Motorbike Mechenics...Help!!!!

[vc_brock_commodore]

i own a 1980 Kawasaki Z250A roadbike and i was just gunna take the battery out to charge it up, i started to pull it out and i noticed a tube running down from the battery to somewhere on the bike and i don't know weither to pull the tube off. What should i do?.

[rolly]

that tube is just an over flow for the battery. It goes down below the frame to drain excess fluid onto the ground.

[vc_brock_commodore]

thanks mate.

[sts71]

I can recomend a really great mechanic on kwakas if your sydney based, I wouldnt trust mine to anyone else
Steve
zzr250, gpx750r

[Wombat]

Just make sure that you take note of where that breather tube goes...you don't want it spitting battery acid on your paint or chrome exhaust, and make sure it isn't kinked either and is free to the atmosphere.

Top little bike the Z250...bulletproof, reliable, long-lasting, and tuff as nails...as well as the huge advantage of having a "Kawasaki" badge....

Make sure you keep the oil fresh in it, and a nice clean air filter element...any bike with 26 years on it deserves a bit of looking after.

Nice to see some Kwaka owners here...here's a better pic of the bike in my avatar picture...my 1974 H2-750 two-stroke triple...what a bike...

[vc_brock_commodore]

thanks mate, i like ya bike it's hell cool. i'll take a few pics of my bike today and post them up. what sort of oil do you recomend to put in my bike?, i've been using engine oil that i put in my cars, is that bad to put in my bike?.

[Matty081]

castrol gtx4

[MasterOfReality]

I had a old 1984 KL250 that I fully restored/rebuilt about 9 years ago. Really easy to work on.

I sold it about 3 years ago and it had only covered 90 km since the restoration.

Good bikes

[Wombat]

Almost any new car engine oil you buy now is going to be far superior to whatever you could have bought for a car or bike 20 or more years ago...
The big thing to note: it MUST be "NON-friction-modified"...otherwise you will stuff the wet clutch in a bike engine real quick.
I personally used Penrite HPR-50 when I had my Z1000-J, and also use HPR-30 in the gearbox of my yellow 750 triple. My BMW doesn't need non-friction-modified stuff, having a dry single plate clutch like a car, so I can use anything really, but still stick to Penrite.
The main thing with a bike, even an old one, is not to think "hey, it's old, any oil will do"...go for the best you can afford, and make sure it has a good viscosity range, as generally bike engines will raise in revs faster than a car engine, and a good-flowing oil will protect all the whirring stuff inside...and keep it inside... . Something around 20W-50 or 15W-50 is fine.

Basically, in something like an old Z250 which, let's face it, isn't going to be screaming to 10,000rpm, I'd use HPR-30, but as I said, any decent quality oil, again checking that it is non-friction-modified.

Thanks for the comments on my beloved triple. To sum up, they are a pretty rare machine now, and I've never seen another one in real life outside a magazine, but they were king of the hill in thier day (1974)...80hp, 180kg, three cylinder piston-port two-stroke 750cc, 1/4 mile 12 seconds, and 0-100km/hr as quick as you can say it...only downside is around-town V8-style fuel "economy" (of yes, you'll get maybe 30 to 40 mpg highway, but ridden hard around town, it can drop to 10mpg... . Oh...that and the pissed off environmentalists from all the blue two-stroke smoke haze.... ...