The reputation of Kawasaki’s mighty ‘little’ two-strokes is often overshadowed by its larger cousin the Mach III triple cylinder, however the smaller twin cylinder two-stokes; the 350cc A7 Avenger and the 250cc A1 Samurai are no less fierce for their size, in particular the A1 Samurai. With a claimed 31bhp maximum and a top speed of 103mph, it had impressive performance for a 250 in the day, fortunately a twin leading shoe front brake was just about adequate to stop it !
This fine example was imported ti the UK in the 1980’s and was comprehensively restored in the early 1990s by a previous owner before being sold to TV presenter James May. It has had little use since the restoration work and remains in first class condition. Suppled with a good history file of bills and receipts for the restoration work it also has a number of old MoT’s, a service and repair handbook and a dating letter from the Vintage Japanese Motorcycle Club. Built from 1966 to 1971 relatively few were imported into the UK and as such they have become quite collectable. Showing just 5433 miles this is good opportunity to acquire a beautifully presented example with a great history.
