Vintage SAKI
In the article about my CZ which appeared in RC186, I mentioned that I had another CZ 250 in my garage. I had some ideas about fitting it with a fairing and altering some other bits and pieces – but a friend of mine really wanted it, so I sold it to him. Probably more to save it from my madcap designs than anything else!
With that CZ safely out of harm’s way of my spannering efforts, there was a space in my garage. What would fill the gap? I started to look around for a similar motorcycle, a two-stroke twin of around 250cc. I have always liked quarter-litre two-stroke twins, much more so than any other class of motorcycle. I like all sorts and sizes and have owned many machines that were not 250s. But I enjoy riding a well set-up 250 twin and it feels more rewarding to get the best out of them.
I looked at some very nice late 1960s Yamaha, Honda and Suzuki bikes, and then I started looking at Kawasaki 250 twins and triples. A few clips on YouTube and the sound of the Samurai 250 brought back some memories from 50 years ago. One particular Samurai was owned by a chap I knew. It wasn’t in the best condition but back then we were indestructible and would ride anything that ran.
