Greetings, decided to join the Forum after repeatedly picking it up in my searches for some Kawasaki wisdom, and finding a fair bit of it here! Plus the vibe of the site is very positive too. I have been around a while - got my license at 15 and been riding for 35 years since, pretty much most of the time. Had a few bikes, after everything from 50cc to a BMW800 and a Norton Commando (which was totalled by an equally traditional T-Bone) I got my schoolboy dream RD350 air cooled and modified it to resemble Scott Clough's effort, been riding that for 10 years until - I discovered the true meaning of redline! Blew a piston skirt while enthusiastically taking off from the lights. Anyhow, I cut the motor just in time and damage is actually pretty minimal from that. It was right in the middle of selling a house, buying another, setting up my daughter for high school and big work changes, so guess what - it's still waiting for it's new pistons! A work colleague felt sorry for me and gave me a nice tidy Balius that had been sitting unused for 5 years, supposedly with a ZXR motor, and only needing a service to get it running. Well I have rebuilt the carbs and fully serviced it, but it turns out that Balius + ZXR ain't so simple, looks like I have to review the supposedly standard ZXR jetting that I fitted, vs the CDI, exhaust, air box, and the motor itself. Anyhow, I've always wanted a 4-cylinder, not to mention a modern bike, and I love acceleration and cornering more than speed, so I'm essentially a backstreet rider - it gets me to work and back in the best way. Small revvy bikes with some punch suit me well. So having lots of fun setting the bike up, and the little I've ridden it before it choked up from it's rich mix was awesome, but definitely need to be part of a group doing the same, as information is thin on the ground. Hopefully I'll be able to provide useful info too from my various experiences. Anyhow, that's me, kind of like the last iteration of The Terminator "old but not obsolete"! Cheers, Mike
Thanks for that .. and the other welcome messages too .. that explains a lot, the previous owner led me to believe it had a zxr motor swapped in after the original blew a head gasket. Unless they meant the head had cracked and a zxr head was swapped in .. if that's possible. I thought it was a ZXR C model from the engine number ZX250CE 048638 but I became suspicious when the balius seemed to share that engine code as well. I'll clean up and put the original needles and jets back in then, the carbs had to be completely cleaned and all the other brass bits replaced anyhow, they were well sludged up up and even had rusted up bolts. I'm still pretty happy with the bike, it should be fun to ride.
Thanks Everyone for your welcoming messages. I think now it's fairly safe to say it's a standard Balius motor, since the previous owner said the motor was swapped in by a wrecker. So I'm cleaning the well-gunked-up original jets and needles (very carefully with carb cleaner, vinegar and lightly compressed air!). I'll fit them over this week. By the way, I have thoroughly cleaned and fully serviced the bike since those photos were taken, so I'll post updated photos when the bike is back together. I replaced the cracked instrument cover and put a nice matching set of indicators and mirrors on the bike too. My only disappointment is that the Balius motor won't have the same punch as a ZXR motor, but I can live with that. Thanks again for the info.
Wow .. thanks, it never occurred to me they had different castings behind those fairings, thought they were all essentially the same basic motor. Plus a bit of misdirection from the previous owner! Can't complain, it's a nice bike for $0 anyhow, and I'd prefer it to be standard.
Welcome. A few of us Melbourne-based 2fifytycc folks are members of Club250. They have bike workshops and rides. https://www.facebook.com/club250cc/ https://club250cc.wixsite.com/club250