Real top speed for a Yamaha FZX250 Zeal?

[atom608]

Iv read that it only goes about 140kmph or in a review it says "runs out of puff" at 140. reason why I ask is because the spec sites say it has 40hp and 26nm of torque. and I dont understand how a bike with that spec can only go 140 when it can reach 100 in 2nd gear. my fxr 150 "runs out of puff" at 100-110 but it will still make its way upto 140-150 on the speedometer if you give it enough time and i was wondering if there is any zeal owners that can say the real top speed of it?

[AllanB]

It's a fat little 250 - it will run out of puff.

How fast do you want to go?

[Ender EnZed]

FXR150 speedos are wildly optimistic, you're not going anywhere near 150 when the dial says you are.

I'd expect a Zeal to be good for around 150-160. Nothing more than that unless you're going down a long hill.

[gsxr]

Iv read that it only goes about 140kmph or in a review it says "runs out of puff" at 140. reason why I ask is because the spec sites say it has 40hp and 26nm of torque. and I dont understand how a bike with that spec can only go 140 when it can reach 100 in 2nd gear. my fxr 150 "runs out of puff" at 100-110 but it will still make its way upto 140-150 on the speedometer if you give it enough time and i was wondering if there is any zeal owners that can say the real top speed of it?

For the most accurate reading find a stretch of road with a cop with his radar on or a speed camera.
They are calibrated so that way you will get the most accurate reading.

[Hitcher]

A Zeal will be hard pressed to do anything over 140kmh, even when it's having the shit wrung out of it. It certainly won't get to anywhere near that speed in top gear, unless it has been dropped out the back of a Hercules at 20,000 feet.

Remind yourself about the Sigmoid curve, if you need a technical explanation of why horsepower, mass, rolling resistance, drag and other factors conspire against small motorcycles ever achieving escape velocity. http://www.dumblittleman.com/2008/10/lesson-of-sigmoid-curve.html

[F5 Dave]

And you'll find it will put out thirty-mumble HP on a real dyno. Claimed weight, HP, economy, and often top speed are usually optimistic, sometimes hugely.

Speedos lie dramatically. Download a speed app and put you phone in a tank bag. Long straight road at 100k and it will settle. Compare with your speedo and it will give you a percentage difference.

[nodrog]

Iv read that it only goes about 140kmph or in a review it says "runs out of puff" at 140. reason why I ask is because the spec sites say it has 40hp and 26nm of torque. and I dont understand how a bike with that spec can only go 140 when it can reach 100 in 2nd gear. my fxr 150 "runs out of puff" at 100-110 but it will still make its way upto 140-150 on the speedometer if you give it enough time and i was wondering if there is any zeal owners that can say the real top speed of it?

I got 170 out of mine, don't worry about reviews they are mainly bullshit.

[caspernz]

I got 170 out of mine, don't worry about reviews they are mainly bullshit.

What height did you push it off the loading ramp then? About 30,000 feet I'd guess...

[nodrog]

What height did you push it off the loading ramp then? About 30,000 feet I'd guess...

I don't know what that is in metric, but I get the feeling you might be taking the piss.

[AllanB]

91,440 meters - reckon that would be high enough to get that speed.

[caspernz]

I don't know what that is in metric, but I get the feeling you might be taking the piss.

It's a lardy little 250, it needs to do a skydive minus parachute to achieve real speed...and sarcasm is hard to get on a PC screen I suppose :innocent:


91,440 meters - reckon that would be high enough to get that speed.

Move the decimal forward one and ditch the zero off the end I'd say...

[AllanB]

Move the decimal forward one and ditch the zero off the end I'd say...

Hmmm I could be dropping it off the space station - just trying to get the speed the OP wants ....

[HenryDorsetCase]

My mate had one an it had a race pipe an race motor an it could do 240 easy. 180 in third. It was quicker than a stock GSXT1000 and got better fuel economy an it was easy to pull the bitches on to.

So yeah I reckon a stock one would go like 200.

Easy way to tell: what is the highest number on the speedo? cos thats how fast they go. sometimes they go even faster: up to the "h" in kph sometimes if ya get a real fast one.

[HenryDorsetCase]

Hmmm I could be dropping it off the space station - just trying to get the speed the OP wants ....

the issue with that is it might burn up on re entry.

[Madness]

I got 170 out of mine, don't worry about reviews they are mainly bullshit.

What oil did you run?

[haydes55]

What oil did you run?

It's not what oil you run that matters, it's how much you run.

If you only put half of the oil in, the oil doesn't slow the pistons down and it actually decreases friction and you go faster. With only half of the oil, you will easily get 200km/h.

[Madness]

It's not what oil you run that matters, it's how much you run.

If you only put half of the oil in, the oil doesn't slow the pistons down and it actually decreases friction and you go faster. With only half of the oil, you will easily get 200km/h.

That's just plain risky. Half the oil can lead to catastrophic engine failure, especially at full-tit. That's why you're better off using a high quality vegetable or olive oil. The lighter weight gives the engine a higher co-efficient of friction, allowing an extra couple of thousand RPM past redline.

Stop giving people shit advice dude.

[AllanB]

Full synthetic motorcycle oil is good for 5% additional power thus speed. You have to do a change and another change though to flush out the power robbing mineral oil.

A front mudguard on that bike slows it a bit at max speed - high velocity air under the guard slightly lifting the front - ditch it for high speed runs.

What size are you? if you weight 15kg more than you mate the poor engine is hauling your arse around - have you been circumcised? This can reduce a bit of weight, as can a hair cut and man-scape.

When I was racing at Bonneville I had a preference for shaving my testicles the morning of the speed run. Initially it was to reduce weight (cut finger and toe nails too) but after a while it kind of became a good luck thing. I can honestly say I never crashed the bikes when I had shaven balls.

There was this Italian guy who would race in the same class - he went as far as emptying his balls pre-race if you get my drift. Very funny fella despite the language barrier - he always claimed before a race he knew he would have a happy ending.

[atom608]

Only reason why I ask is because the chain came off my fxr 150 and damaged my bike to the point of writing it off and the only option I have is to get this bike from a dealer *yamaha zeal 250* and use my write off money from the fxr 150 as the deposit then a few hundred for the on road costs and then weekly payments. I ask because my fxr could go 140-150max and that was on perfect condtions, most of the time i had ALOT of trouble over taking people on the high way and if im buying a 250 inline 4 id like the power to at least over take cars on highways with out having to duck down like I did on my 150. I'm only 5'8 and 62kg. Iv seen on youtube there are no top speed videos and everyone seems to let off the gas at 120kmph even though it was still climbing with somewhat ease. just dont understand how a bike with 40hp and 26nm of torque and only weighs 145kg dry can do only 140. the 40hp model of the bandit which has the same hp and torque pretty much and same sort of weight can do 170 easy.

[Ender EnZed]

Only reason why I ask is because the chain came off my fxr 150 and damaged my bike to the point of writing it off and the only option I have is to get this bike from a dealer *yamaha zeal 250* and use my write off money from the fxr 150 as the deposit then a few hundred for the on road costs and then weekly payments. I ask because my fxr could go 140-150max and that was on perfect condtions, most of the time i had ALOT of trouble over taking people on the high way and if im buying a 250 inline 4 id like the power to at least over take cars on highways with out having to duck down like I did on my 150. I'm only 5'8 and 62kg. Iv seen on youtube there are no top speed videos and everyone seems to let off the gas at 120kmph even though it was still climbing with somewhat ease. just dont understand how a bike with 40hp and 26nm of torque and only weighs 145kg dry can do only 140. the 40hp model of the bandit which has the same hp and torque pretty much and same sort of weight can do 170 easy.

Your FXR was not going 140-150, ever, it just had a very optimistic speedo. At that sort of actual speed you're going to be flying past almost everyone on NZ roads. A Zeal 250 will be much faster than your FXR. A Bandit 250 will not be noticeably faster than a Zeal, it definitely won't do 170 "easy".

That said, what possible circumstances give you the "only option" of buying a Zeal? Can't you just take the payout from your insurance and go shopping within whatever budget you have?

[atom608]

My fxr was in absolute shit condition from the previous owner and the guy from my insurance company said id be getting around 550-650$ in hand after the excess taken out and the zeal is $4,000 from the dealer plus 500$ ORC but i think I can get them down a few hundred because its been sitting there for a near half a year. plan is take the pay out and a few weeks pay and pay the 25% deposit which is $1000 or less depending if I can get anything off the price and then weekly payments for 3 years. the zeal is their only 250 bike for that price, its the chepeast and most powerful learners bike they have at the store so its either I get the zeal which is the sort of bike im after because im not really into having farrings because they just add $20 onto the monthly premiums or I keep my fxr 150, pay $250 for new sprockets and a chain and then a few weeks later have something else break on it again and then il be in the same position and I NEED a more powerful bike because I do regular trips upto hastings from wellington so having a nice upright seating potion would be nice.

[Autech]

It's not what oil you run that matters, it's how much you run.

If you only put half of the oil in, the oil doesn't slow the pistons down and it actually decreases friction and you go faster. With only half of the oil, you will easily get 200km/h.

Manxkiwi, a friend of mine from the IOM says that some of the top TT racers actually run less oil in their bikes than stock to save weight.
Can't find anything online to back this up but Manxkiwi is a clue'd up chap and engineer, so he's probably correct.

That said, I would not endorse this method :D.


Only reason why I ask is because the chain came off my fxr 150 and damaged my bike to the point of writing it off and the only option I have is to get this bike from a dealer *yamaha zeal 250* and use my write off money from the fxr 150 as the deposit then a few hundred for the on road costs and then weekly payments. I ask because my fxr could go 140-150max and that was on perfect condtions, most of the time i had ALOT of trouble over taking people on the high way and if im buying a 250 inline 4 id like the power to at least over take cars on highways with out having to duck down like I did on my 150. I'm only 5'8 and 62kg. Iv seen on youtube there are no top speed videos and everyone seems to let off the gas at 120kmph even though it was still climbing with somewhat ease. just dont understand how a bike with 40hp and 26nm of torque and only weighs 145kg dry can do only 140. the 40hp model of the bandit which has the same hp and torque pretty much and same sort of weight can do 170 easy.

I have raced against and on FXR buckets on the Ruapuna full track, as well as owned one stock as my first bike.
There is no way in heck a stock FXR would hit 150. I think I hit 150 on the speedo once on my FXR I had as a first bike, but I would say that would be closer to 125kmph IRL, in the process of hitting that speed the carb drain screw rattled out and I ended up stranded on the side of the road in the Coromandel bodging up a fix for it, not fun having fuel pissing out of a bike :crazy:

But yeah, just buy the bike, a 250 will have less difficulty overtaking than a 150, there is no replacement for displacement. Your stock FXR would have been putting out a max of 11hp atw I would think, the 250 is def gunna be putting out more than that.

What is happening with your FXR out of interest?

[atom608]

Yeah well mine said 153 on the speedo and it was bouncing off the rev limiter in gear 6 and I know the speedos are retarded, 58kmph on the speedo is exactly 50 when i go past those road side radar boxes and im not sure if its off by that many kmph set or its off by a % so the higher speed I go the more its off.

Chain came off on the high way one night coming back from work, it was tightened and lubed the day before although it snapped at the master link and shot off into the back of my tail farrings and took a huge chunk out of it and munted up the front sprocket and and a few teeth on the rear one. insurance wont pay out for the chain/sprocket but they would pay out on the tail only problem is that the tail is very rare and they would have to paint it to match my bike which is so expensive that my bike would get written off so I decided to get it written off and put a week or 2 pay into a bike from a dealer, I got screwed over when I bought this fxr. Problem after problem and hundreds of dollars going into fixing it and something every week or so pops up so I decided I just was tired of it and to get a bigger bike. the bike is now going through the process of getting its pre accident value from 2 independent dealers

[haydes55]

By the sounds of it, your speedo is out by 16% which makes your real top speed closer to 128km/h

[atom608]

By the sounds of it, your speedo is out by 16% which makes your real top speed closer to 128km/h

thats honestly quite depressing.

[george formby]

thats honestly quite depressing.

Nah. That's just wee bikes for ya. Personally, I like them.

Ummm, question. Why are you so keen on a 250 when you can get a bigger capacity LAMS bike?

[Autech]

thats honestly quite depressing.

It's a 150cc dude. There are some good power mods to get more grunt out of them, but that's what the nutty bucket racers like to do: Oversized piston, cams, cdi, bigger carb and you can double the HP output. But if it's a road bike you are better off getting something bigger, as you are planning to do.
You should buy it back off the insurance company and build it up as a bucket, great bucket racing scene in Welly!

But to sum up, the Yamaha will be better at overtaking than your FXR. Just won't be quite as much fun in the twisties.

[atom608]

Nah. That's just wee bikes for ya. Personally, I like them.

Ummm, question. Why are you so keen on a 250 when you can get a bigger capacity LAMS bike?

I can only afford around a 4 grand bike because of the deposit/weekly payments and the only thing they have at the dealer is a zeal and im a big fan of naked inline 4s so yeah, iv had 3 speeding tickets in the past half year just on my fxr 150. a $400 on xmas day and a $170 on new years so I think id get my self in a bit too much trouble if I had a 600 not to mention the insurance price for it, I get shit pay and shit hours so I need to find a cheapish bike to insure and the zeal is pretty cheap. Plus whats the point of buying a 600 and paying all that money and the extra insurance if its limited? yes more torque everywhere but its still limited and if I were to get one id find a way to take the limiter off even if it means remapping the ECU or taking a throttle restrictor off and that would definitely get me into alot of trouble

[atom608]

It's a 150cc dude. There are some good power mods to get more grunt out of them, but that's what the nutty bucket racers like to do: Oversized piston, cams, cdi, bigger carb and you can double the HP output. But if it's a road bike you are better off getting something bigger, as you are planning to do.
You should buy it back off the insurance company and build it up as a bucket, great bucket racing scene in Welly!

But to sum up, the Yamaha will be better at overtaking than your FXR. Just won't be quite as much fun in the twisties.

I would do it up a bit and sell it but that means id have to wait about 3 months to get a bike and do the work on it my self and im fed up with it honestly, id rather lose a few hundred and just get rid of it now to be honest so i can get a bike in a week or 2.

[EJK]

thats honestly quite depressing.

Not sure about Zeal but FXR's digital speedometer is notorious for being a tad optimistic.

And don't worry too much about top end power. My bike also bounces on the redline and "runs out of puff" around 150kph mark too. It's normal. When that happens I simply shift up to 2nd gear.

[atom608]

Not sure about Zeal but FXR's digital speedometer is notorious for being a tad optimistic.

And don't worry too much about top end power. My bike also bounces on the redline and "runs out of puff" around 150kph mark too. It's normal. When that happens I simply shift up to 2nd gear.

its honestly amazing how a s1000rr is faster in 1st gear than my fxr was maxed out rev limiting in 6th. its honestly hard to comprehend how fast that is from my place.

[Autech]

its honestly amazing how a s1000rr is faster in 1st gear than my fxr was maxed out rev limiting in 6th. its honestly hard to comprehend how fast that is from my place.

So fast that little bits of poo escape your anus from time to time.

[caspernz]

its honestly amazing how a s1000rr is faster in 1st gear than my fxr was maxed out rev limiting in 6th. its honestly hard to comprehend how fast that is from my place.

Not unusual for big bikes to go stupidly fast in low gears. Check out www.gearingcommander.com if you want a laugh at how fast some bikes are geared. My Busa tops out at over 200 in 3rd, and that feels insane even now.

[atom608]

Just went to red barron today and took it for a test spin, all the reviews say 140, but I got it up to 160 with no effort, not ducking down or anything and it was still going i just had to let off because of a corner coming up but honestly if I ducked down I could see it going to 170 or a bit more which is alot higher than what the reviews say. and the guy said the bike was stitting there for a while too with old fuel and it still was running pretty good so I ended up purchasing it today and I should be getting it on monday or tuesday. I have ridden a FZR 250 and this zeal has ALOT more low down torque than my friends fzr 250 but the top end is eh for a inline 4 but the midrange feels the same on it as the fzr just without the top end. looks alot better in person to and the guy gave me a great deal on it. No more days of ducking down on my fxr 150 just to go 100 in a head wind.

someone might think Im an idiot for going that fast on a dealer bike but honestly how else are you meant to see if its the right bike for you if you dont wring it out? you have to see what your money is getting you.

[Autech]

Not sure why your are obsessed with top speed. How did it handle? Does it have good brakes? Ergonomics suit your frame? Etc etc.


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[EJK]

Just went to red barron today and took it for a test spin, all the reviews say 140, but I got it up to 160 with no effort, not ducking down or anything and it was still going i just had to let off because of a corner coming up but honestly if I ducked down I could see it going to 170 or a bit more which is alot higher than what the reviews say. and the guy said the bike was stitting there for a while too with old fuel and it still was running pretty good so I ended up purchasing it today and I should be getting it on monday or tuesday. I have ridden a FZR 250 and this zeal has ALOT more low down torque than my friends fzr 250 but the top end is eh for a inline 4 but the midrange feels the same on it as the fzr just without the top end. looks alot better in person to and the guy gave me a great deal on it. No more days of ducking down on my fxr 150 just to go 100 in a head wind.

someone might think Im an idiot for going that fast on a dealer bike but honestly how else are you meant to see if its the right bike for you if you dont wring it out? you have to see what your money is getting you.

Enjoy your new bike :)

[atom608]

Not sure why your are obsessed with top speed. How did it handle? Does it have good brakes? Ergonomics suit your frame? Etc etc.


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because if it could only go 140 tops then it probably starts to slow down alot around 120 and if it could go say 180 for example then it would start to accelerate slower at about 160, a higher speed and the reason why that is important to me is because I do alot of long trips like 300km trips and getting stuck behind cars in a headwind and not being able to over take because my fxr 150 only tops out 110kmph in a headwind if im lucky so if i know a bike can do 180 then it will have alot of extra power I can use for over taking. not to mention i want to be able to sit at 100-110kmph for a long time no matter the wind conditions without the engine straining like on the fxr so having a top speed of 170-or 180 will give it alot of head space.

suspension was fine not too hard not too soft for me even though the reviews say its soft as shit although I am 62kg so that probably has something to do with it. Handles fine although I was going around a curvy road which I can take at 80kmph on my fxr with the pegs nearly scrapping and I took that same corner on the zeal at about 50 and the back wheel slipped out about half a meter then gained traction again and then I stopped and realized the back tire was new so yeah... my bad. not sure about the upright position yet, alot more wind noise it seems. being a bit more upright I think it will be better for the long 300km trips I do.

back brake is alot better than my fxr but the front is a bit eh, its good but it doesn't bite it just sort of rubs I guess? and there wasnt much feedback in the front brake either but I have a feeling that the front brake pads are new. 735mm seat height which is good for my height of 173cm. thought id hate having wide high bars but the bike seems to have aftermarket anodized red bars which go with the red paint job so it looks cool and they actually were really comfortable if not perfect, were not too ride or narrow unlike the z300 I ridden and it felt like my hands were way off on the sides on that because those bars felt wide but yeah dont really know how it handles yet because I had to take it easy after I realized it had new tires.

I will probably give it a indepth review after a few weeks of riding.

[1995YamahaZealRider]

Iv read that it only goes about 140kmph or in a review it says "runs out of puff" at 140. reason why I ask is because the spec sites say it has 40hp and 26nm of torque. and I dont understand how a bike with that spec can only go 140 when it can reach 100 in 2nd gear. my fxr 150 "runs out of puff" at 100-110 but it will still make its way upto 140-150 on the speedometer if you give it enough time and i was wondering if there is any zeal owners that can say the real top speed of it?

Even though my 1995 model Yamaha FZX250 Zeal has had an almost flat rear tire since I've owned it (I've just got the rear tire fixed) I got mine up to 150 km/h in 6th going down a somewhat steep hill on my local highway. I know I could've gone faster down that hill, I just wasn't game enough with the rear tire being almost flat at the time (I got to 150 km/h about half way down the hill), and also there is a speed camera just past the bottom of the hill too. But on a relatively flat road, I got it up to 130 km/h before it stops accelerating in 6th @ 9,000 rpm (redline @ 15,000 rpm). I've tried many times to get it up mast 130 in 6th on a flat surface, but with no luck. So far I've worked out at what speed I can do in 1st (60 km/h), 2nd (90 km/h) and 3rd (110 km/h) but my zeal's rev gauge won't go past 14,500 rpm.