 250 single, it has nice torque for a small engine, and will easily go 75 mph. Not one person ever drove this bike and didn't have a smile on thier face when they got off it, its just different and fun. My brother and his girlfriend like to take it for a spin all dressed up in thier Harley leathers, no one can keep a straight face! Thats why I kept it so long. I have had lots of other bikes since I go tthis one, but this may just be one of my all time favorites.

But I have decided to sell it. An older co-worker of mine wants to get into riding again. He drove it the other day and it was the first bike he had ridden in 30 years. He bought it from me on the spot.

I had been riding motorcycles since I was six years old, this was the first kawasaki I had ever owned and I am so continually impressed with the effort they put into thier bikes, even something as insignificant as a 250 commuter, that I always look at a Kaw before anything else. I work as a design engineer in heavy equipment, I wish our machines had the same integrity, reliability, and mechanical creativity, as any Kawasaki motorcycle.

Now that is a really nice bike. Beautiful condition.
Calendar worthy I would say. I hope the next owner
treats it was as much care as you have and I hope he
has as much fun.

Nice 250, Tyler. You did well giving it a good home and it appears you were rewarded well.

It's not quite a tiddler but it's close. For whatever reason small bikes have a certain appeal to me as well. A former boss has a Yamaha Exciter I which is a 250. I rode it a few years ago and it had me grinning silly as well.

That's a nice testimonial you gave for Kawasaki. I hope you told the new owner about KZR as we'd like to welcome him to the KZ community.

And you retreived THAT from a garbage-pile?:ohmy:
If it wasn't in that condition when you "Rescued" it,and you,
"Buffed" it to get it to look like that...good ON ya!
That bike should be encased in glass!!


Hey Timbo(kz250LTD)...You should scoup this bike,and
introduce it to YOUR 250.:woohoo:
Then you'd have a PAIR of diamonds!

(think of the babies they'd make,lol):laugh:


What a sweet bike though...wholly crappers!

Sandy wrote:

Hey Timbo(kz250LTD)...You should scoup this bike,and
introduce it to YOUR 250.:woohoo:
Then you'd have a PAIR of diamonds!
(think of the babies they'd make,lol):laugh:
!

what a sweet looking sexy bike..graet write up ....

BTW sandy

would they make (over here in england) we called them monkey bikes

think of the (nappy )oil changes you wood have to do.

Tyler, that's quite a story !!! Uplifting, I might say. I have a feeling you haven't heard the last of the 250, even though you've sold it. I'm guessing, but your karma and the bike's karma are probably intertwined and you'll hook up again in the future. Things like that have a way of working out.....

.