I was cruising through Craigslist one day and found a 1996 Ninja ZX7R with no price for sale. Ad said "Went to work, came out and it wouldn't start" Hm. Perhaps hydrolocked? Worth a shot. Bike was in exceptional condition. Sadly someone lowered it but also put nice Nology Wires, deleted emissions and put a very nice Muzzy exhaust on it. So I figured for the price I paid with a title, I couldn't lose.
Some diagnostic work later and the prognoses was a valve broke and locked the motor up. Seller's story was obvious a total fabrication but that's neither here nor there.
Oh dear!
A few hours and bruises later, she roared to life.
I do have the left and right side fairings but the left one needs repair/replacement. And again, this paint job was only available in 1996.
The bike is for sale; $2,200 if you're interested. The replacement motor has just 9,000 miles on it!
Finally is what I picked up last night.
1986 Suzuki LT250R
This was a revolutionary ATV back in the day. It combined light weight aluminum materials with a simple design and a liquid cooled 2 stroke engine.
They were very light, weighing in at just 293 pounds making it lighter than most ATC 3 wheelers of its day.
Though common place now, the LT250R came loaded with new features:
2-wheel rear drive with a solid axle
"A-Arm" front suspension
Powerful lightweight engine
Manual transmission and clutch
Hydraulic disc brakes, two in front, one for the rear
Chain drive
(Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suzuki_LT250R)
The early years like mine were equipped with 5 speed transmissions and a notoriously weak swing arm. The swing arm issue is remedied by upgrading to a newer swing arm. Which I will be doing as mine is cracked in a couple places.
My plan is to restore it and clean it up. I got it for WELL under market value. I was thinking of entering it in the local racing series. I'm sure it won't hold a candle to newer 4 stroke race ATVs but it sure would be fun!
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