fzr250

Hopefully this isnt a doubleup post, tried posting this through another ISPs
newsgroup accidently, and it hasnt showed...so here goes again through my
isp, sorry if it is a double post........

Gday, am getting my first roadbike soon, and was looking at the FZR250 and
ZZR250 models in particular....both around the mid - late 90's models (I am
actually going about this backwards, getting a bike, then going for my L
plates!)

Was wondering about any potential gripes about either of these bikes, things
to look out for etc - I can find a decent amount of info about the zzr ok
online, but the FZR seems to be nearly a myth!

My main use would be for transport to/from work, but I also want to have a
bit of fun on the weekends touring around a bit maybe with a mate who has a
gsxr (I think he will have to tame his riding down a bit tho or I wont be
able to keep up)

Regards
Daniel

 

one word
ZZR

 

I have had both a GPX and the FZR250R prevuiosly, and the GPX (almost
exactly the same as the ZZR) is a lot more comfortable and easier on
the fuel.

FZR ir faster, but chews more fuel and not very comfortable on long
trips.

The suspension is softer and more forgiving on the ZZR.

So form what you said, and as a learner, go with the ZZR. A much safer
and quiet a good learners bike.

Good luck,
Cheers.

 

Dan,

First of all, go get your L's. you may find you dont like riding, or are
shit at it.

Second of all, buy good gear before you buy the bike. Good gear lasts for
a lot longer than your bike will.

The market for 4 stroke 250's labelled as 'sports' bikes is definately not
a buyers market. a zzr250 can set you back as much as $8k, for which price
you could almost buy a used aprilia RS250!

I'm a huge 2stroke fan, (as far as 250's go), so what i say is probably
biased.

Look at the kwaka (GPX, ZZR) Yamaha (FZR), Honda (VTR), Suzuki (Across).
The Hyosung Comet has had a few comments around here lately, that might be
one to check out too.

I'm also a nakedbike fan, or at least bikini fairing. Have a look at the
Kawasaki Bailus, and the Yamaha Zeal. (Overpriced IMHO but you may like
them)

Personally i'd save my money, be as frugal as possible with your 250, and
try and get one that is going to hold its value. I'd say the ZZR's will
soon flood the market and resale will get worse.

Buy hammo's VTR

Theres a great UK site with a list of (not too detailed) bike specs,
including the following.

It's all in imperial units so thats a shame.

Weight
Power
Fuel Consumption

http://www.custombike.org/
(go under bike info on the left)

Just a quick excerpt.

Lastly, buy a CT110 or Z50, everyone should have some minibike action in
their lives Good for commuting to the shops, not to mention doing your
licence test.


Cheers,
Derek

 

<snips>

Thanks for all the great info guys! (very confusing posting atm as Im having
to read them through one isps newsserver, and post back through another isps
newsserver which is still only showing 1 reply)

Im gathering both bikes are ok, but a zzr would suit a learner better, I
guess it will also come down to availability/price at the time I buy, will
look into the other bikes suggested before coming to a definate short list.

Derek, Bought a very cheap trailbike about 4months back for the sole purpose
of learning to ride a bit, and seeing if i wanted to get a licence and spend
some proper $$ on a road bike, so got that area covered! Im definatly been
"bitten" by the bike bug! Thanks for all the specs too BTW.

Unfortunatly...I believe most 2stroke 250cc bikes arnt actually learner
legal?

So far I have a very heavy old helmet used for my trailbike riding (cost 1
dollar at a garage sale!) and a hmmm, pretty crappy nearly transparent
leather jacket and some gp boots - So yeah I better start looking around for
some decent replacement stuff as well better suited to highway speeds.

Oh on a sidenote...If I do end up getting a bike with a hard seat I dont
like, Im assuming its pretty easy to get the seat redone with more padding
somewhere?

Cheers guys
Daniel

 

If its a LAM state (NSW, (any others??) then most 2-strokes are out of
limits, RZ250 is still a viable option though. And with the 350cc upgrade
(but still regged as a 250) gives ~60hp.

in nsw, the TZR, NSR, KR, RS, RGV are all off limits. Unfortunate, really!

If you have the money to spend, you'll be pleased with a ZZR. There may be
better buys for cheaper, like the FZR, VTR/Spada, and Across. But who am i
to turn someone against the kwak

Cheers,
Derek

 

Daniel

I've only had my licence a few months, and I've got a 92 FZR 600. Before I
did my QRide I was adamant my first bike should be a 250, but I found pretty
quickly that 250s are hard work for a 90kg bloke. I don't know if going
bigger than 250 is an option where you live, but if it is its worth
considering.

Best advice anyone gave me at the time was to get my licence first, then
ride a number of bikes and not be pigeon holed into preconceived ideas. I
rode some ZZRs and GPZs before I ended up buying the Fizzer from my
girlfriend for $800. Its lost its fairings and doesn't look as pretty as it
should but mechanically its great. Its turned out to be the perfect bike for
my apprenticeship before I get a better bike, like my girlfriend's VFR800.
Yummo!

Spend some money on some good gear that will last. The decisions you make
about gear will stick for a long time, so make some informed decisions
there.

There's a good FZR site, although its skewed towards the bigger Fizzers its
worth a look, even just for the gallery.
http://www.tourtimemedia.com/fzr/

Best of luck.

 

I knew those Jedi lessons would come in handy!

Hammo

Buy Hammo a beer, buy Hammo a beer, buy Hammo a beer.....

 

Ha ha ha ha, 90 kg. Lightweight! Ha ha ha ha, hardwork!

Ha Ha Ha Hammo

 

I'd give my left leg to be 90kg. Come to think of it, without my left leg I
probably _would_ be 90kg!

Conehead
and lots of it

 

For a learner bike the ZZR is a better buy - the motor was also used
in the GPX and early EL and has been on the market for years - this
means parts are cheap and easily available. The FZR was only available
in OZ for a short time and many are grey market, this means parts are
harder to get and dearer.

It also means cost of insurance will be higher for the FZR

FZR is more sports oriented, and quite a decent little bike though.

If you're in NSW also consider the >250cc LAMs bikes such as ER5 GS500
etc as well as VTR, GPX and etc in the 250 category.

In my opinion the larger capacity LAMs bikes are a better bike for a
learner due to the nature of their power delivery - they don't have
any more power than a 250 ( that's why they're learner legal) but
because they have very flat power curves they are less of a challenge
to ride - the exact opposite of a 2 stroke which have a very narrow
power band and hence in my opinion shouldn't be legal for learners at
all (not even the lower HP 125's like the mito)

JL

 

I would really love a bigger bike, but so-far the main arguement to overcome
the dreaded better half was that under 300cc bikes are very cheap to
register! (and also she would get the commodore during the day while im at
work didnt hurt either) I am in nsw also (port stephens) so a bigger bike is
technically feasible on L plates

About the weight issue...um, Im actually a pretty small bloke (65kilograms
and 5'6 ish) so am hesitating a guess that a 250cc should maybe be ok for a
fella my size....although saying that, I had a go of my mates gsxr 750 and
absolutely loved it - But the gsxr's size while manageable, was slightly too
big for me I think.

I have actually found a fzr250 that I like the look of, pic here
http://home.iprimus.com.au/daniel54/bike.jpg

*Yamaha FZR250RR - blue, 2003 complainced, awesome "R1" paint scheme or
maybe you would rather a "Red Bull" relica? We have lots of colours
available! $19/wk or, $5490.00 FREE FREIGHT AUST. WIDE.

I read somewhere on a website that the RR models are 50hp, but now Ive lost
the link arghh.

I dont suppose anybody wants to hazard a rough guess as to its actual build
date, and if its a good deal or not.

Regards
Daniel
soon to be riding somthing hopefully

 

I'm sure you'll cope (though your dick will drop off).

Pick a number.....

Hammo

 

No big loss, since the claim is obnoxious bullshit. 36-38hp at the tyre
(translating to, maybe, 42-44hp at the crank) is your lot on a 4-cylinder
4-stroke 250 of whatever flavour.

Deltabox frame, twin round headlights... I think those ran from 1990 through
to 1993. Earlier ones had a steel frame, a single front disc and looked
completely different (more upright and generally 80's), later ones only
differed in having a trapezoidal-shaped single headlight such as the one
seen on the last of the FZR600's, FZR1000's and on the TRX850... in fact,
I'm pretty sure they might even be the same damn part.

So there you go. Best case scenario, you're looking at a 10-year-old 250
for, with haggling factored in, five grand. Does that sound like good value
for money?

 

And let me guess. You guys don't ride 250s right?

 

I dunno, how many Rs was that again?

-----sharks

 

I have done, and owned two of them.

Hammo still does ( when Kathy lets him).

 

Bzzzt! Hammo's got a VTR250 (if he hasn't sold it to pat for the bloody
ovloV yet!)

big (over 100kg, and over 2,000km on a 250 last weekend!)

 

This mismatched ISP posting is damn annoying as i cant post under peoples
posts...but here goes...


Intact kneeslider, I found the link to the 50hp claim but it isnt a link
really, was a post made by somebody called "Greg" back in 2001 in this
newsgroup...
http://www.google.com.au/groups?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&threadm=3c1860ad
..27390579%40news.optusnet.com.au&rnum=1&prev=/groups%3Fas_q%3DI%2520owned%25
20an%2520FZR250RR%2520awhile%2520back.%2520All%2520I%2520can%2520say%252C%25
20they%2520are%2520a%2520great%2520bike%26safe%3Dimages%26ie%3DUTF-8%26oe%3D
UTF-8%26lr%3D%26hl%3Den
Sorry about the massive link, it copys and pastes ok tho

The fzrrr (rrrrrrr) is supposadly 20mph faster than the zzr250 going off
some specs I managed to dig up (possibly due to the exup exhaust i suppose
not hp - im really out of depth atm but am trying to learn) - But I also
found specs here http://www.custombike.org/bike_kawa.htm claiming the zzr250
jap model is 58hp! (standard model listed as 40hp) so maybe some validity to
a fzr claim of 50hp? (or perhaps the webpage is a tad optimistic)

Another question, I was under the impression the FZR in the photo link i
sent was a single headlight model, am just curious how you were able to tell
its a twin headlight model - If it is infact a twin headlight job, Im wont
bother applying for the bike due to its age as you mention

On the ZZR front, unfortunatly I will need finance to get whatever bike I
end up with, and at the moment, the dealer has no zzr's in stock...and
having been in my new job only 2 weeks, I think I would be knocked back on a
personal loan, while they tend to give finance at a dealers to anybody who
can actually sign their name ;-)

Cheers
Daniel

 

....snip

Yup, pretty sure it is - if it's the same as the FZR400 then yes.

JL