1998 Kawasaki KR-1S
Miles: 15,500
Salvage Title
Listed Price: $9,850 OBO
Listing Ends: May 10th, 2024
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Never officially sold outside its native Japan, Kawasaki’s KR-1S was the rarest of the 250cc two-stroke sportbikes of the late 1980s and early 1990s, with around 10,000 ever built, compared to over 100,000 Honda NSRs. It was rare, but followed the class formula: two-cylinder engine displacing just a hair under 250cc, with cutting edge tech and some sort of powervalve technology and a six-speed gearbox, suspended in an aluminum beam frame, with quality suspension, triple disc brakes, fully-faired bodywork, and a dry weight in the neighborhood of 300lbs. Kawasaki actually used a parallel twin at a time when competitors had mostly moved to v-twins, and hung that engine underneath the twin-spar frame. Kawasaki’s Integrated Powervalve System [“KIPS”] helped with the peaky powerband and it had a balance shaft to improve smoothness, although it was still a buzzy little engine. Official power was rated at the government mandated 45hp, but all of the little two-stroke terrors responded well to tuning and the KR-1S was the fastest of the bunch, with an as-tested top speed of 139mph…
1989 Kawasaki KR-1S 250cc 2 stroke. Imported from Japan 6-7 years ago. Rebuilt carbs and runs great. It got slightly wet in Hurricane Ian and Hagerty made me turn title in to Florida and get back Salvage title. It is ready to go and convert to Rebuilt. I had a bunch of bikes that got completely submerged so I think Hagerty just kept it simple and totaled them all. This bike was on the work stand so the water only got up halfway on the wheels. The engine was fine and it started right up and ran great. The odometer cluster was off the bike and on a lower shelf so it did go completely under water. I mounted it and plugged it in for the first time this week and most things worked right away. The speedo did not work yet… It will need minor things to ride safely. They must have tracked it in Japan as it has cut away side farings to access the carbs and the bottom of the tail fairing was cut away. It is clean and looks good. Minor scuffs and cracks as seen in photos. I made small repair on fairing under mirror mount, hardly noticable. I have another windscreen that is new and other spare parts including another seat. It will include some extra stainless screws, plastic washers and rubber nuts, etc. It does not have the airbox, it came with pods that I swapped out for better pods as the ones it had were just screens. I added a Lithium battery. This is my last one out of many. I sold off the two KR-1Rs in the last 1.5 years and they were both completely submerged and never ran. This will be a fun bike for someone and I am happy to get more photos and information. It starts amazingly even after sitting for a few months. It pulls great once warmed up. It is the fastest sister to the NSR, TZR, RGV etc. It set the highest top speed of them all at 139mph
So we’re looking at an exceedingly rare Kawasaki KR-1S and the asking price is under $10,000? The next question should naturally be “what’s wrong with it?” Well it’s obviously seen some use: there’s corrosion and wear, and cracks in the bodywork, but none of that is a deal-breaker. The bigger issue is the salvage title: it looks like this bike got drowned in the same storm that totaled an even rarer Kawasaki I posted about last year. Maybe even the same seller? Regardless, kudos for posting detailed pics of the bike so potential buyers can get a good idea of what they’re in for, and for being completely transparent regarding the title. This a a very cool machine and apparently runs well. It’s just going to need some time and attention and a buyer who doesn’t mind the dreaded salvage title. Maybe this would make a very cool track or racebike?
-tad
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