Kawasaki ZL 250 Eliminator

Kawasaki ZL 250 Eliminator. The marketing department must have been behind that. If you have something big in impressive, then of course you have the entire market if you also offer something like that in XS version. And then XS is not meant as a brave abbreviation, but as Extra Small. And if the original power cruiser was named "Eliminator," why wouldn't his puppy be an Eliminator?

Kawasaki ZL 250 Eliminator: What's in a name?

And it shows a very free spirit to call such a small thing Eliminator. Because to be a Real Eliminator you have to be someone. Broad in the shoulders. Narrow in the hips. Armed and mean. However? On the other hand, I also know someone with a Chihuahua the size of a big rat called 'Tiger'. But 40 hp from 250 cc at 12.500 rpm of the Kawasaki ZL 250 Eliminator? That's pretty impressive. There were also 1000 cc Eliminators, by the way. And also small 125 cc Eliminator strips. And that cockpit? Well, that's part of the styling.

The idea was that the Terminator range would offer a whole line of cruisers. In den Beginne there was the 1985 cc V twin in 900. It was put on the market as a 'Power Cruiser'. The 250 cc parallel win was the model just after the 125 cc pick-up. At 125 and 250 cc both the concepts of 'Power' and 'Cruiser' were of course relatively relative.

The Kawasaki ZL 250 Eliminator is clearly American-lined

It looks exactly like a Harley. Kind of. Only the block, a parallel win, is crazy about speeding. And the brakes work great. That kind of light Harley-like was massively sold in the 250s to novice motorcyclists and motorcycling women. They were often a bit scrawny, because accounting kept the horse tight on the bit. The Kawasaki ZL 250 Eliminator was an exception to this: it was neatly arranged, was more chic than Suzuki's GN250 and the Yamaha SR XNUMX. Furthermore, the little drift frog had a low seat, a low center of gravity and more preconditions that made it more then only made a cheap, light motorcycle. The lighting, the button shop. The finish: everything was good.

A good heart is hard to find (Feargal Sharley)

The fact that the power source (or very faintly: the power source) of the Kawasaki ZL 250 Eliminator had its origins in Kawasaki's ZZ / R250 helped dramatically in that. In comparison, a GN or SR was 100% without a chance. With a bore that was 20 mm larger than the stroke, the water-cooled Kawasaki was very square. The red line on the counter was therefore a little rustic 11.800 rpm. The exhaust sound was therefore very different from the brave barking of a conventional push rod winch. A unleashed ZL 250 sounded and sounds like a seal from the freezer that is being filmed with a chainsaw. The Kawasaki ran at full speed at a speed of 145 km / h. Combined with his slender line, that made him more than just 'beautiful'. The little drift frog with its relaxed looks was a very practical living / work traffic bike.

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At the bottom, such a small twin is of course not very strong. But thanks to the smooth-shifting six-speed gearbox, the average lease rider is no match for traffic light sprints.

The handling is good for what it is and the suspension meets the better type of road when used quietly. The ground clearance is limited.

But no matter how nice a Kawasaki 250 Eliminator is, and how endearingly it tries its best to resemble a Harley, it is not a tough, sought-after classic. In its day it was a good, but expensive, commuter, commuter bike at best. And of course there were and are people who fell and fall for the now so dated styling.

The offer and the prices

The scarce specimens that are now being offered for sale are generally very neat. Even the machines that did a nice message. But there is also still a chance that you will find a real gem with few kilometers and a fully documented past. We found our photo model at Dutch Lion Motorcycles and the asking price of the red low seat with 25.000 kilometers on the counter is € 1.250. And for a classic daily driver that is not a price that hurts.