"Project Z250A" Whickle's New Project!

Introducing “Project Z250A”. 1980 Kawasaki Z250A
It came from EBay and it’s not yet a classic!




I have always had a love of classic cars and bikes since I was young. When I started riding as a kid, I always wanted to restore a bike back to original and keep it that way forever! Having a passion for the old naked bikes, it was obvious that this is what I would choose for a project.

So for the last 6 months I had been scanning eBay, forums and classifieds for a suitable and worthy collector’s bike, cheap! Always hoping to find a Kawasaki, I was also looking for anything from a BSA to a Honda. Not finding anything suitable at the right price, I waited waited and waited some more until this little gem came up. A 1980 Kawasaki Z250A. $255 dollars later, I had a project bike stuck at a bike shop in Byron Bay.

Purchase date: 04/03/2009 - eBay Pic’s.




22/03/2009 - Delivery!

With the assistance of Motorbike Transport and Fergusson Racing, the bike made a surprise arrival in Canberra today. Total cost was $365 from Byron Bay to Canberra door to door.



The bike arrived on the truck amongst classics and pedigree race bikes! The Z250’s condition was clearly at a poor level compared to that of the other bikes! I was not able to get any pic’s of the bike on the truck as I was helping to unload it!

Once I had it off the truck, I had a good look at it and took the following Pic’s.







More Pic’s can be found on my Z250A Photobucket Gallery

So the inspection is completed, and the verdict is in……. This is going to be fun. And ill be bald by the end of it!

What I have found to be done so far:

Replace Chain and Sprockets. (rear is munted, so the rest must be the same!)
Find and or repair exhaust brackets and clamp. (Wire and rubber strips not a good substitutes)
Battery charge (Fingers crossed that all it is)
Thorough clean down (Lots of oil and corrosion).

Most positive thing of all it it started and ran OK. No bad smoke or misses!


The Tally

Total Money Spent: $620
Time on Project (Hours): 2

Stay tuned as there is more to come!

Hint........... try not to spend too much money on it

nice one whickle... lets hope most of what u gotta do is just elbow grease and not pulling the green ones outta your wallet!!!

that looks a lot tidier than what I expected for 250 bucks mate !!

Will haul my sorry arse over to your place sometime for a bit of a looky-see.

mate you can borrow my water blaster if you want , might save on elbow grease

if u dont wanna keep it stock, maybe it could look something like

mate you can borrow my water blaster if you want , might save on elbow grease

I might just take you up on that offer PC!

if u dont wanna keep it stock, maybe it could look something like

I do like that cafe racer look! I would like to keep this one stock where possible......

Given that im going to be buying parts for it from here and there, i would not be supprised if i end up with 2 bikes......

So, if you here of, or know anywhere that has Z250 parts forsale, in any nick, please do let me know!!!

if u dont wanna keep it stock, maybe it could look something like

mmmmm now there's a veeeery nicely polished turd

That's awesome Pinchy - that's exactly how I wanted my KH to look . I'm going to start looking for an old POS 4 stroke 250 and make it look like that.

well at least ive inspired someone dave

those mick's wouldnt know style if it turkey slaped em in the face

what an excellent looking cafe 2fiddy that is !! Very nice....

Dave3 - instead of a 2fiddy, why don't you try something like a Z750 twin from the late 70's ?? These pop up on ebay every now and then for *not much*.

I have a long-term project 7fiddy twin (1977 Z750B1) like this in the 4th dimension......the plan is to make it look like a pommie cafe racer ( much like that 250 above) but with an alloy tank.......change the crank to a 270deg throw (this will give it the sound and power-delivery characteristics of a ducati).......so it looks British, sounds and feels italian to ride.........but its a Kawasaki with an engine that looks like 1/2 a Z900 on steroids !!!

well at least ive inspired someone dave

those mick's wouldnt know style if it turkey slaped em in the face

Did I say I didn't like it?


I'm a big Cafe Racer fan, trust me

Sick Whickle, when do I get to test ride it

what an excellent looking cafe 2fiddy that is !! Very nice....

Dave3 - instead of a 2fiddy, why don't you try something like a Z750 twin from the late 70's ?? These pop up on ebay every now and then for *not much*.

I have a long-term project 7fiddy twin (1977 Z750B1) like this in the 4th dimension......the plan is to make it look like a pommie cafe racer ( much like that 250 above) but with an alloy tank.......change the crank to a 270deg throw (this will give it the sound and power-delivery characteristics of a ducati).......so it looks British, sounds and feels italian to ride.........but its a Kawasaki with an engine that looks like 1/2 a Z900 on steroids !!!

I'd love to do a bigger one, but under 300cc is fuck all to register up here and I could justify a second rego'ed bike, whereas a 750 costs the same to register as a crim and that seems wasteful. Plus there's something cool about riding around knob-ends on R1s on an old POS 250 on the OPH.

Sick Whickle, when do I get to test ride it

Once she is running better and i know its all good, ill get her on the road for a bike whore session!

She needs a bit of work to get passed rego....

Chain/sprockets, rear suspension, indicator flasher unit, tune.....

I tried to start her today and it just would not go. I pulled the tank off and drained it a hint of rust!......

Fingers crossed i get some time with it over the weekend!

I'd love to do a bigger one, but under 300cc is fuck all to register up here and I could justify a second rego'ed bike, whereas a 750 costs the same to register as a crim and that seems wasteful.

This is the same reason i got the 250.

Plus there's something cool about riding around knob-ends on R1s on an old POS 250 on the OPH.

That would be funny to see!!!! Maybe ill join you lot some time.....