I´m all about small displacement bikes. Today I don't have a 250cc bike but I´m in to change one of small displacement bikes to a 4t 250cc. Probably it´s the 125 plastic commuter that will be replaced. The main reason for this 250 purchase is to extend my EFI skills further. I did a Megasquirt conversion on my old Harley and learnt a lot. But with a pure project bike I want to take the learnings to a next level. What bikes do I look for? Early bikes, 70´s and 80´s bikes. Aircooled, Twin and cheap, both to buy and the insurance is very reasonable. I´ve looking at CB250N but the lack of easy cam access have put me more towards like Kawasaki Z250. Any other suggestions for older aircooled 4 stroke bikes? Today my garage contains 5 bikes. Three small and two big. My small bikes are: Zündapp 70cc 2 stroke Kaferacer Suzuki Burgman 125cc 4 stroke plastic monster as my daily commuter Italjet Dragster 180cc 2 stroke, my unicorn, now FINALLY in my possession And the two big ones: Harley Sportster custom I built myself BMW K75
Welcome Bombus. Nice collection of bikes. The only other four stroke 250 twin I can think of is the Yamaha XS250. There may be some Italian made ones but I cannot think of any. When did Husqvarna stop making road bikes? The 'poms' (English) had nothing you would want and I don't know enough about Terrot or other French bikes. For my money the Kawasaki Z250 would be the one to pick.
Thanks Murdo! Small displacement bikes had a short run here in the 70´s & early 80´s here in Sweden. (Tax reasons I believe?) Hard to sell then...and harder now. But I like small bikes for some reason. Here big cc bikes have always been king 750, 1000, Harleys.... I like them both, wouldn't se my garage without a Harley but not without a little agile sprinter either. But what I end up with is still a question and time will tell. in the meantime I will keep building my new shop, scan for suitable project and lurk here.
Greeting's Bombus. I can't say enough about the members here, lots to learn, lots of help, and you don't have to wade through advertisements to find the content.