KR owners around the world

When I first set this site up, I started to keep tabs on all the KR's I managed to track down.  There's relatively few about so it wasn't too difficult, but it's hopelessly out of date now I'm afraid.  But I still like looking at these cool old pics.
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UK   

Tim Wilks  tim@kr250.org  Yorkshire

OK, I'll go first then.  These are my KR's.  According to the DVLA records, the one I got first was manufactured on 30/12/84.  I have a copy of the importers certificate declaring it new on 16/05/85 and it was one of the original 18 Huddersfield Kawasaki Centre bikes that came in from South Africa.  It was discovered in their warehouse by one of their mechanics - Matthew Magee - who bought it for £1800 and built it up himself straight out of the crate.  It had already been registered on 12/10/90 ('H'-plate) in the shop's name so although he was getting a brand-new bike, Matthew became the second registered owner on 16/01/92.  He rode it around for a while in the style of your average 18-year-old, which one day meant that a wheelie turned into a complete flip !  Did I really want to know that ?  Luckily there was another new KR in the warehouse that kindly donated some body parts and it was soon looking as good as new (apart from the silencers).  Matthew also gave it a top-end rebuild at some point during his ownership and confessed to me that he refitted the rear piston the wrong way round - ha ha !  He eventually traded it in for another bike at Earnshaws, where it languished in the basement for the best part of 10 years before Jerry decided to rationalise the collection.  I bought it on 21/10/02 and you can read about what's happened to it since then on the Diary page.  Interestingly, it is wrongly registered with the DVLA as a 'KR250-B2' which is the designation of the KR-1 - I guess that the DVLA only recognise mainstream UK models ? The other almost-complete green bike in the pics is my 'spare' one, rescued from West Coast Salvage for parts.  It's a Japanese import and has never been registered in the UK.  I've swapped a few parts off it but it's almost all there, although the front-end is badly bent.  The stripped one with the black frame was an abandoned race project but it is registered ('C'-plate) for the road - in fact, according to the DVLA records I'm the ninth registered owner and it originated from Bol D'Or Motorcycles in Devon who imported it on 18/09/85.  It came without an engine but I have an almost-complete one from another bike waiting to be rebuilt and fitted, with a KVSS top-end.  It's been fitted with a ZXR400 front-end and KR-1 rear wheel so far and there are more trick parts to come.  The red/black one is yet another import, though registered in the UK on a 'D'-plate.  Last on the road in 2001, I'm hoping I can bring it to life fairly easily and tidy it up a bit.

Darin Frow

Darin contacted me, desperate to buy a KR.  He wanted a green/white one (of course), "the nicest one he could find".  He went to see the one at Bristol Bike Direct and another one advertised in the VJMC magazine but they weren't to his taste.  He ended up bidding in a Japanese auction and found he'd bought 2 KR's, one of which was an 'S' powervalve model.  Also included were some extra bodywork and engine spares plus various manuals and documentation.  Too impatient for their arrival he bought an 'ordinary' UK KR but quickly sold it on (see Harry Duffield below).  Sadly, it eventually proved too much hassle shipping the bikes over from Japan so he reluctantly sold them on without them ever leaving the country.  We kept in contact and I put him in touch with Paul Wilshaw who was selling a complete dismantled KR - Darin snapped it up.  A week later Paul offered him another complete one so he bought that too !  The dismantled one ended up in my care for a couple of months but has now found a new home with Mark Speaight.  Darin and I wanted to show some of our bikes off so we took a little stand at the 2006 Stafford Show under the name Diff'rent Strokers to do it.  Darin's KR was awarded a 'Highly Commended' rosette by the judges and rightly so.

Doug Perkins     Northamptonshire

If anyone in the UK has heard of the KR, it's thanks to Doug.  As one of the leading lights of the VJMC, Doug and his bike have been featured in several magazine articles.  But Doug's business partner Steve also has a brand new unregistered green/white one and one of the red/black 'S' models (maybe even another green/white one as well - I got a bit confused to be honest).  Not only that but between them they also bought all of the KR spares stock from Huddersfield Kawasaki back in 1992, although they've said they won't sell any.  I usually manage a chat with Doug at the Stafford and Donington shows where we keep each other up to date on our bikes.  I also sent him a spare brochure to replace the one that someone nicked at a previous show.  Doug thrashed his KR round Mallory Park at the 2006 Festival of 1000 bikes and also had some influence on Diff'rent Strokers receiving awards at the Uttoxeter Shows in 2007 and 2008.

Gary Pullinger     Essex

Looks nice doesn't it ?  It should - it was only registered in 2000.  Gary's been regularly showing it off at local bike shows to many admirers who've never seen one before.  He also kindly scanned me a pile of old KR cuttings from MCN etc. that I'd never seen before.  It was great to finally meet Gary at the 2006 Stafford Show, and nice to see him spreading the KR message at the 2007 Kawasaki Day at the Ace Cafe, Stinkwheels Dyno Day and Blue Haze 2-Stroke Day at the Ace Cafe.  In fact, it's about time he was running this site instead of me...

Andy Bolas

I know everyone seems to want the green ones, but this red/white one is lovely.  Andy's recently added it to his fantastic collection of bikes.  I originally spotted it for sale in a Bristol grey-import dealer and it's had a couple of other owners since then.  I tried (and failed, so far) to find Andy a new choke cable for it but he's tidied up a couple of details and had it gleaming on the VJMC stand at a couple of shows.  He rescued the red/black one for spares but has since sold it to me (!) and he's recently acquired a green/white one for restoration.  I think there's more on the way too...

Paul Wilshaw     Warwickshire

Paul's bike history is gobsmacking.  He's had over 100 lovely two-strokes over the years and it's very difficult to keep up with what's he's got at the moment.  He's owned at least 4 KR's that I know of.  Darin's bike was bought from Paul (who keeps trying to buy it back) as was the 'jigsaw' now owned by Mark.  Paul also brought Andy Hargreaves bike back from France, although this has since been sold to Andy Bolas.  He also tracked down a very low mileage green/white one by himself which - at this exact moment - he's still got, but it has made an appearance on Ebay !  As a serial bike molester, 2-stroke addict and pub owner, it seems only right that he's making a success of his 2-Stroke Sunday meetings.

Mark Speaight     Essex

The first photo is of Mark's KR at the 2004 Classic Kawasaki Club Rally.  I helped him source a complete set of new indicators for it and handed them over at the 2004 Stafford Show, where I was stunned by the quality of the work on his Triples.  And he likes his new toy so much that he's just bought 'the jigsaw' from Darin (see above).  Before Mark (and me, and Darin, and Paul...), this bike was owned by Ian Perry, who bought it brand new in 1985 from Mallory Kawasaki, who in turn had bought one of the original 18 Huddersfield bikes.  It's on a C-plate and has been partially renovated by Ian - there's still a lot of work to do but it'll be great when it's finished and we already know that Mark has the skills to do it.  I usually see Mark at the Donington and Stafford shows and he's helping me to arrange the production of replacement decals by Sunrise Graphics.

Mick Truba

Gaz Yates rescued a bike from his mate's back garden.  It turned out to be a KR250S originally imported by West Coast.  He contacted them to ask about spares and they put him in touch with me.  I told him how rare his lucky find was and pointed him at the broken KR in Telford Breakers.  He (very wisely as it turned out) ended up buying the whole thing for parts.  The only bit he was still missing was the right-hand handlebar bracket so I sent him the one off my spare bike and he sent me a couple of bits I wanted in return.  It passed its MOT and there was a super-rare 'S' back on the road.  But not for long - Gaz contacted me to say it'd been stolen shortly afterwards.  He recovered it but it was trashed, so he spent 8 months stripping and rebuilding it using the parts from his spare bike.  The pictures show it almost complete again - just needing the bodywork painting but with the frame painted gloss-black.  But Gaz had run out of enthusiasm so he sold it to Mick just before Christmas, along with most of the accumulated spares.  For some reason he didn't take the spare engine so Gaz very kindly let me have it - for nothing !  I've spoken to Mick a few times about KR stuff and finally got to meet him at the 2006 Stafford show.  Despite him 'swindling' me out of a brand-new KR tank (not his fault at all actually !) I've been helping him obtain KR parts from Japan for his restoration.

Doug Hughes     Kent

Doug's just bought this off Ebay.  It came with a whole pile of spares including most of another bike.  I've sent him a workshop manual so hopefully it'll be on the road soon.

Mark Corcoran

OK, so it doesn't look much at the moment but 'Corky' had big plans for it, involving non-standard bodywork and maybe a transformation into a classic racer.  It was first spotted on Ebay in 2005 and snapped up by Andi Thompson, it then re-appeared on Ebay 6 months later in the same state.  He also has some other interesting projects going on and a very nice KR1S which I admired when I met him at the 2006 Lotherton Hall show.  The KR was stripped ready for work but as far as I know, has now been sold to someone else on this page...

FOR SALE   Harry Duffield     Guernsey

Harry is a definite KR nut and I bump into him at most of the classic bike shows every year.  He's easy to spot, he often wears a 'Kawasaki KR250 Tandem Twin' polo shirt he's had made !  He also usually passes on some technical tip or KR-specific advice to me too.  The first bike in the photos below has been around a bit - I first spotted it in the VJMC autojumble magazine and mentioned it to Darin (see above) who promptly bought it.  Within a week he'd sold it on (without ever riding it) to Norman in Northern Ireland who tidied it up a bit with new sprockets etc.  Norman's an experienced racer and managed to track down Sean Collister for me (the bloke that raced the KR at the TT).  But at Stafford 2004, Norman put the bike up for sale in the Bonhams auction.  Harry was the new owner. Since then he's acquired another green/white one (note that he's got Kork to sign the radiator cap cover like I did !) and the rare red/grey one too, although both bikes are now up for sale.  They both need a little work but can be shipped over to the mainland easily.  Contact  KR250.ORG  and I'll put you in touch with him.  Don't worry about potential wiring problems, he's fixed all that now...

Mark     South Yorkshire

I found another local-ish KR owner via the Yamaha RD forum and we've been in contact about parts and info.  Initially his KR was tucked away and semi-forgotten in a corner of his garage along with lots of spares and he offered the lot for sale to me.  Before I could say yes though, he'd got all enthusiastic about it again and started trying to trace the history of his bike and help me out with various bits of information, including tracking down Brian, an ex-Huddersfield Kawasaki mechanic with KR knowledge.  Although he did kindly let me have a spare tank for my special when I met him recently.  Mark thought his bike had been raced as there was lockwiring on various places, and having applied for his bike's history from the DVLA and made a couple of phone calls, has discovered it's actually quite special - see the Racing page...

Tony Mason     Lancashire

Tony bought his first KR from Jack Stotts in Rossendale back in 1985.  Whilst racing his mate's VF1000F he overshot a corner and the KR slid along the grass.  It was still rideable but the repair bill came to nearly £1500 !  Worse yet, it was stolen shortly after being fixed never to be seen again.  So he bought another one from Jack, again new and sourced from the original Huddersfield 18.  And he's still got it 18 years later.  Note the white CMA wheels and the neat fake KR250 numberplate.  Those pictures below were taken in the Isle Of Man when he visited with his mate Graham (that's his NS400R).  Full marks for using the KR as it should be - check the wheelie picture and the jump over Ballaugh Bridge !  Tony also kindly provided the excellent photo of Sean Collister riding the KR in the Production TT - see the Racing page.

Ben Benson

Two days after the 'Mechanics' article came out, I had a email from Ben who has a mint KR that he uses every day and even went to the TT on this year.  See, I knew there were more out there !

Send us a photo Ben !

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Switzerland   

Alex

I was originally contacted by a chap called Nick who was selling this bike.  He put it up on Ebay and it was snapped up by someone called Mark.  He had to reluctantly let it go to help fund another bike, so it went back on Ebay and swapped hands again, this time going abroad.  Alex has had it for a while now and spent some time and money replacing things like the chain/sprockets, brakes, tyres, indicators etc.  He had big plans to race it in a hillclimb event in Geneva but has had problems getting it running.  He suspects the crank seals and can't afford the time/money to get it sorted.  So he wants to sell it as it is, ideally to someone who'll sort the engine and put the bike back on the road.  Alex is open to any offer including a swap for another two-stroke so contact  KR250.ORG  and I'll pass your details on.  Although I think it may have been sold to someone in Italy now ?

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France   

Jean-Pierre Bonato    French Riviera

JP contacted me hoping to buy a KR to add to his collection of nice two-strokes.  He wanted a green/white one (like everyone else !) and at the time I knew of one in the UK but also a good silver one for sale in Holland (see below) so I put him in touch with Alfons.  A few weeks later, the silver one arrived on the riviera.  JP wants to repaint it in green/white and I understand why, although I hope he keeps it silver and has the seats recovered in red as it should be - there can't be many silver ones left now ?  In the left picture, it's parked in front of his Renault Avantime, another rare oddball !

Andy Hargreaves  La Roffie Guesthouse

On the back of the Mechanics article, I was contacted by Andy who bought a KR a few years ago and then promptly emigrated to France.  He now runs a guesthouse so if I ever manage to arrange a KR Owners Big Day Out, we've now got a sunny destination to aim for.  Here's a photo of his bike complete with optional factory single-seat converter at the Aircooled RD Rally just before he left.  I was also contacted by the previous owner (Nigel Megson) who filled me on the bike's history and now wishes he'd never sold it to Andy.  The second photo is of the bike displayed at the 1999 Stafford Show when it belonged to Nigel - note a subtle mod to the top yoke which moves the bars back a bit from standard. Sadly a damaged barrel caused Andy to neglect it for a while and he couldn't face trying to fix it.  It's now been sold and is back in the UK - see above !

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Holland   

Alfons & Hans Smit

Someone had beaten me to a KR parts book for sale on Ebay so I emailed him a link to this website and he passed it on (thanks Gerrit) - Alfons then got in touch.  The silver bike had been for sale at RWHS Classic Bikes and was bought by Alfons on his way home from the TT.  He and his brother Hans are true Kawasaki enthusiasts and they kindly sent me a lot of useful information when I was first putting this site together.  Later, RWHS also offered the green one and it was snapped up in the same way for their excellent collection. When they said they were coming over to the Stafford show, I arranged to meet them.  They're two of the nicest blokes you could hope to meet and we had a nice chat about KR's and other bikes for a while.  Later, they asked me if I could help them find a home for the silver bike and following a few emails the bike is now residing in France (see above).

Ross Poulton

This one used to belong to Ross Poulton - I spotted it for sale in the VJMC magazine and contacted him.  I toyed with the idea of buying it myself for a bit but couldn't get the garage space or money together.  It's now been sold and I heard it went to Holland.  I think I might know exactly where it is...

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Germany   

Volker Sauber

Volker sent me some pictures of his KR - it looks very nice but he's having problems registering it for use on the road over there.  If anyone has any advice, let me know and I'll pass it on.

Jorg Wegfahrt

I was sent some pictures of a KR imported direct from Japan by a chap called Andreas.  He also kindly scanned in the data sheets on the spec page.  It turns out his KR was sent over by the same bloke (Masahiro) who I'd bought some KR brochures and a parts-book from on Ebay, and who's offered to try and source parts in Japan for me if required.  Unfortunately, Andreas didn't have time to put the KR on the road so he put it up for sale and it now belongs to Jorg.

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South Africa   

Eric Scholtz    Johannesburg

South Africa was one of the original export markets for the KR so it's strange that it's taken so long for our first South African KR owner to appear on here.  But he's very welcome and it should mean that he's got plenty of local spares to pick over !  Eric has a few other tasty bikes but always wanted a KR, and emailed me asking for advice.  Big mistake (ha ha !) - he's now got two with a view to making one good one, and I sent him a workshop manual to help him get started.

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Australia   

Scott     Melbourne

Scott has two and a half KR's (!) and regularly checks out this site for inspiration.  He was particularly taken with Tono's factory-quality naked KR special, and after I put them in touch Tono kindly provided translated details of what parts he'd used to achieve the look.  Whilst Scott finds the parts he needs, he's rebuilding one of the bikes more or less standard.  It's nearly ready for the road - looks pretty tasteful in plain white don't you think ?  Note the subtly cut-down fairing, and the neat home-made rearsets - not an easy job on the KR due to the limited space around the gear-lever shaft.  He's just got to sort out a (hopefully) minor problem with the cylinder plating now.

Reg Bolton

I met Reg at the 2005 KR Meeting in Japan, where he was living at the time.  He used to have a green/white KR but wore it out after many thousands of miles thrashing it round the mountains near his home.  The problem was in the primary gears - they contain a cam damper to smooth out the loads on the gears and they wear out which upsets the timing of the disc valves.  He tried to get spares which involved walking into his local bike shop and doodling a quick sketch of the twin crank design.  This led directly to him purchasing the red/black KR250S !  Sadly the 'S' eventually suffered the same complaint so when he left Japan to go live in Australia, he left both bikes with Tono, taking only a sidepanel as a souvenir.  A couple of years later, he missed his bikes so much that he bought another one, and shortly after, a second !  And now he's happily restoring them and sharing his knowledge - see  Reg's Repairs  for details.

Brad Blacka

Brad's kindly helped me out with a few KR spares from the other side of the world.  Here's his bike - it's pretty much as he bought it but he's had to give it a top-end rebuild and he's had some stainless covers made up to replace the standard ones on the end-cans.  Note the Japanese-spec front winkers but the Australian-market versions on the back with corresponding blanking plates.

Alastair Brown     New South Wales

Alastair bought his one-and-a-half KR's via an advert on this site.  He's a retired mechanical engineer with the skills and equipment to make his own parts, and he's got a 600cc Kawasaki Triple as proof !  He's already talking about modifying one of the KR engines, potentially adding powervalves by using barrels from a more modern 125cc motocrosser.  Sounds good to me - hopefully you'll be able to follow Alastair's progress on here.

Leon Appleby

Leon was after a little commuter bike to get him to work and back.  He could have gone for something sensible like a CB250 but life's too short eh ?  It took him a while to get used to the peaky power of the KR but now he loves it.  He's got himself a manual and is looking to do a bit of work on the KR to smarten it up a bit.  But the current priority is to sort out his recent little 'loss of power' problem, quickly identified when he pulled the top-end apart - see the pictures below.  Some people would get put off at this point and in fact some of his mates have been gently trying to persuade him to get a "proper" bike, but Leon's made of stronger stuff and the latest news is that it's now all back together and running nicely.  A snapped kickstart shaft has slowed him down a little, but he's still loving his KR and is looking to sort the paintwork next.  I reckon this one will end up red/black...

Tom Harrison

Tom's 19 and lives in the south-west of Western Australia.  He bought his silver KR250A Japanese import about 18 months ago for AU$400.  It had been sitting in the owner's garage for a while, it was unlicensed, the fairing was a bit dodgy, the fuel tank had a few dents in it and the rear brakes were binding but the engine started 1st kick and everything else seemed ok.  Tom admits he knew nothing about them but it was cheap and he saw its potential.  Since then he's fixed the brakes and changed the fluid, restored and painted the fairing, changed the coolant and plugs, and replaced a couple of minor parts in order to get it licensed.  And now it's back on the road for the first time in 10 years and looking good.  He has a minor electrical (we think) problem where the bike cuts out but other than that he's loving every minute of it !

Mark Duthie

Mark's had his KR for about a year and contacted me to get a manual for it.  He says it's a sod to start but goes well once it's running - sounds familiar !  He's on the lookout for one or two parts now to get it looking nice.

Brian Martin     Melbourne

Brian's got 2 or 3 KR's and has been keeping me up to date on his rebuild projects.  His Aussie-spec bike appears to have a strange difference over his other Japanese-spec one though - the cranks dampers are held onto the shafts with a nut, instead of just being held captive by the engine cover.  Can anyone shed any light on this ?  By the way, Brian confirms that - despite what the manual says - you can remove the engine from the frame in one piece, given sufficient tenacity and swearing...

FOR SALE   Abel

Abel lives in Perth in Western Australia.  He wants to sell his KR because it seems slow after his previous GSX-R750 !  Despite looking like an 'S' (paintjob and mirrors), it doesn't actually have the KVSS powervalve system fitted.  But it still deserves a good home - phone Abel on 61434 025 469 or 0434 025 469, or contact him by  email  if you're interested.  Rego'd until 12/05 - AUS$2200 ono.

Peter Scott

This bike originally belonged to Steve Smith - he was one of the first people to get in touch when I first set this site up.  Note the differences in the Australian model - longer rear mudguard and separate indicators.  I helped Steve out with some scans taken from my manual and he told me about a local breakers with some KR used parts - see the Info page for details.  When it turned out the broken bike had one of the single-seat cowls I badly wanted, Steve very kindly bought it on my behalf and sent it halfway round the work to me.  Steve recently advertised this bike for sale on Ebay and it now belongs to Peter who's been in touch with me already.

FOR SALE   Bret Barnett

And here's another one from Down Under.  This was on Ebay Australia and I contacted the winning bidder.  Bret's done some work towards putting it back to it's former glory including replacing a snapped kickstart shaft but is now sadly having to sell the KR- he's run out of space and wants it to go to someone who'll finish sorting it out.  "I only want what I've put into it, say $800AU.  I've fixed the broken kickstart, repaired the instruments, it runs OK but it's hard to start when cold.  It still needs work on the cosmetics, the tank will need lining and I haven't had a chance to check the pistons and bores but suspect it could use new rings, compression's still good though.  Swingarm bearings are good, wheel bearings good, rear shock a bit sagged out, no fork leaks.  That's everything I know about.".  Contact Bret direct by email  if you're interested, and let me know if you buy it.

Chris Dupen  VJMW

This is Chris of the VJMW - he doesn't have his KR any more but he's helped me out with a couple of sets of NOS indicators via his online bike parts store  Netbikes.  Bike suits white wheels doesn't it ?  Chris also sent me some useful info about relining the bores for all you people who've got top-end problems and can't find new barrels.  He's a top bloke and he still has a thing for the KR's - see the KR Page  on his site.

Raven

Wahey !  I found these pictures on an Australian website.  Raven doesn't have his KR any more but there's a definite slap on the back due for showing us how to make even more smoke than usual.  Good Work Fella !

Dave Jackson

This is Dave's '85 KR250A.  He was thinking of selling it but hopefully I've convinced him otherwise...

Ashley Rice

This is Ash's KR.  "The rear cylinder and piston is wrecked, it's missing a few parts (including the keys), it's been dropped both sides and the tyres and brakes need fixing."  Don't worry Ash, it'll look a whole lot better when you've whipped that rack off...

Nigel

Another KR owner with more than one bike.  The one on the left has good bodywork but a blown motor.  The one on the right has a running motor but tatty bodywork.  You can tell where this is going can't you ?  The good motor blows oil out of the exhaust so Nigel suspects a blown crank seal.  His first job is to strip both motors, repaint in VHT engine enamel & rebuild them.  I helped him get a set of rings (from Z-Power) & his local bike shop has 2 pistons in stock which he's going to buy.  The blown motor has had one of the barrels sleeved during its life, the main bearings have gone along with the big end on one crank - messy.  But he's enjoying himself !  He's also found himself a nearly-new manual from a retired dealer so that should help him out a lot.

FOR SALE   Chris Englebrecht     Queensland

Chris is selling this 1984 KR : "rebuilt motor (goes well), new fork seals, new tyres plus another bike for spares".  He's open to offers - contact him direct by email and please let me know if you buy it.

Craig Manning     Melbourne

This bike was advertised for sale on here for ages, but Craig has just told me it's gone to a good home with a KR enthusiast.  Who's got it now ?  Please get in touch and let us know how you're getting on with it.  At the time of asking, details were 7/85, reg BP-669 29 Jun 05, 37000km, recent new tyres, o-ring chain, crank seals and fork seals.

FOR SALE   Russell     Melbourne

Russell has had his KR for a couple of years and reckoned this site provided helpful inspiration whilst he rebuilt it !  He's re-plated the front cylinder, adapted some piston rings off a Yamaha (part #2N4-11610-00 STD) and rebuilt the gearbox too.  He now needs to sell it as family commitments mean he has no time to spend on it.  It's currently in one piece and runs well apart from a low-speed misfire (suspect coil), but will consider breaking it if there's enough interest in the parts.  Somebody rescue it !  Contact him direct by  email  and get it back on the road.

Mark Shaw     Western Australia

Mark rescued his KR from a mate who'd lost interest with it following a seized motor.  He intends to restore it although it's a long term project.  It looks to be in very good condition though and definitely worth the effort.  It's obviously an original Australian bike as it has the 'stalk' type winkers and the corresponding blanking plates where the smaller indicators go, also the extra long rear mudguard.  Note also the single-seat cowl, a nice original touch.

Pete

Pete doesn't believe that all you KR owners out there have never had to replace the pistons in your 20-year-old fragile two- strokes.  He was having trouble sourcing some for his so I pointed him at Z-Power.  Pete then went on a 6-month road-trip around Oz and when he got back, found that his good mate Homer had restored his KR to better than new !  Pete would like to thank him for all his hard work and I don't blame him, it looks ace...

Aaron George     Perth, Western Australia

Aaron used to have an RZ250 but was offered a KR that had been sitting in a shed for a while and asked my advice.  I tried to talk him out of it (ha ha !) but he couldn't resist it and I sent him a copy of the workshop manual for some bedtime reading.  He's been touring the local wrecking yards and bike shops looking for parts and is looking forward to lavishing some attention on his new toy.  Quite right too !  And he's found someone who knows of a straight replacement for KR rings and is currently trying to get the details out of him...

David Miller

David contacted me looking for advice on rebores and alternative pistons.  Then I sent him some scans to help him rebuild the forks and anti-dive system, assemble the motor, and set up the carbs and oil pump.  He's actually prepared a KR250 for New Era racing (see photos) so sold his spare road bike to make some space.  The race bike is due for further development so hopefully there'll be more details of its progress on here soon.

FOR SALE   Kev     Perth, WA

Kev has this 1985 KR for sale, nothing needed apparently.  Contact  KR250.ORG  and I'll pass your details on.

Terry O'Neill

Terry recently rescued an unloved KR for $100 and came to me looking for a wiring diagram.  He's also on the lookout for replacement KR bodywork.

Send us a photo Terry !

FOR SALE   Kev     Melbourne

Kev has a 1985 green/white KR that he bought complete but in bits, with a view to restoring it.  The fairings are in fair condition and in the original colours and he's also got a copy of the service manual.  He's run out of time 'cos he's heading back overseas so he needs to sell it.  He just wants the AUS$600 it cost him in the first place.  Someone rescue this bike and put it back together !  If you fancy it, ring Kev direct on 0404780830 or +61393372395 and leave a message.  Or  email  him direct instead.

Send us a photo Kev !

Wayne Jones

Wayne recently rescued an unloved KR and got it running again with a full service.  But shortly afterwards it started putting out white smoke and it seems there's coolant in the oil.  And 3rd gear is a bit suspect too.  But Wayne's rebuilding the bottom end with new seals and is going to tidy up the rest of the bike as he goes too.

Send us a photo Wayne !

Mena Vartuli

Mena got in touch with me recently to say that her boyfriend had bought her a KR so she could learn to ride.  Cool !  It needs some work and I'm trying to help identify what's missing.  Hopefully there'll be a picture on here soon.

Send us a photo Mena !

Dave Krantz

Dave is the proud owner of a KR250 which he bought in '98.  It came with the workshop manual, which is useful because he's had quite a few problems and it's currently off the road undergoing extensive engine work.  Nevertheless, he agrees that they're great fun when they're running right and he's going to send me some pictures shortly.

Send us a photo Dave !

Mr.Burns

I bet no-one wants to claim this one.  Steve found it in a breakers yard in Australia.  You shouldn't play with matches you know...

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New Zealand   

Fred Vermeulen

Fred's rapidly turning into a KR nut !  He picked up the green one a while ago, got it running and then he took it apart just to tidy it up.  It suffered from the common problem of a snapped kickstart shaft but Fred successfully repaired it - see the Tech Tips section for details.  He's now in the process of sorting out a full paint-job in silver.  The red/black one first appeared on here when it belonged to Mike Christiansen, then it was bought by Sean McDermott (see pic) as his first bike.  Sean jumped straight in at the deep-end by taking it for a problem-free 530km ride in just one day.  Sean's moved onto something a bit bigger now so Fred snapped it up as another ongoing project.  But he can't get enough of 'em so when I posted an advert for Will Bodley's red/white one, Fred bought that too.  It hadn't run for a while but Fred got it going fairly easily.  Note the aftermarket rearset pegs.  Fred got it prepared for a trackday and had a great time.  But he lent it to a racer friend who suffered a major seizure - you can see the not-so-pretty results below.  But Fred's not that bothered, he only wants one KR for the road, one for the track and one for a spares source so it's not a major disaster.

FOR SALE   John Lewis     New Plymouth

John's KR is now for sale.  When he first bought it the bike had been dry stored since 1996 and had 29,000 kms on the clock.  He got it running after fitting new plugs and a filter and cleaning the carbs, but when revved it dropped cylinders (not always the same one) and blew oil from a drain hole in the water pump.  He suspected the main seals needed replacing and employed an ex-works RG500 mechanic to completely rebuild the engine.  The seals were replaced along with a set of new rings and he machined the cases to accept a non-standard gearbox output seal as the standard part is no longer obtainable.  I pointed him towards a sidepanel to replace his missing one and he was planning a switch to green/white at one point (not sure if that happened ?).  Following some electrical problems (cured with a new CDI) he's been using the bike daily for commuting and says it's been perfect for the last 12 months.  But now it has to go, along with a complete - but dismantled - spare one.  Contact  KR250.ORG  and I'll pass your details on.

Nigel Woodfield     Christchurch

A chap in New Zealand called James Preston was one of the first people to contact me when I first set up this site.  He had a green KR250 but was looking to sell it as he hadn't used it for ages and didn't really have the space to keep it.  I put an advert on here and a few people enquired about it but no-one seemed to want it.  But now it's now found a new home with Nigel, who has a mate with a KR250S (the powervalve version).  It was all thanks to me that Nigel bought the KR... ...so imagine my horror to get an email from him shortly afterwards telling me he'd put a new rear tyre on, fitted some new brake pads, replaced the fork seals and taken it out for a short run when it promptly blew the gear box !  On stripping it down he found a blown base gasket, two of the main bearings had been spinning in the casings, one main casing was cracked, there were four broken gears and a stuffed selector fork and possibly more. But as if to show that this KR has gone to a deserving home, Nigel wasn't put off and bought another gearbox so he could rebuild it all as good as new !  He's racking up the miles now and loving it, although he did commment on the noticeable lack of bottom-end power compared to his mate's 'S'.  There was a temporary scare when he took it to be re-registered because the examiner thought the frame was bent, but it's all been checked out and is OK. Er, was OK - he emailed me just before Christmas to say he'd crashed it !  The bike isn't too badly damaged but injuries to his left arm mean that it'll be at least 4 weeks before he can start repairs or even think about riding again.  But he's still smiling !  Here's some stunning pictures he sent me earlier :

Josh Walby

Josh won his KR on an auction site for only NZ$50 and contacted me looking for other Kiwi KR owners.  I put him in touch with a couple and also sent him a workshop manual, to help him in his quest to fix up the bike for post-classic racing.  Shortly afterwards, he bought another one with a view to building one good bike out of the two, and then another !  He's been looking at the possibility of RGV or ZXR fork transplants, and is also investigating fitting KDX125 powervalve top-ends or even creating a 350cc big-bore using Yamaha IT175 pistons.  Sounds interesting.  Josh is also pretty active on the KiwiBiker and KR1S UK forums.  Last I heard he was thinking about buying John's 2 KR's (see above) as well...

Mike Dodge     Christchurch

Mike bought his KR from a retired Kawasaki dealer who'd kept it for nostalgic reasons.  It needs a few things sorting out but it should be back on the road very shortly - after a 10 year lay-off !  Mike's got a fine history of sporty two-strokes so it looks like it's found a deserving home.

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USA   

Brian     Southern California

Unbelievably, this bike - a rare 'S' model - was for sale on this site for ages.  Eventually, Brian, a discerning chap and proper 2-stroke nut bought it to go with his collection of other cool strokers.  Kinda wish I'd bought it myself now...

Matt Kiwala

Matt had just rescued this KR when he first contacted me.  He thought it was a wreck although I reckon it looks pretty good !  I helped him out with a manual and parts book and he shopped round for a few parts to get it running and help put it back in good condition.  And the last photo shows what it looks like now - pretty nice eh ?

Scott Nicholas     Philadelphia

The first transatlantic KR owner to contact me.  Scott has a KR1-S too.  Nice to see someone keeping the two-stroke dream alive in the land of the free.

Shawn Pecht     Seattle

Shawn has a mint '85 KR250S.  Why can't I find one of these for myself ?...

Keith Montgomery     Alabama

Keith's just bought this KR and is excited about getting to grips with it.

FOR SALE   Phil     Kalamazoo

Phil has a 1985 KR250A that he's interested in selling.  It has been professionally customized with Honda RS250 street legal roadrace bodywork painted viper yellow as well as many other modifications.  It has roughly 2500 miles on it.  He has almost all the stock bodywork for it as well.  He's only ridden it once in over 10 years.  If you're interested, contact  KR250.ORG  and I'll put you in touch with him.

Send us a photo Phil !

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Canada   

Milan Sochor     Edmonton

Milan's originally from Czechoslovakia and used to race two-strokes there before moving to Alberta in 1986.  He's now heavily into vintage motocross and has his own business servicing bikes, karts and snowmobiles.  He also makes his own two-stroke expansion chambers AND REPLICA KR SILENCER SLEEVES so get in touch if you need new pipes for your stroker.  Milan has a great collection of two-stroke bikes including of course a KR.

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Japan   

Tono    Tono's KR Website    Tono's KR BBS

You could say that Tono is a bit of a KR fan - look at his collection in the middle picture below !  From left to right, that's a white/red tandem-twin that he keeps inside his house, a KR-1R upgraded with ZXR400 USD forks and brakes, a standard KR-1 and a plain white 'naked' KR.  That's not an obscure factory model - although it looks good enough to be one - Tono modified it himself using a mix of ZXR and ZRX parts - see his English-text  Naked KR  page for details. I first found Tono through his excellent website from where I borrowed some of these pictures.  Most of it is - naturally enough - in Japanese but he has kindly translated some of the features into English too, including the  20th Anniversary  event he helped arrange with KROG, a trip he made to  Ken Suzuki's  and the brilliant  Special KR Meeting  that I was lucky enough to attend in 2005.

Tetsuya

Tetsuya sent me these photos the other day.  That's a pretty-trick tandem-twin he's got himself there.  USD front end and matching rear (KR-1R ?), race tank and bodywork, gorgeous blown exhausts.  Should be fun on a track day...

Katsutoshi  Katsutoshi's KR Pages

Here's another trick Japanese special.  I borrowed these pictures from Katsutoshi's website - check it out.  There are lots of photographs of the build and plenty of detail (as long as you can read Japanese).

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Hong Kong   

Phil Heung

Phil is another two-stroke nut and contacted me looking for a KR.  I put him in touch with a few people and now look what's on it's way to him from New Zealand !

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Iran   

Saeid Gharibi   Bushehr

Saeid has a KDX200 and rescued this abandoned KR250S.  I'm liking the way his restoration is going !

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Iraq   

Rare KR250S, free to good home, buyer collects...

Unbelievable.  An American called Dan was working in Iraq a few years ago and stumbled over this abandoned bike.  He managed to get it running and rode it around a bit with some mates, but wasn't allowed to take it back home with him when he left.  He didn't know what it was, so did a bit of research later and found this website.

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Papua New Guinea   

Chris Thomson

Chris has just got himself a red & black KR250S.  It's in good nick - only got 200klm’s up - but it’s been sitting around for a long time.  He's after some spare parts : carb, rear brake caliper, R/H side panel.

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Greece   

Vasilis Rousis

Vasilis contacted me recently wanting a workshop manual so he can start working on his KR.  Here's some pictures :

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Romania   

Andrei

Andrei's recently acquired a KR but (like a lot of other owners) is having starting problems.  I sent him some scans from my workshop manual to help him check and set up the carbs and hopefully he'll be getting back in touch soon with good news.

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Philippines   

Ranier

This is Ranier's KR250S.  He's had it for 2 months but says he doesn't ride it much due to the high cost of fuel in his country.  Although he does like to fire it up once a week and wake his neighbours up with lots of blue smoke - ha ha !

Danny

Danny got in touch because his uncle owns a KR and is having trouble getting it to run properly.  Danny found the website and I sent him some scans from my workshop manual relating to the ignition system.  Did he fix it Danny ?

Send us a photo Danny !

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Czech Republic   

Miroslav Kment

OK, so it needs a bit of work.  But look at that cylinder head - it's got the KVSS ports off the 'S' model, as if it wasn't exotic enough already in that part of the world.  Put it back together Miroslav and send us some more pics !

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Malaysia   

Kamal

Kamal owns what he thinks is the only KR in Malaysia !  He's had it since 1984 and still loves it, although it's now needing some attention to the top-end.

Send us a photo Kamal !

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Russia   

Arcadi Kilin     Tomsk

Arcadi was given this KR as a New Year present by his friend !  I've sent him a manual so he can get working on it but somehow I think the -45º outside temperature might be more of a problem...

Dmitri Solovyov

Dmitri got in touch because his friend has a KR and they're having trouble with the fuel system.  I sent him some pages scanned from my workshop manual so hopefully it'll be running properly soon.

Send us a photo Dmitri !