Lee Bros/Jamie Whitham 1985 Kawasaki KR250 Tandem Twin, 249c...

Hammer

£3,400

Lee Bros/Jamie Whitham 1985 Kawasaki KR250 Tandem Twin, 249cc. Registration number G654 DCX. Frame number 010507. Engine number 008534.
Sold with the V5C, DVLA printed ownership history, Lee Bros copy of certificate of newness, MOT's, email from Whitham confirming he rode a Lee Bros KR250 in the 1985 Manx GP
The Tandem Twin is a rare machine, they were only sold in Japan, Australia and South Africa and competed against the Suzuki RG. As well as being one of the rarest 250 two-strokes, the KR is also one of the most technically interesting. Its motor is a dual-crank tandem-twin, with Kawasaki's Rotary Reed Valve Induction System (RRIS), as used on the AR125. This gives it a much broader spread of power than the reed valve only RG - the KVSS power valve equipped KR250S introduced in '86 is claimed to be even more tractable.
The chassis is striking too. There's an adjustable underslung shock, a braced swing arm, adjustable anti-dive forks, triple discs, a hand-welded aluminium frame and styling that gives more than a nod to the GPZ900R. Although complicated it helps the bike to remain very narrow, as exhaust routing and expansion chambers no longer have to run underneath the engine as they do on most parallel-twin engines. In this case, they both exit on the right side of the bike: one down low, the other partly through the tailpiece in flamboyant 1980s style. The round tail lamp is set into the kicked-up tail and the bolt-on hand-fairings are an unusual touch. The 45 hp engine was good for over 110 mph and had a six speed gearbox.
This machine, imported by Lee Bros of Sowerby Bridge is believed to have been ridden by Jamie Whitham in the 1985 Manx GP.
In 1989 it was road registered and they sold it to David Graham of Sheffield, then Jackwood Motorcycles sold it to Nathan Corridge? of Sheffield, Andrew Ross of Doncaster in 1995 and then Deborah Poles of Wetherby in 1996. Peter Jackson of Knaresborough was the next owner in 1998 and our vendor bought it from him the same year. It was MOT'd in 1998 at 8967 km and in 1999 at 9,203km. In storage since then it now shows 9,700km.
This rare machine, with probable Jamie Whitham Manx GP history is now ready for a new owner.
Sold with the V5C, DVLA printed ownership history, Lee Bros copy of certificate of newness, MOT's, email from Whitham confirming he rode a Lee Bros KR250 in the 1985 Manx GP