Little Kwacker cracker

Sam Hewitt

–

1st September 2020

Further to the letter from Tony Colman about his Kawasaki Z200 in issue 420.

His letter was a reminder of my own experience.

I have, over the years, had an eclectic mix of bikes, starting off on a D7 Bantam and have had a good mix of British, Japanese, Indian, German and Italian machines.

I have dipped a toe in restoration (I’m no mechanic!) and have been involved in restoring a BSA C15 and a bike that I’ve not been able to get out of my system since I was 16, the ever popular Triumph Tiger Cub.

Fast forward to the Cub being completed and running. Finally I could relive my youth.

That was until I went out for a test run and quickly realised the limitations of the Cub in today’s modern traffic. Talk about being invisible, it was a sobering moment. Sadly it’s only used for local classic bike events now.

I had to downsize my more modern bike (Royal Enfield Bullet Electra X ) due to the usual combination of age and infirmity.

I attended the Big Bike Sunday at Skipton last year and met a chap on a very tidy Kawasaki Z200. He was rightly proud of it and this planted the idea of tracking one down.

I’m now the owner of an R reg Z200 and, to echo what Tony said, it is amazing to look at both bikes in my garage and marvel at the technological advances Kawasaki made.

It may be a ‘commuter’ bike but electric start, indicators and front disc brake are standard with Japanese reliability thrown in.

It will also take two up at a steady pace, which highlighted the limitations of the mechanical front disc brake! A full overhaul and new pads has improved braking from poor to average.

Many thanks for the article about the Z200 and KL250 in issue 419, it was a pleasant surprise to read an honest review of an overlooked bike that can still keep up in modern traffic on local roads.