One of my readers recommended that I investigate the mighty Kawasaki ZZR-1200. Successor to the world’s-fastest-at-introduction ZX-11, the ZZR-1200 is supposedly the most powerful carbed production bike in history.
Well, someone’s got one for sale on Columbus Craigslist. But that photo…
The text of the ad doesn’t raise my confidence much.
2002 zzr1200 kawasaki 22k miles. Sold as is. It needs carbs cleaned, the cam chain tensioner cleaned and reset, and shim the valves for good measure since its sat and it’s a fast bike, as well as put new tires on before riding. haven’t gotten to it. If you can’t handle the bike as is then it’s not for you. Fired up fine a month ago but cant keep it running now. New gel battery only a few months old. Email full name and number or no response. Cash only no trades no offers, cash in hand in person. leave full name and number. The engines worth more than I’m asking on ebay alone. If there’s a real biker amongst you come rescue this bike from a wintery fate.
I wish I had time and a shop manual. I’d give it a shot.
Well, he is wearing a helmet.
“Fired up fine a month ago but cant keep it running now” - it doesn’t take very long to gum up a set of carburetors. I hope I never work on them again as long as I live. I was constantly fiddling with them on my YZ 250s for years; I spent more time in the pits than on the track. The craigslist dirt bikes I got for my boys of course all had rotten carbs, as did my 450 KTM. At least those are easy to get to!
I just finished a complete rebuild of my girlfriend’s son’s GS500 carbs. He wrecked it 7 years ago and it’s been sitting full of gas ever since. Every. Single. Screw. Was frozen. Soaking in penetrating oil didn’t help. I had to cut a slot head into each screw with a hacksaw and heat it with a torch to break them loose. I melted some expensive plastic bits in the process. The float bowls were full of horrors, and more stuck screws and jets. Some jets could not be saved. It’s finally all back together.
The worst part was having to use my phone camera to zoom in and read the jet numbers. Getting old sucks, but it beats the alternative.
Unless you’ve got a lot of spare time, I say let it be someone else’s winter folly.
When I was a kid, we lived in town but had some property to go play on. We kept several dirt bikes, Honda XR75, XR100, XR200, etc. out there to ride. This was back in the 70’s and 80’s. After each trip out there, we’d flip the fuel lever to off and let the bikes run until the carb bowl ran dry. Sometimes the bikes would sit for several weeks, sometimes for several months. We NEVER had to rebuild carbs. Occasionally the bikes would be hard to start, so we’d drain the tank and refill with fresh gas. Other times we’d pour in a bunch of carb cleaner into the tank and try to fire it up that way. But eventually we’d get them to fire and then ride them like hell.
Seems like modern gas is way worse than the old stuff. Or maybe those old XR carbs were so fricking simply that a little cleaner squirted through was all it took. Winterize? Never would have thought of it. Now I winterize all my crap - lawn mower, weed wacker, boat motor, etc. And still have problems.
Buying a Civic Si from a puerto rican teenager would probably be a safer bet than this bike.
There’s a Honda CBX for sale down here. Complete, with a second parts bike. Contains all the stuff necessary to get the first bike running. That ad gives me more confidence than the one you’re looking at.
Keep looking for a bike that’s running. At our age (over 40), it’s easier to make the extra money than it is to find time for rebuilding a basket case.
I hate this website because I also researched zzr 1200 after that comment. And yes ethanol fuel is bad for carbs. The gas station down the street from me sells ethanol free 91 for nearly double the price of regular. I must be the only person filling my car instead of my lawn mower lol.
You should go for it. I’m looking at a ’82 Kawasaki GPz 750 project right now. #aintskeeredof4carbs
Old XRs are the best; I had an XR75 as well. You can’t kill them.
‘ Carburetor ” is a French word meaning ‘ LEAVE IT ALONE ‘ .
Shutting the fuel tap off before you arrive in your parking space makes sense as the modern ‘ motor fuels ‘ are shyte and cause all manner of problems .
if your new Moto has a vacuum controlled fuel tap GET RID OF IT A.S.A.P. as sooner or later it _will_ stick on and flood the crankcase with raw fuel.
In the past I used Yamaha’s excellent cleaner P/N ACC-CARB-CLNR , every Yamaha Dealer has it in their shop but some refuse to sell it to you for stupid reasons .
Harbor Freight sells nifty ultrasonic cleaners that’ll loosen up any crud on any old corroded carby .
-Nate
Check out 1999+ Honda Blackbirds like mine. After riding mine my buddy ran out and got a zx-12. It was faster. And worse. He has spent more time working on it than riding it. He finally traded it for a Ninja 1000 with hard bags. My bird is still going strong @ 40k.
I’ve thought long and hard about a Blackbird on multiple occasions… from what I can see nowadays, the only bikes for sale are either thrashed to death or about to turn over 100k on the odo.
Won’t keeping the CB550s running scratch enough of this itch to keep you happy? When I finally sold my 1978 GL1000 in 2010, I had $1300 into the original bike purchase and nearly the same invested in various solutions to the refusal of the included caburetors to idle when cold…
I like that bike.
Quite the contrary - that photo is honest, as is the rest of the ad.
He’s just like you - a moth drawn to flame.
I think you should buy that bike, fix it up this Winter, ride it in the Spring, then sell it.