Our Cars: Kawasaki Z250SL
17 November 2016: Two-up on the Z250SL
The Details
| Current mileage | 1085 |
|---|---|
| Costs this month | £10 (sausage sandwiches for two) |
The back seat on the Kawasaki Z250SL isn’t exactly opulent - in fact it’s pretty cruel. There is a sort of flimsy, strappy thing in place of grab rails, the foot pegs are high and the pillion pad itself is sadistically small. But we’re thorough here at Honest John, so I decided to try it out. By making someone else sit on it.
If you’re planning to carry a passenger on a bike then it’s important to have some rear suspension adjustment. Firming up the settings will improve safety, handling and comfort with someone sat on the rear seat so, first things first, I checked the preload adjustment for the rear suspension, which is a bit hard to access.
More importantly, there is no centre stand so you can’t to take the weight off the back wheel on the fly - which makes it close to impossible to change the settings. In the end I gave up, but fortunately my willing passenger was my younger sister – a 16-year-old who weighs about the same as a brick of Shredded Wheat.
With her on board there was essentially no difference in the way the bike felt. There was none of the front-end weave that’s typical when carrying a pillion – but I’d put that down to our combined weight being less than the weight of some people on their own. We have skinny genes (and she has skinny jeans).
The lack of a centre stand means rear suspension adjustment is hard work
My sister isn’t a very experienced pillion, but with a bit of tuition she quickly relaxed and made our ride very easy. It was short, but enough for both of us to get a feel for the little Kawasaki two-up. And it’s fair to say it isn’t all that bad, considering how uncomfortable it looks at first glance.
It’s hardly easy to recommend if you’re planning to carry passengers regularly or far, of course. Wind noise, the lack of secure grab handles and the uncomfortably thin pillion pad mean anything more than an 30 minutes is painful for a passenger, and the bike probably wouldn’t cope well with anyone heavy or tall perched up there.
But for a short, occasional trip it’s okay. Handling isn’t really affected much with a light passenger on board and the brakes perform well enough to keep things under control, although maintaining a smooth ride requires a little more forethought and delicacy, just like it would on any other bike.
So, if you absolutely have to give someone a lift on the back of a Kawasaki Z250SL you can. But unless they enjoy pain and discomfort, they won’t like it – and the bike won’t thank you for it much either. But you probably aren’t considering a Z250SL for a two-up tour of the Pyrenees anyway…
« Earlier: Time to get some better tyres Later: Winter riding »
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