Kawasaki Sportsbike Riders Club - Australia - Online Forum

Hi Guys,

I've got a 95 ZZR250 that I've had since new. Since the start of 2000 its been sitting under cover in the garage as it started making one hell of a racket with a VERY loud rattling noise, real unhealthy sounding. I never had it fixed as I had about $200 to my name, and never found the cash to spend on it since tehn

Now that I've actually got money to spend on it I was wondering what sort of fix job I'd be looking at? Should an engine that's been sitting there for 6 years still be fine to fix? or should I be looking to have a new engine put in?

On the plus side, its only got 35,000km on it, so not bad for a 11 year old bike )

Cheers.

Eccy_Man wrote:Hi Guys,

I've got a 95 ZZR250 that I've had since new. Since the start of 2000 its been sitting under cover in the garage as it started making one hell of a racket with a VERY loud rattling noise, real unhealthy sounding. I never had it fixed as I had about $200 to my name, and never found the cash to spend on it since tehn

Now that I've actually got money to spend on it I was wondering what sort of fix job I'd be looking at? Should an engine that's been sitting there for 6 years still be fine to fix? or should I be looking to have a new engine put in?

On the plus side, its only got 35,000km on it, so not bad for a 11 year old bike )

Cheers.

Providing nothing major internally has let go and damaged the cases or internals irrepairably, then it should be fine. Some people i know have started up motors that havn't run in ages without drama, some have ended up with bottom end probs. my advice would be to do a complete engine strip and rebuild if you really want to keep the bike.

However I would be looking at it like this....the bike is 11 years old with 35k on it. Whats it worth if it was mint???? $3000????? What would it cost to rebuild the engine????? How much could you trade/sell/wreck it for as is and what would you get if you did the motor up and then sold it????

HTH

Hello and Welcome firslty

I am with Strika. Find out whats wrong and take it from their.. Could be something simple. Where are you from? I am sure if you don't know enough about bikes their will be someone local to you that may be able to take a quick look...

it could be somthing simple like a missing 10mm socket rattling somewhere

You could always just dump and replace all fluids, spray some WD40 down each plug hole and leave overnight, chuck in a new battery the next day and see what happens...

"loud rattling noise" is pretty vague, so try and get it running again so you can start the diagnosis. That's really the only way you'll know whether it is worth doing anything to. A few hundred bucks to have it fixed would be worth it, as you'll recoup that money pretty easily for a going machine.

isnt it about time you upgraded to a bigger bike ?

interested in selling it as is ? Pm me

Hi Guys,

Thanks for the advice. My initial guess about the noise was that the tensioner went, the mechanic told me it would need replacing a couple of months before the noise started; so who know.

I think I will get it to the mechanic, just found out my mates Girls dad runs a bike workshop so I'll get it up there and see what the damage is

Yeah I agree, time to upgrade! but I've got enough to fix this but defintly not enough to get a new and bigger one

Cheers!!

Chain tensioner shouldn't be too difficult...or expensive.

Felix wrote:You could always just dump and replace all fluids, spray some WD40 down each plug hole and leave overnight, chuck in a new battery the next day and see what happens...

"loud rattling noise" is pretty vague, so try and get it running again so you can start the diagnosis. That's really the only way you'll know whether it is worth doing anything to. A few hundred bucks to have it fixed would be worth it, as you'll recoup that money pretty easily for a going machine.

if it has been sitting for 6 years then there is a whole lot more to do than a battery and tensioner

the noise could be a tensioner or a bunch of other things ,

what kays are on the bike ?

tensioner IRC is a bolt on the outside

as for the past 6 years ,you will need to be doing a few things

all fluids replace, oil, coolant, brake fluid especially

hopefully your tank hasnt rusted away

DO NOT RIDE THIS BIKE WITHOUT NEW TYRES or you will add some panel work to your bill , old tyres will be ok to sort your probs but once you decide to ride it back on the road full time then new rubber is essential, it might be ok in the dry , but a bit of moisture will have you on your arse quickly

These Donks always Rattle like a Barstarge anyway, Does the rattle decrease when you engage the clutch all the way ?.

If so just ride the sucka .......... after Following Jonny5's Instructions above of course

For the sake of a few $ get it checked. No oil in the top end for 6 years could cause dryness and thus sticky valves. A full service will sort most things if you tell them the story.

Did you empty the fuel tank/carbs before you put it into storage? If not you may have a lot of sap like fuel blocking the jets and float bowl.

As for rubber, it tends to perish when not used. Seals, pipes and tyres may all have done dry and cracked. Check everything before riding, a dry and cracked brake line may rupture under pressure. It should be OK, but check carefully.

Dont want to be a gloom merchant but my ex had a ZZR 250 that was meticulously looked after mechanically AND cosmetically and after 3 years of use, 50,000k the bottom end let go.
When we stripped it down one of the big end bolts had come loose (??? after 50oooK ??) and once there was a gap the cap snapped in the middle.

Which leads to.... 2nd hand motors from Japan are cheap as....