Motorcycle gurus post here
 

My father has a 2003 gz250 that is currently out of commission. Long story short after my brother borrowed it, something blew a bullet-size hole in the cylinder head. I've check CL, ebay, and google periodically trying to find a cheap engine, but to no avail. The few engines I've found are priced ridiculously high. However, there are lots of Honda engine for cheap on CL.

With that said, the following are the options that I see available:

start a dad/son project using another engine
Sell the motorcylce for scraps on CL

What do the motorcycle gurus say?

How much is a decent one worth and how much are the engines going for? That's what I'd consider.

It's not an expensive or exotic bike, I wouldn't spend too much. But don't "scrap" it. Someone will want it.

Why not look for a cheap ninja 500 engine? I dont know what kind of money you want to spend but other than the chrome why not? Vtwin and even has a 6 speed tranny.

Can you somehow look up what other bikes used the same motor?

A motorcycle drivetrain swap isn't easy. I'd sell it off and buy something more realistic.

The bike itself is practically new. The body is very well taken care of. The ninja/cbr/r6 engines (600/800cc) start at about $500. It appears that the 600cc engines are the most commonly found, for obvious reasons. 500/250cc engines are actually rare to come to and when I find one it's overpriced.

I have looked at other motorcycles with similar engines, but to no avail. I am leaning towards getting rid of it and finding something else, but my father seems to a bit attached to and I thought I could help him get it running again. The budget is limited, at ~$1000 to beging with. However, I estimate that it would take a lot more than that to adapt another motor/drivetrain.

Thanks for the responses. If any of you run into a 250cc marauder engine let me know.

Call me jaded, but I'd get into something else if you can't find an engine or the part to repair it. GZ250's are the very very bottom of the food chain. Hell they're so low on the food chain, they aren't even really part of it. They get eaten by plants. That makes them like water or some shizz.

Ducati 1198R or GTFO

Go to the ex500 forum. You'll find ninja 500 parts and physical size of each motor there.

Just make sure the motor isnt opened up. Bike motors warp together. Taking the head off even just to rebolt it back on requires a resurface.

I imagine you're stuck with a single cylinder to physically fit it in the bike, but a little creativity might make you a neat toy...

Why the ---- are y'all suggesting a Kawasaki sports bike engine in a Suzuki cruiser?!?

Op, your options are fairly limited since that's the only bike they make in thy size. You can look into the older GS bikes, but the sub 250cc singles are pretty rare, and I have no idea if those will fit either.

Buy me one them

Imagination, time, and money. For now I have the first two and just a bit of the third.

Well I just wanted to see if I was missing something given that finding a possible replacement is been like finding pusha dick in all that lard. Seems the best option is to move onto another bike.

your dead bike is a worthless piece of junk. move on

Disassemble the head, see what broke, if you need nothing more than a cylinder head it's only going to cost you about $500 to get a new one. Chances are, you'll need a few other tidbits, but the head is the bulk of the cost.

Ronayers.com Microfiche Suzuki>Motorcycle>2003>GZ250>CYLINDER HEAD

Buy a whole nother identical bike (they're cheap), have a spare parts bike for when your dumb ass dumps it. Save money shopping on ebay for replacement tank and trim parts.

lol I actually kinda agree.

unless you can pick up a parts bike for super cheap, I don't see the point.

Because the configuration of the ninja engine is a similar to stock candidate?

Probably a silly question, but have you looked/asked here?

GZ250Bike.com

Love you too man

The block is in need or boring and ----... so it's the entire engine or nothing.

Yeah I recall going there a long time ago. It's like miata.net... :ugh:

Lots of junkers being parted on miatanet.

I suppose, but this bikes aren't as popular or abundant as Miatas.