zxr250 test ride

[R6_kid:Me]

i had a ZXR250 for 6months as my last ride in the 250cc bracket. After a trackday i had the (mis)pleasure of riding home a 98 VTR250. Now yes it was easier to ride (slightly wider bars) and had more torque, its a fucking v-twin what do you expect. It was fun, but not in the same way as the ZXR was.

The ZXR has its handle bars in tight which is why it takes a lot of effort to get it to lean, but once you get used to it it goes and goes and goes. As said the one you had musta been sick. I've seen a GT250 Hyosung vs CBR250 in corners with riders of comparable skill level, and although the GT turned easier the CBR had it.

Truth is, you really have to RIDE a ZXR not let it take you along such as with the VT/VTR... in that way its a 'pure' sportsbike, and requires you to work it the right way. I never rode my ZXR under about 11k in corners, yeh its gutless below there but its a 250 FFS.

After being on my R6 for over 6months i stepped down onto a ZXR250C for a mate to 'test' his tyres for him. I rode it at full throttle the whole time, never going below about 14k (sorry merwood). I was saddened to find i was in 6th doing 160 and having what i would call no pull (R6 is in 2nd or 3rd and kicking u in the ass at 160) but the handling/brakes etc were so enjoyable that if it had the power i woulda stayed on it all day.

ZXR == PWNS YOU ALL. Get yours and N4CR's ZXRs side by side, do 3 laps of taupo head to head, and swap. Then do your spada vs your zxr. I think ZXR would come up trumps each time.

[ducatilover]

a vtr250 is alot different than a spada. the spada is completely different fom a vt250 and a vtr250. the spada has more torque than all the 250 vtwins and has the flattest torque curve and the gearing is better, it has a close ratio 6 speed box, unlike the vtr250s 5 speed box. the spada handles better than a vtr250, i know this as i have riden two vtr250s and the just didnt handle as nice. but i have no doubts a zxr250 would beat a spada around a track, with equal skilled riders, but say over the rimutaka hill? the spada would win hands down.

[ducatilover]

the spada doesnt have bars like the vtr250. i think vtrs are fucking dumb, why replace the spada with something less powerful, slower, with a crap gearbox, gay bars, and not as sublime handling? and its not as good quality finish.

[imdying]

They're both incredibly gutless, I don't think it would matter which one you rode 'over the hills', you'd still have to flog the crap out of them. But that's ok, they're 250s... they'll always be gutless. They're merely a set of wheels to do you time on, nothing more, nothing less. If you want a 'fast' 250, get a 2 stroke and suffer all the joys of (neglected 10 year old) 2 stroke ownership.

As Gareth says, once you've spent 6 months on a good 600, riding a xxx250 again will rape all of your 250 memories, and you'll wonder why you ever cared. Ask anyone who's been riding bikes a while, they'll all have fond memories of their 250s, no matter how crap or slow they were... but after riding late model sports bikes that don't need full throttle *everywhere*, they're best left as that, memories.

[ducatilover]

They're both incredibly gutless, I don't think it would matter which one you rode 'over the hills', you'd still have to flog the crap out of them. But that's ok, they're 250s... they'll always be gutless. They're merely a set of wheels to do you time on, nothing more, nothing less. If you want a 'fast' 250, get a 2 stroke and suffer all the joys of (neglected 10 year old) 2 stroke ownership.

As Gareth says, once you've spent 6 months on a good 600, riding a xxx250 again will rape all of your 250 memories, and you'll wonder why you ever cared. Ask anyone who's been riding bikes a while, they'll all have fond memories of their 250s, no matter how crap or slow they were... but after riding late model sports bikes that don't need full throttle *everywhere*, they're best left as that, memories.

...good point... but im still with my opinion.

[imdying]

I think the worst part of riding a ZXR250 is how slow they are to rev I remember 4 cyl 250s as super revving beasts... I wished I left that memory alone... it sucks to know better.

[Fishy]

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

Yep I did just over 70,000k's on my one in a year and a half and thrashed the nuts off it constantly. And I got $4k (back in 1997) for it as a trade in on a fireblade.

[aff-man]

beat a spada around a track, with equal skilled riders, but say over the rimutaka hill? the spada would win hands down.

Again. I say that that is blollocks.
http://www.motorbikes.be/en/compare/3328/782/ thats fot the vt25f
trying to find specs on the spada...

[ducatilover]

im telling you the vt250f and spada are completely different.
and the spada still handles better than the zxr250s.

[cowpoos]

i have no doubts a zxr250 would beat a spada around a track, with equal skilled riders, but say over the rimutaka hill? the spada would win hands down.

I'll tell ya what lad....I'll borrow my mates zxr250c....and we'll do that hey?
I bet ya a box of tui I'll beat ya buy a fair margin!

I hav riden spada's....a very close friend of mine had one back when I was a young fella like yourself...I used to ride with him almost daily....I was on a NZ250...thats a single cylinder dohc 250....in a straight line spada was only a bit faster...not much....through the twists...nothing in it....nothing at all...and I really really can not see how a spada would be faster than a zxr250 dude...they arn't a small amount faster....they are a whole heap faster....but when it comes down to personal prefference....maybe you weren't comfortable with the zxr....coz they corner like demons those bikes...you dam near hav to re-adjust your brain to comprehend the corner speeds they can carry I found after riding my friends one when he got it in december...and the mid range on a zxr250 starts at 8500rpm....so ifyou think its got a crap mid range....I think you might be confussing the lower range to your bikes mid range....anyway...enuff said....you wanna go that beer bet?

[ducatilover]

i dont like tui. or beer for that mater. fine it comes down to this, im fatsre on a spada unless its an american race [straight line] or merely a "high speed" race. i rode that zxr no slower than i ride my spada through the manawatu gorge but the zxr was closer to its limits and yes it had good tyres. i do love those pilot powers... but.... im quicker on my spada. no mater what

[aff-man]

i dont like tui. or beer for that mater. fine it comes down to this, im fatsre on a spada unless its an american race [straight line] or merely a "high speed" race. i rode that zxr no slower than i ride my spada through the manawatu gorge but the zxr was closer to its limits and yes it had good tyres. i do love those pilot powers... but.... im quicker on my spada. no mater what

Ok someone please give this man the learn on a zxr.......... Been doing some research and it seems the spade has a different frame (less welds or something) but the same engine. Closer to it's limits... what rev range were you riding in / did you time the 2 runs. Were you jumping off the redline on the edge of the tyres on the zxr?? have you been there?

[cowpoos]

Ok someone please give this man the learn on a zxr.......... Been doing some research and it seems the spade has a different frame (less welds or something) but the same engine. Closer to it's limits... what rev range were you riding in / did you time the 2 runs. Were you jumping off the redline on the edge of the tyres on the zxr?? have you been there?

well....I offered bro....I'm 5mins from the said taka's and hav a zxr250 in my workers garage....if he's game....I am...but he';s shouting me piss for the fact its almost a waste of time to show something that would surely be obvious....

[Mr. Peanut]

Who cares, you both obviously think highly of your bikes, isn't that enough?

[R6_kid:Me]

im with Mr Peanut. It's the same as reading a fucking magazine... all the mags i read regarding the R6 said it has a flighty as hell (very light) front end... now they might be hardcore track riders, but i havent experienced this, and hardly anyone i know (including hardcore track riders) have said that it's any worse than the others... It's called opinion.

Thing is that here, everyone else but mr ducatilover are saying that ZXR250C > Spada, yet he is set on Spada > ZXR250C. In all comparitve terms, upping the stakes to say VTR1000 SP1, vs ZX10R... no comparison really. Engineering says zxr250c will be better than spada, but perhaps the spada's style of riding suits ducatilover in the way the the ZXR250 suits the rest of the population. Maybe his name should be cocksmoker, cos he certainly is different (tis a pisstake bro, so dont get offended)