250 Hornet riders...

[Paris]

Had my first experience of a stalling bike as the tank dropped to empty :sweatdrop, going uphill, funny ... (thought it was my twisting skills failing me, as I do tend to give it too little gas) .. anyway, I've done 170kms on a tank .. before flicking it to reserve, is that about right? How far can you go on the reserve to get to a gas station?

[Reido]

only 170kms to a tank O.o
what size are their tanks?

[Paris]

16 litres....

[EJK]

It's true. It does like 160kms a tank. Ridiculous for a 250

[samgab]

It's true. It does like 160kms a tank. Ridiculous for a 250

Yeah, I get 300Kms to a tank on the 150, (using about 11 ltrs). What did you get when you had yours EJK?

I was thinking I really liked the hornet 250, but are they pretty thirsty (for a 250)?

[Reido]

im getting 250kms+ to 9-10L

[samgab]

im getting 250kms+ to 9-10L

I wonder how the UK's fuel injected version of your bike compares to that?

[Reido]

I wonder how the UK's fuel injected version of your bike compares to that?
which one has more HP?

[samgab]

which one has more HP?

The NZ and USA version with carbs has 31PS and 22NM.

http://www.kawasaki.co.nz/kawasaki_custom.cfm?modelcode=EX250J8F&do=specs

the UK and Europe fuel injected version has 33PS and 22NM.

http://www.kawasaki.co.uk/product.asp?Id=340E46FDDDF&Sub=4

But the fuel injected one could still be more economical despite that, because fuel injected engines can often use fuel more efficiently, burning more effectively and wasting less.

[Reido]

The NZ and USA version with carbs has 31PS and 22NM.

http://www.kawasaki.co.nz/kawasaki_custom.cfm?modelcode=EX250J8F&do=specs

the UK and Europe fuel injected version has 33PS and 22NM.

http://www.kawasaki.co.uk/product.asp?Id=340E46FDDDF&Sub=4

But the fuel injected one could still be more economical despite that, because fuel injected engines can often use fuel more efficiently, burning more effectively and wasting less.

well thats not fair.. i want fuel injection :spanking:

[samgab]

well thats not fair.. i want fuel injection :spanking:

Didn't mean to cause any discontent! You've still got a sweet bike.

Also, the fuel injected one is more expensive:
"3429 British pounds = 8 508.34604 New Zealand dollars"

They claim that the reason why we get the carby version is to keep the price down.

[Reido]

yeah I :love: my bike anyway,

and rightly so with the keeping th price down, any more and i wouldnt have been able to get it. lucky i got it before they rose to 7500

[EJK]

Yeah, I get 300Kms to a tank on the 150, (using about 11 ltrs). What did you get when you had yours EJK?

I was thinking I really liked the hornet 250, but are they pretty thirsty (for a 250)?

around 24-250kms on my FXR. Guess its due to 250's carb

[zalforce1]

i was getting 300km on my fxr. it was great! only used to fill up once a month!! now i upgraded to a hornet and after riding my first 130km i decided to fill up and only needed to put 6 litres in. so thats 21.66km/L. im not complaining! so much more fun!

[Jules13]

So where are all the 250 Hornet riders?

[Reido]

So where are all the 250 Hornet riders?

where i want to be, out riding

[Merlin733]

Normal riding...round town I get 250km ( think the best was almost 300km ) but giving it a thrashing i still get at leaste 200km......

[TOTO]

My 250 hornet gets about 200 till it reaches the "reserve" point as I dont have a flickable switch but rather a fuel gage. Anyhow depending on your riding 170km seems ok, coz you gotta remember hornets have a big reserve too - like 4Litres.

generally should give you not less than 20km per litre if you are riding it normally not constant trashing. if you get less than that it is probabaly time for a carb adjustment on the next service.


Oh and Reido - stop bragging about yr 250 nonja - it aint a hornet and no matter how much you would like it to be it never will. Get a hornet :love:

[Paris]

Thanks folks ... all good, I flicked the switch to the reserve at 170kms, so on the basis of a 4l reserve, that's 170ks on 12l of gas ... love the machine to bits and it is great as a learner bike, stable and all .. with some poke later once my confidence has climbed up there!! :rockon:

[skidMark]

So where are all the 250 Hornet riders?

Riding i would imagine.

[samgab]

Thanks folks ... all good, I flicked the switch to the reserve at 170kms, so on the basis of a 4l reserve, that's 170ks on 12l of gas ... love the machine to bits and it is great as a learner bike, stable and all .. with some poke later once my confidence has climbed up there!! :rockon:

Maybe once you've done a few more K's, and gone through a couple more tanks of gas give us an update on how many K's you usually get from full to reserve. I'd be interested.

[Reido]

Oh and Reido - stop bragging about yr 250 nonja - it aint a hornet and no matter how much you would like it to be it never will. Get a hornet :love:

shhh you >_> just cause you have one of the original bikes i wanted

[Paris]

will do m8

[Paris]

Yo ...couple of you were keen to hear how the fuel consumption was going after a few more k's - well, happy to report that the 250 Hornet is doing about 200-220 kms on 12litres, which is about 330 ish on a full tank (16l), between 4.5 and 5l per 100kms, that's travelling on average at around 80 - 100kmh up and down SH16 ... all I can assume is that when I bought it, the buggers didn't give me a full tank!! Long live the Hornet..<_<

[TOTO]

Yo ...couple of you were keen to hear how the fuel consumption was going after a few more k's - well, happy to report that the 250 Hornet is doing about 200-220 kms on 12litres, which is about 330 ish on a full tank (16l), between 4.5 and 5l per 100kms, that's travelling on average at around 80 - 100kmh up and down SH16 ... all I can assume is that when I bought it, the buggers didn't give me a full tank!! Long live the Hornet..<_<

Thats bloody good man :niceone:

Seems your baby is working perfect. Gotta love them hornets :love:

[samgab]

Yo ...couple of you were keen to hear how the fuel consumption was going after a few more k's - well, happy to report that the 250 Hornet is doing about 200-220 kms on 12litres, which is about 330 ish on a full tank (16l), between 4.5 and 5l per 100kms, that's travelling on average at around 80 - 100kmh up and down SH16 ... all I can assume is that when I bought it, the buggers didn't give me a full tank!! Long live the Hornet..<_<

Oh yup, good stuff, thanks for the update. I ended up getting a VTR250, so I'll also be interested to see what sort of mileage I get from that.

[gijoe1313]

Well my lil'ol'hornet is thirstier than the standard, I get about 160km before I have to flick to reserve, depending on how much fun I have been having usally get between 220-240km per tank. But then, dual pipes and a bit of tweaks have been done to my one by the previous engineer owner!

And it will soon be a new bike ... only 1400km to go before it rolls over to a new one! :woohoo:

[quickbuck]

Yo ...couple of you were keen to hear how the fuel consumption was going after a few more k's - well, happy to report that the 250 Hornet is doing about 200-220 kms on 12litres, which is about 330 ish on a full tank (16l), between 4.5 and 5l per 100kms, that's travelling on average at around 80 - 100kmh up and down SH16 ... all I can assume is that when I bought it, the buggers didn't give me a full tank!! Long live the Hornet..<_<

That's better.
Most likely they didn't give you a full tank.

Also, if you are the first owner in NZ then it will take a little while for all the cr@p in the engine to sort itself out, and the bike run properly. You may even need to wind back the idle soo aswell.
Good news the bike will only get better the more it is ridden.

They sit for a while over in Japan you see......

If you are the second owner in NZ then disregard.

[Paris]

That's better.
Most likely they didn't give you a full tank.

Also, if you are the first owner in NZ then it will take a little while for all the cr@p in the engine to sort itself out, and the bike run properly. You may even need to wind back the idle soo aswell.
Good news the bike will only get better the more it is ridden.

They sit for a while over in Japan you see......

If you are the second owner in NZ then disregard.
cheers quickbuck .. all good, yup I'm the first NZ owner - sound advice thx:niceone:

[Paris]

Well my lil'ol'hornet is thirstier than the standard, I get about 160km before I have to flick to reserve, depending on how much fun I have been having usally get between 220-240km per tank. But then, dual pipes and a bit of tweaks have been done to my one by the previous engineer owner!

And it will soon be a new bike ... only 1400km to go before it rolls over to a new one! :woohoo:
what's your new one!?

[Paris]

Oh yup, good stuff, thanks for the update. I ended up getting a VTR250, so I'll also be interested to see what sort of mileage I get from that.
Congrats on the new bike ... the VTR was on my list too, happy riding !

[KelvinAng]

Yo ...couple of you were keen to hear how the fuel consumption was going after a few more k's - well, happy to report that the 250 Hornet is doing about 200-220 kms on 12litres, which is about 330 ish on a full tank (16l), between 4.5 and 5l per 100kms, that's travelling on average at around 80 - 100kmh up and down SH16 ... all I can assume is that when I bought it, the buggers didn't give me a full tank!! Long live the Hornet..<_<

I get about 16km/L (or 6.25L/100km). I got that figure when I first got the bike, a 1997 machine that has done just 2800km if you believe the odometer. I thought it's terrible for a 250cc... Not only is it thirsty, it prefers Ultimate fuel (well based on the 11.5:1 compression ratio, I thought I probably should feed it Ultimate anyway even though everywhere I've read it says she would accept lower octane gas).

Whenever I think about the gas money I tell myself to sell the bike. The closest I ever got to sell the bike was creating a listing here in Kiwibikers, and a nice set of photos supposedly for TardMe but it never got listed... yet...

I think it was NOMIS who said that the Hornet is like a hot, cheating mistress. How true... :doh:

[TOTO]

why sell it ? hornet is such a great bike...

[gijoe1313]

what's your new one!?

The lil'ol'hornet is on 98500km on the clock at the moment! Or thereabouts, a friend is using it until he gets his ride back.

I got him to promise me that he shall not roll the clock over ... for that is my privilege! Thus when the odo rolls to 00000, it is a new bike again! Voila!

When it rolls over again, I shall let it rest as a 1:1 scale model!

[TOTO]

I recon you can overclock it three times atleast ...

[Paris]

I get about 16km/L (or 6.25L/100km). I got that figure when I first got the bike, a 1997 machine that has done just 2800km if you believe the odometer. I thought it's terrible for a 250cc... Not only is it thirsty, it prefers Ultimate fuel (well based on the 11.5:1 compression ratio, I thought I probably should feed it Ultimate anyway even though everywhere I've read it says she would accept lower octane gas).

Whenever I think about the gas money I tell myself to sell the bike. The closest I ever got to sell the bike was creating a listing here in Kiwibikers, and a nice set of photos supposedly for TardMe but it never got listed... yet...

I think it was NOMIS who said that the Hornet is like a hot, cheating mistress. How true... :doh:
yeah - long live the hornet, as a learner bike it's great - ok so the fuel consumption on other 250 models is better, but hey, I sat on a few and none were as stable as the hornet - feels like you're sitting on a much larger bike, so I'm sticking with my mistress .. then I s'pose I used to drive a BMW Z3 which was my other mistress, $1,000 a service and about 5-6km a litre! of High Octane! ....It's all about fun :rockon:

[Paris]

The lil'ol'hornet is on 98500km on the clock at the moment! Or thereabouts, a friend is using it until he gets his ride back.

I got him to promise me that he shall not roll the clock over ... for that is my privilege! Thus when the odo rolls to 00000, it is a new bike again! Voila!

When it rolls over again, I shall let it rest as a 1:1 scale model!
Hey - how often do you get it serviced? and by who?:mellow:

[KelvinAng]

why sell it ? hornet is such a great bike...

I want to. But I haven't. I forgot to read the fine print when I bought her and signed the contract. It says that once I overtook anyone on the motorway without breaking a sweat I'll lose my soul to the Hornet. It's just that on some days I'm quite desperate and the devil suggests that I think of the unthinkable.


yeah - long live the hornet, as a learner bike it's great - ok so the fuel consumption on other 250 models is better, but hey, I sat on a few and none were as stable as the hornet - feels like you're sitting on a much larger bike, so I'm sticking with my mistress .. then I s'pose I used to drive a BMW Z3 which was my other mistress, $1,000 a service and about 5-6km a litre! of High Octane! ....It's all about fun :rockon:

I'm a fan of smaller bikes. I thought the Hornet is a bit too big and heavy... but apparently I'm the only one who thinks so, so something must be wrong with me. I'm supposed to eat more pies and then head for the gym. So far I'm only done the first part. One thing at a time...

[gijoe1313]

Hey - how often do you get it serviced? and by who?:mellow:

Every 5000km new filter and oil, sparks I did around 60k mark ... all done myself ... maintenance and etc all done by me as well!

Got to have spannering skills! I have a good bunch of mates who know their way around engines etc. between us, we can pretty much solve most probs!

[NOMIS]

Every 5000km new filter and oil, sparks I did around 60k mark ... all done myself ... maintenance and etc all done by me as well!

Got to have spannering skills! I have a good bunch of mates who know their way around engines etc. between us, we can pretty much solve most probs!

mee too....!!! you sure have to

[Badger8]

On my tank ('01 250 hornet, stock setup with fuel tap reserve switch)...

9L main part, 6L useable reserve, 15L total useable (always a little left that wont drain so easily)

Normal riding i hit 180 to reserve, and have put the trip meter over 300 before filling before.
Sometimes if getting real low in the tank and sitting on the motorway for a while (straight line, moderate high revs) i find her starting to lug a little. The tank straddles the main frame-rail, so a few quick flicks to the left splashes more gas over the fuel tap, and she's all go again :lol:

[Badger8]

Thanks folks ... all good, I flicked the switch to the reserve at 170kms, so on the basis of a 4l reserve, that's 170ks on 12l of gas ... love the machine to bits and it is great as a learner bike, stable and all .. with some poke later once my confidence has climbed up there!! :rockon:

nah mate, 170k on only 8-9L (depending how high you fill her), they get around 19-22 k/L depending how you ride them (i.e. revvin high round town - cruisin open rd)