I picked this little Kawasaki up this week via a mate at work. I'd mentioned I was looking for a small side project, maybe a bike, and he mentioned that his dad had an old Kawasaki in the garage at home.
It's a 1978 Z250 and would have looked like this when it was new:
Sadly it was gathering dust in his garage from 1994 to 2014, when he dragged it out and dropped it off at his local bike shop and said "put this back on the road please".
Several weeks and a bill for £1000 later they gave him the bike back with a fresh MOT. He rode it once(30 miles), put it back in the garage and there it stayed until this week when I bought it.
It looked like this when I bought it:
A bit shabby, but not the worst I've seen! I had various thoughts about what to do with it and had pretty much decided to go down the home built bobber / bratstyle route aiming for something like this modified Z250:
Until I saw this:
The Kork Ballington Replica Limited Edition 1978 Z250, released to celebrate the success of South African Kawasaki Rider Kork Ballington. Now I'm thinking a replica of that might be cool, especially as this morning I sourced a NOS Kork Ballington Replica front mudguard (sadly the dealer didn't have the tank, tail unit or side panels so I'll have to restore and paint the ones on my bike). I'm sure my old mate Grizz would approve!
All a bit academic until I get it running and MOT'd - then I'l decide which way to take it. In the meantime, comment or suggestions are welcome :-)
It's a 1978 Z250 and would have looked like this when it was new:
Sadly it was gathering dust in his garage from 1994 to 2014, when he dragged it out and dropped it off at his local bike shop and said "put this back on the road please".
Several weeks and a bill for £1000 later they gave him the bike back with a fresh MOT. He rode it once(30 miles), put it back in the garage and there it stayed until this week when I bought it.
It looked like this when I bought it:
A bit shabby, but not the worst I've seen! I had various thoughts about what to do with it and had pretty much decided to go down the home built bobber / bratstyle route aiming for something like this modified Z250:
Until I saw this:
The Kork Ballington Replica Limited Edition 1978 Z250, released to celebrate the success of South African Kawasaki Rider Kork Ballington. Now I'm thinking a replica of that might be cool, especially as this morning I sourced a NOS Kork Ballington Replica front mudguard (sadly the dealer didn't have the tank, tail unit or side panels so I'll have to restore and paint the ones on my bike). I'm sure my old mate Grizz would approve!
All a bit academic until I get it running and MOT'd - then I'l decide which way to take it. In the meantime, comment or suggestions are welcome :-)
