Kawasaki KR1S

Dan · Brolly Dolly Joined: 04 Feb 2002 Karma :

does anyone know anything about these, heard of one for sale for £750 was thinking of going to have a look its ment to be in good nick. anyone know if they r reliable? how fast are they howd they handle?

its only a 250 but may just get it for bout 6 months then go for a 600.

Stew · Posted: 23:33 - 22 Aug 2002 Post subject:

From what I remember they were the dogs danglies in their day!
Very fast (for a 250 2stroke at least) but not the most reliable bike in the world (did I say 2stroke Laughing

). When I was 16 ( a long time ago) it was the bike I wanted when I turned 17, unfortunatley I never had the money.

Think top speed was something like 130 mph, probably not far off the performance of a RS250 really, perhaps not so good in the handling department though.

It would be getting on a bit now , make sure the engine is sweet before you buy it.
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McJamweasel · BCF Junkie Joined: 22 Mar 2002 Karma :

Yeah, stewsprettymuch spot on from what ive heard.

Kinda like an old RS250, not as fast or as good handling but certainly not bad at either!!
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Doddmaster · World Chat Champion Joined: 02 Feb 2002 Karma :

They are cool. Look really good and like Stew said, they are good for 130mph. If you plan on getting one, I would gfet an engine rebuild as soon as you get it because they are really unreliable. Don't be shocked if you need new rings every 1000 miles!

McJamweasel · BCF Junkie Joined: 22 Mar 2002 Karma :

Kickstart · The Oracle Joined: 04 Feb 2002 Karma :

Hi

They are very quick, but quite high geared. OK with a tail wind! One magazine managed to get one to 143mph I think (from dim and distant memory). Most have been slung down the road by now and I havent seen a nice one for ages.

As to reliability the problem was that the locating pin for the piston rings (ie the pin to stop the rings rotating round the piston) was not well secured and would come off, wrecking the barrels. Think that Kawasaki fixed that problem one later pistons, so fitting a new set to it should solve the problem. Otherwise I think they were fairly reliable, probably better than an RGV250

All thebest

Keith
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Dan · Brolly Dolly Joined: 04 Feb 2002 Karma :

cheers for the replys i will go have a look at it. cant ride a big bike till the 7th of nov, but starting to look. i was also thinking og a rgv.

EuropeanNC30R... · Gay Hairdresser Joined: 20 Jun 2002 Karma :

yo mate! the kr1s is a smart bike and when it first came out was the fastest production 250 ever at 140mph, 10mph faster than the rgv250 at the time. However it had longer gearing and the standing quarter times were well down on the rgv, which wouldnt be a bad buy itself (guess what i would go for Wink

). I read somewhere that many racers fitted tz racing pistons instead of the kr1s pistons because of the peg popping out problems, so if your using it as a track bike this could be worth considering.

If you're thinking of gettin an rgv250 bear in mind that the engine is fairly reliable if properly warmed, hasnt any inherrent piston/ring/peg/whatever problems unlike the kr1s. The big thing to watch out for is one of the powervalves dropping into the cylinder if the pin becomes worn and elongated, however they can easily be modified to avoid this, and if you are buying a cheapish earlier model like mine they are a lot less likely to fail anyway, the 91-93 models were the main culprits. There are also a lot more rgvs about than kr1s's, so you wont have any trouble finding spares.

good luck!

ps: rings every 1 thousand miles!? what are you on!