zxr250 test ride

[ducatilover]

i took a zxr250 for a ride on friday.

i let her warm up, as i do and rode through the 50k area towards the gorge amazed by the complete lack of torque and power below 12000rpm. the seat im sure is a plank of wood. the engine was incridibly smooth....but it was gutless. maybe it was the gearing? anyway, im in love with fairings now ...
engine characteristics; smooth, very very smooth and creamy. but severly lacking in power and torque even when pushing the redline in the gears but it still pulled decent speed above 140ks. sounded gay. i found to pass people i had to go through the gears, which may i add the gear box wasnt as smooth and precise as the spadas. when spinning over 15krpm it starts to move but not that hard. i was dissapointed with the engine in all honesty.

suspension and brakes; simply awesome! the USD forks worked beutifully and were good at keeping the ride smooth and yet somehow extremely firm. i was amazed by the brakes, the twin disk front end hauled her up bloody fast and smoothly, very good brake feel and feedback. the front and rear suspension worked together perfectly for my minimal weight [53kg...]

handling; cant say im impressed by the handling, she dropped in slower than the spada and didnt have as much lean, i found i couldnt lean off the bike as easily as on my spada. although the handling was very stable. the bike felt comparitively wide but thats to be expected of a four cyclinder... mid corner bumps and small corrugations were soaked up and the bike stayed on line very well, the bike had a nice crisp or stiff feel to the chasis and was very predictable to ride quickly.

comfort, usability; the seat, putting it shortly; was crap. it was flat and way to hard, i couldnt move around very easily, and my rideing style involes alot of leaning off [ask hXc he knows i lean way off] the clipons were rather low and i f*cking loved them, im now lowering my spadas clipons below the triple-clamps. the foot pegs were in a good place, not too high and certainly not low. the switch gear was easy to use and simple, my only gripe with the gauges was the brake fluid reservoiur blocked my view of the temp gauge, but thats no big deal. suprisingly there was no petrol gauge but thats something im used to.

overall, i would recomend this if you are going to be doing riding in higher speed areas but not around town as its too revvy and has fu*k all torque. very uncomfortable. if only the spada came with fairing.....
i personnally wouldnt buy a zxr250

[Karma]

250s are gutless... 400s are better

[ducatilover]

250s are gutless... 400s are better

unless its an rs250

[ZeroIndex]

i took a zxr250 for a ride on friday.

i let her warm up, as i do and rode through the 50k area towards the gorge amazed by the complete lack of torque and power below 12000rpm. the seat im sure is a plank of wood. the engine was incridibly smooth....but it was gutless. maybe it was the gearing? anyway, im in love with fairings now ...
engine characteristics; smooth, very very smooth and creamy. but severly lacking in power and torque even when pushing the redline in the gears but it still pulled decent speed above 140ks. sounded gay. i found to pass people i had to go through the gears, which may i add the gear box wasnt as smooth and precise as the spadas. when spinning over 15krpm it starts to move but not that hard. i was dissapointed with the engine in all honesty.

suspension and brakes; simply awesome! the USD forks worked beutifully and were good at keeping the ride smooth and yet somehow extremely firm. i was amazed by the brakes, the twin disk front end hauled her up bloody fast and smoothly, very good brake feel and feedback. the front and rear suspension worked together perfectly for my minimal weight [53kg...]

handling; cant say im impressed by the handling, she dropped in slower than the spada and didnt have as much lean, i found i couldnt lean off the bike as easily as on my spada. although the handling was very stable. the bike felt comparitively wide but thats to be expected of a four cyclinder... mid corner bumps and small corrugations were soaked up and the bike stayed on line very well, the bike had a nice crisp or stiff feel to the chasis and was very predictable to ride quickly.

comfort, usability; the seat, putting it shortly; was crap. it was flat and way to hard, i couldnt move around very easily, and my rideing style involes alot of leaning off [ask hXc he knows i lean way off] the clipons were rather low and i f*cking loved them, im now lowering my spadas clipons below the triple-clamps. the foot pegs were in a good place, not too high and certainly not low. the switch gear was easy to use and simple, my only gripe with the gauges was the brake fluid reservoiur blocked my view of the temp gauge, but thats no big deal. suprisingly there was no petrol gauge but thats something im used to.

overall, i would recomend this if you are going to be doing riding in higher speed areas but not around town as its too revvy and has fu*k all torque. very uncomfortable. if only the spada came with fairing.....
i personnally wouldnt buy a zxr250

Thanks for the good review.. If it weren't for fairings, how do you find that Spada of yours? Saw one in Hamilton for sale and it looks quite nice..

[UrbanMyth]

zxr250s are pretty good for a 250cc 4 stroke.
I test drove one ages ago just out of intrest and it wasnt bad then again the guy selling had put a expensive exhaust to make it sound bigger.

They are without a doubt the sexiest!! 250cc bike and are rather fast for a 4 stroke 250.
Oh and the extremely high redline is pretty funtastic

[Gremlin]

After riding anything bigger than a 250, especially your 650, yes, it would always seem slow. You think it is lacking torque etc because it is a 250.

When riding my little zzr250, I thought the zxr250 was really quick. But then rode my zx7r for a while, and rode a mates zxr250, and to his disgust, came back asking where the power was.

But, but that 250 through tight twisties, and it is a hard thing to keep up with. Oh, put a zx7r side by side with its little brother, and you will see that the zxr250 is tiny.

[N4CR]

Gutless? No Torque? Wtf... it's (C model zxr) the quickest 250 4 stroke around from experience. Go fiddle with the suspension and it will run on rails. Jesus christ, one of the best handling bikes I have ridden when set up properly. Has better/more adjustable front forks than most of the 400 models for gods sake...
A model I don't rate as high but it has a better mid range and that's bout it, more porky too.

Sure compared to a big bike there is nothing there between your legs but shit mate, go race your spada against a ZX2R C model and it's all over rover, an yep your welcome to come try with me sometime.

[cowpoos]

if you thought it was gutless compared to your spada....you were on a sick bike....it would eat your spada....

[Brett]

Yep, if you have ridden ANY other 250cc bike, you would find that the ZXR (C model) is up there dead even, or in my opinion, ahead of the other bikes available.
Ride some others before deciding that it is slower than others, you might be surprised by some of the other 250's. Your one may not have been tuned right i guess.

[Mr. Peanut]

ANY 250cc??
My NSR would own a ZXR....

[N4CR]

Your one may not have been tuned right i guess.

I think he is just gay for hondas. What poos said might be reasonably correct as well.
Da Brossss has a heavier dry weight than the zxr wet. Lmao!
RC31E 647cc Bore 79mm Stroke 66mm 56-60hp not a huge amount of grunt either but should be quicker than a zxr in a line if it's delivery isn't all fucked up (being a honda it probably is ).
VT250 seems similar weight to a C model but a bit less hp but same torque, I'd highly doubt those figures but we shall see when it gets put into real world situations some time.

ANY 250cc??
My NSR would own a ZXR....

We talking 4 storks here matey.

[Mr. Peanut]

Dont patronise me matey....

Yep, if you have ridden ANY other 250cc bike, you would find that the ZXR (C model) is up there dead even, or in my opinion, ahead of the other bikes available.
Ride some others before deciding that it is slower than others, you might be surprised by some of the other 250's. Your one may not have been tuned right i guess.

See, he said ANY 250

[imdying]

Yeah, he did say any 250.

When I first read this, I remember essentially agreeing, not everything but. Might as well stop being lazy and add my 2c worth.


Total lack of torque: Agreed
Seat sure is a plank of wood: Agreed
Incredibly smooth: Agreed
Fairings good: Agreed, but have a horribly cheap feel compared to bigger
Sounded ghey: Disagree, they sound great when you're raping them
Gotta use gears to pass: Agree, but it's half the fun... shame it gets old so quick
Unsmooth gearbox: Yeah, with any neglect they feel like shite
Great brakes: Agreed
Great suspension for my 53kg: Hate the suspension, might as well not be there... but then I'm a fatty
Didn't have as much lean as the spada: Haven't ridden a spada, but there's lean a plenty on a ZXR250, gotta get your damn toes outta the way or they scrape horribly
Felt wide: You must have ridden some tiny bikes... feels positively anorexic to me
Comfort, usability; the seat, putting it shortly; was crap: Yep, couldn't agree more... but it's a psuedo race bike

Would recomend this if you are going to be doing riding in higher speed areas but not around town as its too revvy and has fu*k all torque: Can't recommend this bike anywhere, only saving grace is you can ride it on a learner licenses.

Having said all that... I love them despite their obvious faults. They're slower than a wet week to be sure... but you can cane crap outta them, doing the whole Doohan thing, and still not be breaking the law too much. You can drop em in on their side and giggle your way round a roundabout till you throw up... there'd be a place in my garage for one Lets face it, the RS250 would eat it, but the ZXR would be a much better neglected, screw occasionally, visit your mates bike.

[Mr. Peanut]

Id rather have a Cbr250RR

Saving up for one now, have you seen how long those engines last??

Still, if you want a really anti-social noise, try an NSR250 with cut pipes and a drilled airbox coming on its powerband

[Karma]

GO THE ZX4R!!

All the handling of the ZX2R, plus the extra engine power!!

Seat still gives the ass a good caneing thou...