Fzr-250

[0li123]

Hi

I have recently got my bike license and I am set on getting my self a little sports bike. I would love a CBR250rr but the price is a little bit much. I am looking at spending about 3-3.5k on a bike and as a result I always seem to end up looking at FZR250's. They appear to be relatively good bikes from everything that I have read but I just wanted to make sure there are not any hidden traps I could fall into through lack of knowledge? I am aware that it pays to try and get a bike that has had its carbs cleaned and balanced, but I just wanted to know if there was anything else to look out for when considering one of these bikes? any information would be greatly appreciated..

thanks a lot .

[ducatilover]

At their age? A fair bit worth worrying about.
They seem pretty good at shitting the CDI units though
Buy a 3LN3 onward model, tastiest of the lot

[Box of riddles]

I flicked you a PM about my cibby, can't afford to rego two bikes.

[SMOKEU]

I hope you're good at repairing bikes because they're an old bike and most of them have suffered many years of abuse and neglect. That "cheap" bike can quickly turn into an expensive mechanical nightmare if you can't do all the work yourself. If you can do the work yourself then they're a good option for the price.

[zippy]

Really most of these old girls have seen there days so they tend to be high in annoying maintenance, things like electrics and fork seals, shocks etc tend to be the things you will start to replace the most..engine wise as long as they do not smoke or burn oil they should be ok...its the rest of it around the engine they will cost you the $s ..

[0li123]

I flicked you a PM about my cibby, can't afford to rego two bikes.

hey cheers mate, I have just emailed you

[tigertim20]

Hi

I have recently got my bike license and I am set on getting my self a little sports bike. I would love a CBR250rr but the price is a little bit much. I am looking at spending about 3-3.5k on a bike and as a result I always seem to end up looking at FZR250's. They appear to be relatively good bikes from everything that I have read but I just wanted to make sure there are not any hidden traps I could fall into through lack of knowledge? I am aware that it pays to try and get a bike that has had its carbs cleaned and balanced, but I just wanted to know if there was anything else to look out for when considering one of these bikes? any information would be greatly appreciated..

thanks a lot .

Ive sent a PM to you, have a read of it.

as already mentioned, they are getting long in the tooth now, and the history of the bike is going to be a major factor in whther you will have a good bike, or an endless list of problems, The FZR 250 I had was a terrible thing, and ended up going BANG. Twice.

Have a good look at the LAMS law and the LAMS lists. do some perusing on trademe, and look through youtube. Make a LIST of bikes you like the look or sound of, then go do a google search for reviews of those bikes when they were new, try to get an actual understanding of the things you are looking at, as opinions are just that, they will differ from person to person depending on their experience, knowledge, level of understanding, their own prejudices etc etc etc.

FWIW at that sort of budget, I can say fairly certainly that there are better bikes to be had.

[Juzz976]

Or any of these

http://www.nzta.govt.nz/licence/gett....html#approved

Lams list comes into effect in 4 days. Not that it matters to me.

I had 2 of the FZR250s, one had 6,000km on it and was in mint condition, the other was a total nightmare.

[McFatty1000]

Recently picked up a 3ln1 myself (For about half what you are looking at though?), great fun for a 250 but yes, they are getting older and so have 'character' to them. I'm currently looking at getting the carbs redone on mine but I've been able to do most of the other work with help - hasn't cost a bundle (yet) but I'd be cautious about which one you picked - ask for as much history as you can get, what they find the bike like etc. Has made a huge difference to me so far

[ducatilover]

The FZR 250 I had was a terrible thing, and ended up going BANG. Twice.

^ Here it is.
Even when you are extremely careful buying one, it's still a super high stressed and somewhat old motor
To date the FZR explosions I have seen are:
Snapped cam chain (owners fault, I may have mentioned that cam chain noise was quite bad...)
Dropped a valve (valve snapped in two, just for lulz)
One rod decided to sit outside the block

It's not limited to FZRs though, you have to be very, very pedantic buying a 4 cylinder 250.
I have only seen one dead CBR250R though, they seem to be the most solid of the lot (that one happened to have aerated to block also, but it was raped beyond belief)

With well maintained bikes, I've seen several FZRs, GSX-Rs and ZXRs pass 80,000km and still run well without oil usage, flat spots and horrid noises.
I've seen quite a few CBRs stroll past 100,000km with good maintenance also