anyone here ever owned a Z250?

[trevor saxe-coburg-gotha]

Did any bcf bikers who were riding in the '80s own a Kawasaki Z250? I'm just curious, because this younger lad on my estate used to have one. He was virtually married to it. Forever lavishing it with attention, he was. And I always used to ask him how it was running etc, and he'd give me these detailed updates. Heh heh. For some reason I was remembering all this when I couldn't sleep the other night. What were those bikes like? Slow but dependable? Cheap and cheerless? Solid, predictable? Rust prone snails? Must admit, I did actually like the look of it - nothing much original about it or owt, but it did tend to catch my eye somehow.
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"Life is a sexually transmitted disease and the mortality rate is one hundred percent."

Mobylette Type 50 ---> Raleigh Grifter ---> Neval Minsk 125

[thx1138]

I had a Z200 once. It was okayish.

[Uncle fester]

I have a z 250a that I am doing a nut and bolt restoration on . Back in the day when I was seventeen you could ride a 250 on L plates and it was either a z or a super dream my choice was the z. It's a reliable little thing that gives you reasonable performance and fuel consumption . It's not going to break any land speed records but it fun and cheap. Not to bad looking either
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Tomorrows another day .just as we'll at my age

[Pete.]

I've had both the 200 and the 250. The 200 was a single and more like an overgrown 125, the 250 being a twin. I found the 200 more fun to ride but both bikes were underwhelming in the performance stakes.
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a.k.a 'Geri'

132.9mph off and walked away. Gear is good, gear is good, gear is very very good

[trevor saxe-coburg-gotha]

[y2blade]

I had the Z250C (Single) as a nipper.
My dad made it into a field bike for me.

[neatbik]

I think Virus on here had one for about a day before it blew up.

[andys675]

I had a Z250B, 21 years ago, which was the twin cylinder one with drum brakes front and rear, I bought it off a workmate of my mrs for £160 as the swingarm bearings were gone, turned out it was needle rollers and the sleeve was rotten cost me another £100.

I was riding home from work one day and the silencer from the 2-1 motad fell off (strangley it was mounted on the lhs) and was lying in the road a hundred feet back, I was praying no-one would come up the road and drive over it until a mini did, I thought it would be fucked and flattened and was wondering how I was going to replace it and be able to get to work, when I got to it I was amazed to find it intact and still useable, it was red hot so I had to wait for it to cool down before I could pop it in my rucksack and ride home with open downpipes, that was noisy!
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Some people feel the rain, others just get wet.

[virus]

[hornetmike]

I had one 4 years ago, it was proper rubbish constantly broke took loads of money off me. Bought it to ride to lands end from bristol on my birthday it didn't make exeter after spending £500 on it at a good bike shop. Timing which was points needed adjusting almost daily.

its an old bike with out a kick start so if it doesn't start on the button you have to push it.

Hated it, only bike I regret owning.



https://i482.photobucket.com/albums/rr182/miketovey/other%20bikes/BSPJE3gCGkKGrHgoH-EYEjlLly8EBKCJQiD.jpg
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87 Honda CG 125 - 97 ER5 - SR 50 -81 Z250- 96 CBR 600 F- 94 GPX600R 88- GPX 400R- 87 GS 125 - 2006 Honda CB600F- 2003 ER5 - Honda CBF 1000 2009 - Honda CBR 600 RR 2011
Current BMW R1200GS 2010

[hornetmike]

you've upset me talking about this bike.
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87 Honda CG 125 - 97 ER5 - SR 50 -81 Z250- 96 CBR 600 F- 94 GPX600R 88- GPX 400R- 87 GS 125 - 2006 Honda CB600F- 2003 ER5 - Honda CBF 1000 2009 - Honda CBR 600 RR 2011
Current BMW R1200GS 2010

[virus]

there is one thing i liked about my z250, the petrol tank.












I put it on my CG125 and ended up with a 450 mile tank range.


Cheers
John
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own: 81 xs1100g...
owned: 85 rat CG (sold), 91 GS500e (stolen), 84 gsx400f (scrapped), 81 z250 (siezed, siezed, scrapped), 83 cb250rs (sold), 84 gpz750r ratfighter (killed) 84gpz400 (sold), '80 cb650 ratfighter (wrote off) 95gsx6/12f ratfighter (killed) 91 xj900 (sold)
stinkwheel Well I just had my hands up a pigs fanny. Which makes your concerns pale into insignificance.

[y2blade]

lol

[UnspeedySam]

Glad I clicked on this thread. Shit bikes always make for such good stories
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Riding: BMW R1150RT `02 bought mildly crashed
Fixing: Also the BMW as I get less broken bits
Gone: ZZR600 '00, TRX850 '97, RXS100 '93, JS125-6B '07, BMW R1100RS '93, Kawasaki ZX-6R-J2 '01, Honda Bros NT400 NC25 '88

[Rogerborg]

[Cyclingbiker]

[Stonefly]

I bought a Z250 A3 in 1980, brand new! Absolutely loved it as a 17 y/o (before the 125 law). It was very reliable and great fun to ride AND it was (just) quicker than a superdream.
I bought it for my 17th birthday in January and all was fine until the June of that year when i was thrashing the tits off it and it dropped a valve!
It was repaired by the Kawasaki main dealer i bought it from under warranty and it was fine after that.
I think i had put about 11000 miles on it by the following March when some myopic slag in a mk1 fiesta pulled out in front of me.
The bike was totalled and my left leg was badly broken.
I still walk with a limp over 30 years later
I never rode the bike again after that.
I bought the written off bike from the insurance company for about £30 and sold it as spares or repair for £100.00
Apart from the valve dropping, i think the only other thing it needed was a clutch cable and a new tyres during the time i owned it.
I really loved that bike. Shame it had to end with a crunch!!!
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Current......Kawasaki ZZR1200 C2H and Kawasaki ZZR600 E7
Previous....Yamaha FS1E, Honda SS50, Suzuki AP50, BSA Bantam D14, Honda CD175, Honda CB250N, Kawasaki Z250A3, Yamaha RD250E, Kawasaki Z400, Kawasaki Z500, Kawasaki GPz550, Honda NTV600, Kawasaki GT750, Kawasaki Z1000R, Kawasaki GPX250

[Polarbear]

In those days all the 4 strokes from the Japanese were regarded as boring commuter shit. 2 strokes ruled

Funnily enough, I remember the 4 strokes being just as unreliable as the 2's anyway.
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Triumph Trophy Launch Edition

[virus]

the only good one to my memory was the cb250rs, that's a bike I regret selling, lighter and faster than a superdream and good on fuel, made epic killswitch backfires too
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own: 81 xs1100g...
owned: 85 rat CG (sold), 91 GS500e (stolen), 84 gsx400f (scrapped), 81 z250 (siezed, siezed, scrapped), 83 cb250rs (sold), 84 gpz750r ratfighter (killed) 84gpz400 (sold), '80 cb650 ratfighter (wrote off) 95gsx6/12f ratfighter (killed) 91 xj900 (sold)
stinkwheel Well I just had my hands up a pigs fanny. Which makes your concerns pale into insignificance.

[trevor saxe-coburg-gotha]

[trevor saxe-coburg-gotha]

[stinkwheel]

[Ariel Badger]

The triple cylinder 250 2 strokes were nice bikes and fast.
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Bikers make great organ donors, get 115 on your licence today.

[Zen Dog]

I had a go of a friend's Z200. It was charming. Comfy, unthreatening, with a bit of character. Front brake was a horrific cable operated disc mind.

Zen Dog
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Current - '94 VFR750FR (Dead), '00 VFR800FI, 2011 CBF125 Previous - '10 Street Triple R, '92 MZ ETZ301, '05 TTR250, NSR125R, KMX125, "Honda" Win (chinese copy of an old Honda design with a C90 engine)
My bike trip around S.E. Asia 2010/2011