Author Topic: kawasaki F11 250 (Read 5816 times)

jimson · « **on:** August 28, 2009, 09:18:33 pm »

Kawasaki f11 250 with a kawasaki factory manual $90 look for pic's on the DT1 race bike for sale post.jimson

Nathan S · « **Reply #1 on:** August 28, 2009, 09:27:54 pm »

Sold.

jimson · « **Reply #2 on:** August 28, 2009, 09:34:26 pm »

F11 fighter jet is now Nathan's over & out

jimson

holeshot buddy · « **Reply #3 on:** August 28, 2009, 10:53:56 pm »

nathan you have the disease

firko · « **Reply #4 on:** August 29, 2009, 10:31:45 am »

Does the F11 traily have the same cases as an F81M? If so I'm interested in the engine.

albrid-3 · « **Reply #5 on:** August 29, 2009, 12:15:21 pm »

The F11 and F81m are different engines Mark.

firko · « **Reply #6 on:** August 29, 2009, 12:26:46 pm »

Thanks Dave, I thought they were probably different.

DR · « **Reply #7 on:** August 29, 2009, 01:47:24 pm »

they do however share the same cases as the F11M

Nathan, trust me when I say you really should bust your arse to get the F11 going. Power is nothing but the handling will make most other pre'75 250's feel pretty ordinary in comparison

lms6201 · « **Reply #8 on:** August 29, 2009, 02:07:36 pm »

one of the local wreckers has a whole rack of nos chambers am unsure if for 250 or 350

firko · « **Reply #9 on:** August 29, 2009, 02:27:44 pm »

Quote

they do however share the same cases as the F11M

Yeah, I suspected that Doc but I have an F81M and thought there may be a slim chance it would be suitable for spares.
The F11 was a pretty decent trailbike for the era and typically Kawasaki for the time, the engine was better than the package. They handled OK compared to the rival DT1 or 2 or Battered Sav but were heavy and slow turning a bit like me.

I reckon the engine is a great candidate for fitment to something lighter and more race savvy. I once saw an F11 powered Rickman Monty on Sieges site and it looked like a factory job with its puke green paint job. It'd be a good candidate for a Montesa King Scorpion rolling frame Nathan. With all of the stuff you've got hanging around the sheds you could build a pretty good hot rod racer using the F11 as a base.

JC · « **Reply #10 on:** September 03, 2009, 08:42:40 am »

I'm w Doc. F11 is a real decent package. Good handling tho engine is underpowered. (Mark maybe confusing the F11 w the F8 which was the other way round) Frame is somewhat heavy but I wouldn't be doing a frame swap as they handle fine for the era.

Nathan, you got a real bargain. I have hot-up porting specs for both F11 & F11M if you want them. Pipe specs too. If engine # is above 16500 it should have a semi-close ratio g'box. No doubt YSS PD valve would improve forks.

VMX247 · « **Reply #11 on:** September 03, 2009, 09:43:51 am »

http://ozvmx.com/community/index.php?topic=8430.0

FYI

cheers

firko · « **Reply #12 on:** September 03, 2009, 09:44:12 am »

Quote

Mark maybe confusing the F11 w the F8

No confusion here John, I've spent a lot of time with all 3 bikes and the F11 wasn't any slower than a DT1 or Sav...don't believe the magazine articles of the time, the results bike "tests" were all based on the amount of advertising in that particular issue, no matter what mag we're talking about. If the Yamaha topped the Suzuki or Kawasaki in a test you can bet your goolies that Yamaha had more ad space that issue.
The Kawasaki responded very well to porting, a bigger carby and a pipe. When I was building my 'DT1 from Hell' back in the 90s I spoke to ace porter Gary Treadwell and he asked me why I was using a DT1 instead of an F11. When I explained the pre 70 class aims of the bike he responded that of all of the 250 trail bikes of the period, the Kawasaki showed the best flow characteristics and had the most potential for horsepower. That theory translates over to the Kawasaki F11M being a far better bike than the MX250 Yamaha and TM250 Suzuki, even though it's pretty hard (near impossible) to find one.

JC · « **Reply #13 on:** September 03, 2009, 11:15:24 am »

Ok Mark - just sounded like yr overall description sounded more applicable to the F8 & yr question about F81M & F11 cranckcases sounded like you weren't too clear about them.

I rode em back in the day so I wasn't just going on mag tests. Must confess tho that I hated all trailies back then as too underpowered & overweight. Except that the rotary valve Kaws (F8/9) weren't underpowered but grossly overweight & w below-par handling. F11 was quite sweet handling but went backwards a bit in power cf to the F8 that preceded it. Even my mates ported F11 w pipe & bigger carb felt underpowered to me as I was racing the F11M at the time. F11 porting is quite mild, as is the F11M (for an MX bike), but F11 engine doesn't need a frame transplant unless its into something like a Maico frame. Now that could be quite a weapon w a bit of port work. I was going to put one in an Ossa superpioneer frame at one stage, but the engine is just a little too long (for an easy swap)

Very interesting comments from Gary Treadwell. Shame Kaw never exploited the design by producing more F11Ms but they were pre-occuppied w their big-bore in the land of "no substitute for cubic inches". Even the ones (F11Ms) they did produce they didn't promote. Wish I could find some more parts to complete my F11M. They really were a sweet bike.

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