ZZR250 dirt tourer build.

So there is this mad bastard here on ADV that came up with a novel idea for a charity event called the scrapheap adventure ride where we have to buy a bike for under $1000, get it registered, and ride them to Wanaaring, which is in the middle of bloody no where.

So being a charitable person, I decided to enter.

Firstly I was going to enter this stupid RZ350 based thing I had, but it would take to much to get it on the road.

And then I decided on an old 75 model DT250 that I had laying around, but decided I wanted to do a decent job on that one.

But then I got hold of a reparable write off ZZR250 for another project that fell through, but I was running out of time and it seemed like to much work to get it back on the road.

And then finally, I picked up a 91 KDX200 for well under the $1k mark, and I was happy with that, and started work straight away.

But the closer I got to getting the KDX ready for it's road worthy, the more I felt like I wasn't getting into the spirit of the event, so I put the KDX on hold and started work on the ZZR.

So the ZZR looked something like this when it came out...



But the one I picked up looked slightly less pretty...





The pics don't really show it, but the forks are well and truly twisted...



First thing it got was a new (second hand) set of forks and a straight sub frame.


And a few weeks keeping an eye on flea bay and I had picked up some straight body work for it.

And then last Friday it gained the final thing I needed before I could start getting it ready for the trip...



The number plate...

So now it's nice and legal, I had ridden it to work for the past two days (I usually ride a push bike but had to go to another depot the past two days so I figured I'd take the ZZR instead of the 640), and now I don't need it anymore for transport, the fun can begin...

So first of all I dragged it into my rather cluttered work area.





And then it was off with her front end.


I had a spare front end of a KLX250 sitting around with nothing to hold up, so I decided to bring that into play.

The Steering stem is much thicker on the ZZR, and so are the bearing races, but luckily, the ZZR top bearing fitted the KLX stem at the bottom, and the bearing race at the lower end of the ZZR frame.

A quick trip to the bearing shop sorted the top bearing out.



I managed to get the front wheel on before I was called away...




And unfortunately that is as far as I could get tonight.

I'm hoping the cables for the clutch and throttle are long enough, but the look OK with some rerouting.

And hopefully Tomorrow I'll get a start on the back end.

I'm going to see if I can graft the swing-arm from the KLX on there, but if I have to, I'll settle for a longer shock and a knobby on the rear.

But anyway, we will see how I go...

Oh, and did I mention I have to leave on the first of April, so the build will have to be complete by then...

22 days to go...:eek1

Awsome! I love it. Ive often wondered how the fzr would go with some extended front forks and rear fork. Its actually looks a LOT like the zzr, I Guess they did some from the same era.

I wonder how hard it would be to fit the xr650 front end I have here.

Where are you going to get the extended rear shock from? Will you adapt one from a dirtbike or modify the stockie?

Keep us informed with how it goes.

-Shaun

I had a few crap days while trying to work on the rear end of it.

The bolt for the ZZR swing arm is much larger than the KLX's, so it would have been to much trouble at such short notice.

I have a GS650 Dakar shock that I was going to try to use, but there wasn't much room to fit it so I abandoned that idea.

In the end I had to settle for using the "linkage arms" (Don't know the proper name, and couldn't be buggered looking it up) that were about 30 mm shorter than the standard ones to raise the rear end.

I'll only have about 100mm of travel (from memory) but I only plan on doing gravel roads on it so it will hopefully be OK.

I didn't bother getting any photos because it still looks the same, but with a slightly raised rear.

I'm hoping to finish of the suspension tomorrow and start on the fairing this weekend (I'm going for the rallye look...) .

Spent a bit more time on it today finalising the suspension (adding a few spacers and tightening everything up) and moved onto the front end body work.

I originally wanted to do a rallye type faring, but kind of like the minimalist look of the headlight I had sitting around.




But I started a bit of work on the screen part of the fairing.




But I think if I go with the fairing I will go with a different headlight...

Awesome pictures...Fantastic...

As they reveal the most beautiful creatures in the world here..!

I think the YAMAHA Grand Tourer FJR-1300, is the best one for Long Touring, because it comforts the riders as well as the companions seating behind...

Its really amazing bike, also powerful which can easily allow you to chose any destinations in the world..

Apart from that, it also carries Two Luggages at either sides, which can help out to carry the routine stuffs..

Hope to know more about such bikes in the forum...

Thanks..

COOL. Looks like you're having a blast doing this project, keep us posted!!

Gday Trev, looks great, Chuck a sheepskin on when you go to Wanna-bloody-ring. I did a 650k day on a zzr250 once. At about 500k I stopped and had to hobble around for a half hour just to get the pain to subside so I could get home

Really?

I thought the seat was bloody comfortable compared to what I'm used to.

With the KLX front end and bar risers it feels even more comfortable.

I'm hoping to get a quick test run in tomorrow so I can suss out what needs to be changed.

It's inargueable that you are made of sterner stuff than I but I thought a stock DR DRZ or 690 seat was far superior

I think its not so much the seat itself but the fact its so low compared with the peg position. If you pad up/raise the seat this will give your knees less bend (like a trail bike position) and make the transition to standing alot easier as well. IMO

how about raising the seat base 50mm with a storage locker underneath.....just thinkin aloud.

I don't know how similar the ZZR 250 is the 250 Ninja sold here in the US (the frame spars look different), but on the US 250's a SV 650 shock fitted will raise the rear about 40-50 mm. If they rear shock is the same on your Kawi, you only need to press out the upper shock bushing of the SV shock and insert the Kawi bushing. A little trimming of the clevis may be required to prevent interference at full travel. Might be an option.

This slipped under the Radar tREV

I was waiting for this thread!!

I've long looked at the zzr as a fun cheap thing to do EXACTLY as you have started!! I love the work and follow with interest! It's a fun thing that will rev all day,is fuel effiecient,has plenty of real cheap parts availablity, and looks prettier than a postie!!! dangerous stuff I could be swayed for a project as well!!
Keep it coming please!

Suppose I had better do an update....

Actually, I suppose I had better do some work on it.

Less than two weeks to go and I still have a shit load of work to do.

One thing I forgot to mention is that after this trip it will be put back to standard because the girlfriend wants it...

So considering that and the lack of time, I am not going to try and make it pretty, just make it get me there and back in hopefully one piece...

I was thinking the XR250 with the XL175 might be just the jigger for her

As those ZZR250KLXR's can be a bit of a handful for the beginners

I'm just finishing off the fiddly stuff so I can ride it and find out what I need to change.

Firstly I thought I'd give the rear plastics a hit of paint a bit closer to the tank colour.


Well the colour of the cap on the spray tins was a lot closer...

I had been playing around with a Staintune exhaust I had sitting around.

It fits OK, but pipe diameter is a big problem, and it sounds like a BMW, or a VW at idle...

I have one with a slightly smaller pipe in much better condition sitting at my parents place, so I might go out and grab it, it's also quieter than that old dinted one.

Last week I had fun messing around with lights, but I am really hating every screen I try to make for it.

This is whats on there now...


But I think I will end up running it without one, or a small one...

I had some time up my sleeve today so I went down just to have a look at the thing.

I sometimes just go and sit on my projects and think where I want to go with them.

As I sat on it and went to turn the handle bars I heard this god awful scrapping noise.

I knew the gap between the mud guard and the head light was close, but after I put a bolt at the bottom of the head light shell to hold the rim in place it ran out of clearance.



And because I had nothing better to do I thought I may as well fix it.

So I got some old aluminium tubbing I had laying around and put for marks on it at 2cm intervals.



A few cuts later and I had four spacers.



Add some longer bolts and the problem was fixed.


While I was at it I went around the bike and tightened up any lose bolts and thought I may as well take it for a ride out to my parents house (40K away) to see what I have to change.

Unfortunately it pissed down rain as soon as I left town so I didn't hit any dirt roads, but except for a slight weave it felt good on the highway.

After about half an hour of trying things on it (the Staintune wouldn't fit...) and finally fitting a kick stand spring (I used a KLX kick stand for the extra length, but couldn't find a spring ), I headed home.

The rain had eased up so I took a very quick excursion of road.











On the way home I stopped at my local bike wrecker to grab a front tyre to see if that helps the handling at all.

The one I was using was a "not for highway use" old and hard bit of rubber.

I picked up a brand new road legal knobby for $65...



And while I was there having a look around I picked up a almost new death wing rear for $65 aswell...



So they were fitted tonight, I found the steering head bearings were a bit lose, and I lost a nut from the rear linkage, so between that, I hope I have solved the slight weaving problem...

Me too !!!