My old Zeal is for sale

[Blakamin]

the guy swapped me his cbr400 for it and now he wants a car
http://www.trademe.co.nz/Trade-Me-Motors/Motorbikes/Motorbikes/Sports-tourer/auction-18427060.htm
A nice bike if anyones interested

[Joni]

Was yours huh?
I spotted it on trade me last night!

:)

[jrandom]

This has probably been discussed before, but some general interest questions in relation to the Zeal, for comparison with other 250s (you or Hitcher might like to answer here):

- top speed?

- fuel consumption?

- wheelie-ability and general engine power delivery behaviour?

- tyre sizes, and preferred brand/model from experience?

[Blakamin]

Was yours huh?
I spotted it on trade me last night!

:)
yup... paid $1900 for it and spent ages tidying it up

[Blakamin]

- top speed?
was about 140ish... 6th gear is sorta like 5.5th


- fuel consumption?
wasnt tooo thirsty... 9-10ltrs = 200km


- wheelie-ability and general engine power delivery behaviour?
not bad down low...40hp stock so not a real racer...


- tyre sizes, and preferred brand/model from experience?
arrowmax.. cant remember the front but the rear was a 140... 17in both

[jrandom]

And how bright is the headlight(s)?

Comfortable (as in bright) enough for night-time back road riding?

[Mr Skid]

And how bright is the headlight(s)?

Comfortable (as in bright) enough for night-time back road riding?
If I didn't know better I would have thought you were looking at a replacement commuting appliance..

Have you thought of organising a KB spanner evening at your place to get the fxr back on the road?

[Hitcher]

This has probably been discussed before, but some general interest questions in relation to the Zeal, for comparison with other 250s (you or Hitcher might like to answer here):

- top speed?
About 135-140kmh -- in ideal conditions (not forgetting that this is a nekkid bike and I am a fuller-figured gent)

- fuel consumption?
Thirsty. Four pots redlined at 14,500rpm meant about 160km to reserve.

- wheelie-ability and general engine power delivery behaviour?
First-gear wheelies are do-able. Like many four-cylinder 250s the Zeal has a flatspot -- at about 6,000rpm, which is just a whisker under 100kmh in top (sixth gear). You have to do a lot of gear changing and not be afraid to rev a Zeal to get the best out of it (probably explains the [lack of] fuel economy).

- tyre sizes, and preferred brand/model from experience?
110/70 17s front, 140/70 17s rear.
I had Dunlop GT501 Arrowmaxes on. A much better tyre than the OEM Yokohamas.

[Hitcher]

And how bright is the headlight(s)?

Comfortable (as in bright) enough for night-time back road riding?
The Zeal has a fantastic headlight which I imagine could be improved upon by bunging a xenon or other high-performance bulb in. My Zeal did a lot of evening jaunts.

[Blakamin]

The Zeal has a fantastic headlight which I imagine could be improved upon by bunging a xenon or other high-performance bulb in. My Zeal did a lot of evening jaunts.
yup!... couldnt agree more...
Hitcher, mine got 190ish to reserve???? weird that!

[jrandom]

If I didn't know better I would have thought you were looking at a replacement commuting appliance.. .

Yeah. It's a bit like that. I looked at my poor wee not-going mangled bike this morning and just thought 'naahhhhh...'

Atomic Wreckers or similar might even give me some cash for the FXR as it sits. That'd be a bonus. I'll open it up to KB before I flick it, of course, in case anyone wants a good deal. Oi, Sudeep! What would you pay for an only-moderately-crashed bucket of FXR parts?


Have you thought of organising a KB spanner evening at your place to get the fxr back on the road?

Well, if it's going to get fixed up, I'm perfectly happy to drop it off to Kerry at Motohaus and let him do it. We should save the KB spanner evenings for the Poor Starving Students (tm) who really can't afford shop mechanics. But right now I'm having a bit of a think about whether to bother fixing it up, or just buy something else. A Zeal would be just about right. I don't want to spend more than $3K on another transport appliance.

Then again, I *might* just fix up the FXR a bit and carry on. We'll see. I'll decide what to do next week.

[Antallica]

Personally I think it's time you upgraded. But it depends on your want to carry on I guess.

[riffer]

yup!... couldnt agree more...
Hitcher, mine got 190ish to reserve???? weird that!
No - you're just a skinny wee pup.

I can't believe I got into your riding gear at the buckets. :bleh:

[Mr Skid]

Yeah. It's a bit like that. I looked at my poor wee not-going mangled bike this morning and just thought 'naahhhhh...'

Atomic Wreckers or similar might even give me some cash for the FXR as it sits. That'd be a bonus. I'll open it up to KB before I flick it, of course, in case anyone wants a good deal. Oi, Sudeep! What would you pay for an only-moderately-crashed bucket of FXR parts?



Well, if it's going to get fixed up, I'm perfectly happy to drop it off to Kerry at Motohaus and let him do it. We should save the KB spanner evenings for the Poor Starving Students (tm) who really can't afford shop mechanics. But right now I'm having a bit of a think about whether to bother fixing it up, or just buy something else. A Zeal would be just about right. I don't want to spend more than $3K on another transport appliance.

Then again, I *might* just fix up the FXR a bit and carry on. We'll see. I'll decide what to do next week.

Hyea jerr, don't be-a forgetten that I'm a slakarzs student on olidaye witha multimeeter (and currentlay en emptay bottlea spriruts) whoze apppy du loouk at yer bike fer yer. Iee woud be efen appier du luk ad id afder I'm slobered up. eh.

[Blakamin]

No - you're just a skinny wee pup.

I can't believe I got into your riding gear at the buckets. :bleh:
couldnt do them up tho could ya!! :whistle:

that was hilarious :lol:

[erik]

This has probably been discussed before, but some general interest questions in relation to the Zeal, for comparison with other 250s (you or Hitcher might like to answer here):

- top speed?

- fuel consumption?

- wheelie-ability and general engine power delivery behaviour?

- tyre sizes, and preferred brand/model from experience?


I didn't see this thread till today.

Top speed is like what Hitcher said, about 140 (maybe almost 150, but that might've been with a tailwind or a downhill, I'm not sure). You won't get up to 140 quickly though, the acceleration after about 120 or 130 is quite slow.

Fuel consumption, I get about 180 - 190 km to reserve commuting. I'm not sure if it's any different touring. Last time I checked I weighed about 92kg.

I haven't ever tried doing a wheelie, so can't comment there. But the forks on my Zeal are pretty soft, like if I go into our driveway at anything other than slow walking pace, they bottom out on the bump, so I'd guess that the forks on my bike might not handle wheelies too well.

Power delivery... Well, I've only ridden my bike and my brother's zzr250 enough to get a feel for the bikes. Compared to the zzr250, the zeal seems quite nippy, the zzr seems like it's got a huge flywheel or something making it rev up a lot slower (it's an inline 2 cylinder, so I guess that's why, compared to the zeal's inline 4). I ended up lowering the needles in the carbs one notch because it had a bit of a flat spot in the middle of the range, where I used it most for commuting, and with the lowered needles I don't notice any flat spot in mid-range. But it might be a bit harder to start, requiring more choke.
Top end is a bit weird, but that might be particular to my bike. It sort of accelerates, but as you crank the throttle wide open, it'll kinda lurch and decelerate a bit. I think it might be starved for air a bit, as it didn't seem so bad when I removed the airfilter to test it (airfilter is back in now and I just ride around the problem).

My tyres are (or almost are) worn out so I'm going to have to replace them now (or soon ;) ). They're the same tyres that were on the bike when I got it 10,000km's ago. I don't actually know anything much about tyres, so I'll just write what it says on the tyre walls:

Front:
Bridgestone Battlax BT45F 110/70-17 54H

Rear:
Bridgestone Battlax BT45R 140/70-17 66H

I'm guessing that that's more tyre info than you wanted. Anyway, I haven't had any problems with them. Well, the rear has slid out a few times, but I think that's more to do with the road than the tyres (ie. wet tar snakes, or weird road surface). The only time it slid out enough for me to fall off was when I was going around a roundabout slow and leaned quite far over and the peg dug in...

I'm not really sure about the headlight, I haven't done much night riding.

Sprockets are expensive though, approx. $70 for the front and $130 for the rear, iirc. I don't know how the prices of other parts compare to other bikes though. They're importing Zeals into Australia, so I guess that means parts can come from there rather than japan, which might make them a bit cheaper, or more likely to be in stock.