Learn me: Kawasaki S1 250 triple

My boss has offered me his S1 250 triple for pennies on the dollar, like $200-300. He says it's a beautiful bike, and that he forgot to drain the gas last year so now the carbs are all gummed up. His wife hates it and keeps telling him to get rid of it. I don't remember what year he said it was, but I know it was an S1.

So...I hear these things are pretty wild to ride, and handle like total crap for how much power they have. Is it possible to make one handle reasonably well? What else should I know? I've wanted another older bike project for a while now, and this seems too good to pass up...

I'd jump on it just for the cool factor. I'm not sure if you can correct the scary handling, but it shouldn't be as bad as the larger triples. The big issue is keeping the center cylinder cool.

I know a guy with a Mach III 500 and it's possibly the loudest bike I've ever heard.

I agree, coolness factor is worth $300 alone. It would be a great little ride for bike nights.

it's a toy, in today's context. Perfectly acceptable bike for around town tooling. You won't get it to go fast enough to get into serious trouble (it's a 250 for crying out loud) but if you can get it for stupid cheap it's worth it for the sound. Parts may be hard (read: $) to come by. Don't plan on hotting it up to make it fast. If you wanted that you'd buy a 500 or a 750, which were fast enough that the handling demons actually mattered. Basically, don't spend any money on it that you can't afford to designate as "throwing away money".

So, you don't think something that COULD look like this isn't worth a couple hundred bucks?

I had a 500 ... handled like a barge ... with enough money it probably could have been made to handle well .... it's thing was that it would out-run 900 Z1's stop light to stop light

the 250 for that price would be well worth it ... and like I said with enough money you could probably make it handle ... but it's intrinsic value would be gone

I am definitely going to pick it up once my next paycheck rolls around. I'm just going to assume that new tires and brakes will be needed right away for my own safety. And maybe keep my eye out for a set of expansion chambers.

I would really like to know where these tuners get their forks and swingarm.

http://www.motocarrera.com/swingarm.htm

These gentlemen make some nice swingarms. I have bought many RD 350 parts from them. I am certain that their Kawasaki stuff is just as good.

This interests me. My mother's husband has an early 70's H1 500 triple with less than 4K miles and hasn't run since... 1974? It's pretty much mine for the taking when I want it (mother wants it out of the garage...). From what I can tell, it basically just needs to be taken apart, cleaned, and reassembled with new rubber bits. Even the chrome still looks pretty good (been garaged all this time).

My guess is that if you ride it like the classic bike it is, the handling will be a non-issue. Sort of like the difference between how you would drive a classic 60's muscle car vs. a modern one.

That H1 is a killer waiting for you at the corner. I've owned H1 and H2's plus GT's and RD's think the only 2 stroke street bike I've not had on the road was a water buffalo (had one but sold it before i reg) Kaws are hands down the worst in the corner, They can be fixed and when done right are great but cheaper and essayer to start off with a Yamaha to begin with...

It will demand respect if it thinks you don't it will toss you to the ground. No their not really that bad just be mindfully

Swing arm bushings, new tapered bearings in triple tree and thicker fork oil and have fun. I got a couple h2s I like to play with.

44Dwarf wrote: It will demand respect if it thinks you don't it will toss you to the ground. No their not really that bad just be mindfully

Trust me. If/when I actually ride it, I can guarantee I will be mindfully terrified from the moment I leave the driveway to the moment I shut it off...

Freaking buy it!!! I would love a Kaw two stroke triple.

Ian F wrote: My guess is that if you ride it like the classic bike it is, the handling will be a non-issue. Sort of like the difference between how you would drive a classic 60's muscle car vs. a modern one.

The problem is that it's hard to keep one of these things chugging along at low rpm. They want to rev, and that's when fast happens.

All or none!

Ian F wrote: This interests me. My mother's husband has an early 70's H1 500 triple with less than 4K miles and hasn't run since... 1974? It's pretty much mine for the taking when I want it (mother wants it out of the garage...). From what I can tell, it basically just needs to be taken apart, cleaned, and reassembled with new rubber bits. Even the chrome still looks pretty good (been garaged all this time). My guess is that if you ride it like the classic bike it is, the handling will be a non-issue. Sort of like the difference between how you would drive a classic 60's muscle car vs. a modern one.

one thing to be ready for .... they tend to go POW ... I'm sure there are folk on here that can explain why ... all I know is mine blew a hole in the left piston and I've been told it's very common

one thing to be ready for .... they tend to go POW ... I'm sure there are folk on here that can explain why ... all I know is mine blew a hole in the left piston and I've been told it's very common

That's the first I've ever heard of that problem. The only meltdown problems I ever heard of were related to oil starvation (or no oil) or poor jetting.

Oh gawd!

They may melt a hole in the piston if you are running it too lean. Otherwise it shouldn't have a problem.

Are they 2 or 3 cylinder? I know the 3 cylinder Suzuki GTs had temperature problems with the center cylinder which occasionally led to melted pistons. You just have to jet the center a little richer.

The 750 triples were just plain terrifying. They were piston port, meaning they had NO low end torque and once things got rolling they'd 'come on the pipe' like gangbusters. Not good in a tight corner! Reed valves helped tame that somewhat.

A buddy had one which he had stripped and turned into a drag race bike. They were not good for much else except wheelies.

About the handling: I think it was Cycle Guide? where the test rider said the thing handled one way going left, then completely different going right. So after a lot of head scratching and measuring they discovered the wheels were not centered with each other, they were off by about an inch or so. I remember them saying they took the rear wheel to a local shop and one of the guys there shifted the rim by loosening/tightening spokes and when they test rode it afterwards the difference in handling was amazing. It still wsn't 'right' but it was a lot better.

stroker wrote:

one thing to be ready for .... they tend to go POW ... I'm sure there are folk on here that can explain why ... all I know is mine blew a hole in the left piston and I've been told it's very common

That's the first I've ever heard of that problem. The only meltdown problems I ever heard of were related to oil starvation (or no oil) or poor jetting.

can't explain .... just that any time I mention it to Kawasaki "folk" ... they always nod their head and shrug and say "well they were know for that " ... in my case it was the left ( or three) with a hole about the size of a dime in the middle of it