performance of a 250 4 stroke

[Atomic]

Cheers for the info Monster, I hadnt realized that was a case with the ZR4.
My mates was possibly an EVO 0, im not sure!?
Pretty quick.

I guess any car capable of running in the 13sec bracket (which is alot of cars) is going to hose a 250 considering they would be lucky to run 14s.
And after 150kph the 250 is running out of go and the cars still pulling.

But at the end of the day.........
This is a bike forum and no one wants to hear me talking cars so Ill
shut up now.

250s are plenty of fun for non full licenced riders and who should be riding a
rocket whilst there learning.
My FZR250 gave me heaps of fun and excitment and now I ride a 150!!!

Whats the deal with Prilly RS50's? Why would anyone build a full size 50cc racer?!?! CRAZY!

[Voodoo]

yes most of those cars are capable of running 13's even 12's but standard a vr4 wont, nor will a type R , nor will a GT-s skyline, nor will a......blar blar blar


but yes, a turbo cars can be modified with ease to get those figures unlike a bike (well, though i dont know enough about bike to say) 250 with Nos maybe?


but id be happy with a 14sec bike , ill leave the 13 sec's for my supercharged 84 trueno

[Sniper]

Yea my bike can do 100.
I dont speed, I think its bad for the road and against the rules. YEAH RIGHT!!!!

My CBR without the governor can pin about 210kph. Dont know why or how but thats what I have been told, never had it faster than 170kph, the roads are too short

[limbimtimwim]

... sounds like a 250 4 stroke would be the go,
just wondering what kind of performance to expect from the likes of cbr250's zxr? 250's etc , ive heard they can do around 180kph , but what about pickup, 0-100 ,400m etc?

You don't want a CBR or a ZXR, the bike you want is a Honda VTR250, post 1998 model. I have one of these.

I went on a motorcycle rally late last year. (Himatangi -> Akitio beach ) I was one of the first 35 or so there out of about 400 . Suprised? Not as much as I was. I was the first 250cc there by a long way.

I think the VTR250 is better than the CBR250 or the ZXR250 for several reasons. It has a seat a real human can sit in (I rode around NZ for a bit over 2 weeks and survived, but I did spend a day in bed afterwards). The ZXR is really nasty in that respect.

It doesn't look like a 250, unless it is parked next to something bigger :-) .

The engine does not need to be thrashed to get a result, you can putter around without thinking too much about what gear you need to be in. Or you can change down (Probably two gears) and pass anything that doesn't have turbo and more than two wheels.

The engine is not very grumpy, and doesn't rev like crazy, when it's cold.

Tyres are the same size as the CBR250, which is big enough. USD front forks. Single drilled front disc, which is easy strong enough and doesn't heat up badly.

Face it, a 250 four stroke isn't going to go quickly, you are stuck with being slower than every other bike, bar the postmans, in a straight line, and even being blown away by the quicker rice rockets. You can, of course, go faster than everyone else round the corners. Which is the beauty of the thing.

So you may as well get the one you can live with (The VTR) or just harden up and get and a two stroke. The CBR250 and ZXR250 are a weak middle ground made for the (I think maybe gone now..?) Jap licence rules that meant going past a 400cc bike wasn't worth the hassle. So they made 250s that looked like their 900s. However, both the ZXR and CBR can do nearly 200km/h, but the VTR is only good for about 150. Blame that on no fairing and different gearing.

Save up big $$ and get an Aprilia RS250... Ooohhhh...

[Storm]

MMMM RS
I'm gutted that I missed the chance to ride one at my local anza dealership and rip me a new set of ring-gear

[Sheep Dags]

and if you've got the patience and the spare cash, the 2 strokes will never disappoint! I've had an NSR 250 and a TZR 250 and they were both great bikes. But even though they're 2 strokes and they're faster than a 4 stroke 250, they don't stand any chance next to a turbo sports car. My mate had a stock mr2 (non turbo) and the NSR (1989) was pretty much the same speed, the TZR however (1991) owned the mr2 quite nicely. I'd doubt they could stand up to, say, a GTR or an EVO, and if the 2 smokes can't, there's no way a 4 stroke will.

but anyway, you wanna learn how to ride before you wanna go dragging off sports cars, so go the 4 stroke (simply because they're not so stressful!) and learn to ride it well, then when the time is right, go to a 600 or something, and you'll own them all!



go the 2 smokes!

[Timber020]

Yeah what sheep dags said. My RGV's could make food of most cars, and didnt even have to try to embarrass 4st 250's. Its all down to power to weight as the 2 strokes are both lighter and more powerful.

Against faster cars Im not so sure, some have some real speed behind them.

[Monsterbishi]

Generally, a healthy RGV can dispatch anything with sub 200-ish wheel hp...

[vtec]

Ok, I have had a racing RGV250, an Evo IV (stolen), and still have a 200+hp Honda Prelude, and a 1990 CBR250RR.

My quartermile times are as follows.
Honda Prelude 14.86 @152k/hr
Honda CBR250RR 14.3 @ 147k/hr
and I hadn't dragged the other two.

I reckon the CBR has a 14 flat in it, as on the day that I took it, there was mud and crap on the track and I was skidding it up on take off (got to race an Elise with a K20a though). The prelude would do approximately 6.3 0-100k/hr. And you might notice that the trap speed is substantially higher than the CBR, but the CBR finishes over half a second ahead, what this tells me is that it is a lot faster 0-100 than the Prelude, which to me means it's getting close to 5.5seconds 0-100 on a crap day.

As far as having 2 strokes goes, they are a reasonably big responsibility, and you have to know how to look after them and you'll find that they aren't as nice for commuting as a four stroke, although definitely faster than the fourstroke (although nearly no flywheel weight so tricky to hook up off the line). 0-100k/hr the CBR would have been about equal with the Evo, so effectively they are up there with the best cars on the road, and it is really up to who gets the launch on the other one.

In short you can't go past the fun/reliability/cost of having a 250 fourstroke.

[imdying]

They're not fast in real numbers, and a 4wd turbo whatever will indeed have them if the driver has something other than space between their ears. An 89 CBR250 will never see 200. 400m times in the high 14s usually.

But that's all bollocks. They don't actually feel slow to ride, are awesome lapping roundabouts or your local scratching roads. They'll definitely keep you amused for the year it takes to get a full license (it's still a year these days?). I used to love borrowing the ex's ZXR250 and screwing f*** out it. No doubt about it, they're top fun.

[John]

yea a good low milage 4stroker will keep you occupied and satisfied, although imdying it takes 6months for learners - and I think 1year for restricted then you can go for your full, if you take a course you can get from restricted to full in 6months..

[imdying]

I forgot to add something that might be of value... the seats on ZXR250s are damn uncomfortable. 200ks (a tank full) and you'll be a cripple. Make sure the box is good, because you'll be dancing on it all the time. Definitley try an RGV if you can find one that isn't shagged (almost impossible in Christchurch).

[k14]

Ok, I have had a racing RGV250, an Evo IV (stolen), and still have a 200+hp Honda Prelude, and a 1990 CBR250RR.

My quartermile times are as follows.
Honda Prelude 14.86 @152k/hr
Honda CBR250RR 14.3 @ 147k/hr
and I hadn't dragged the other two.

I reckon the CBR has a 14 flat in it, as on the day that I took it, there was mud and crap on the track and I was skidding it up on take off (got to race an Elise with a K20a though). The prelude would do approximately 6.3 0-100k/hr. And you might notice that the trap speed is substantially higher than the CBR, but the CBR finishes over half a second ahead, what this tells me is that it is a lot faster 0-100 than the Prelude, which to me means it's getting close to 5.5seconds 0-100 on a crap day.

As far as having 2 strokes goes, they are a reasonably big responsibility, and you have to know how to look after them and you'll find that they aren't as nice for commuting as a four stroke, although definitely faster than the fourstroke (although nearly no flywheel weight so tricky to hook up off the line). 0-100k/hr the CBR would have been about equal with the Evo, so effectively they are up there with the best cars on the road, and it is really up to who gets the launch on the other one.

In short you can't go past the fun/reliability/cost of having a 250 fourstroke.

Totally agree with you there. People don't realise how hard it is to get a car into the 13s bracket and above. At mere mere a few weeks ago the fastest car did a mid 11 (and that was very far from being even remotely street legal) the fastest road car might have done a high 12 but if it did it was very highly modified. Most of the evo's etc that I saw were doing high 13's to low 14's, which is about what a 4 stroke I4 would do. So it definately comes down to who is better at launching off the line. I think the bike would be easier to get into the "sweet spot" due to no wheel spin etc, but if the car got it right then it would most likley win.

A few months ago I had a drag with an evo 3. He beat me across teh intersection but then i passed him and kept a 30m or so gap untill I started backing off (around 120kph). I think the main advantage of a bike over a car is the speed with which you can change gears. A car must take 5 or 6 times longer than a bike and that is the main downfall.

[TwoSeven]

One of the things to put into perspective is that the bike only cost about $5k and needs no mods - the car costs probably double that if you dont want one thats only good for the supermarket run.

I'm sure if you took the money you saved from not buying the car and spent it on a proper bike, you'll realise just how crap bolting a ton of steel to 4 wheels and a tank engine actually is.

[Monsterbishi]

Totally agree with you there. People don't realise how hard it is to get a car into the 13s bracket and above. At mere mere a few weeks ago the fastest car did a mid 11 (and that was very far from being even remotely street legal) the fastest road car might have done a high 12 but if it did it was very highly modified. Most of the evo's etc that I saw were doing high 13's to low 14's, which is about what a 4 stroke I4 would do. So it definately comes down to who is better at launching off the line. I think the bike would be easier to get into the "sweet spot" due to no wheel spin etc, but if the car got it right then it would most likley win.

A few months ago I had a drag with an evo 3. He beat me across teh intersection but then i passed him and kept a 30m or so gap untill I started backing off (around 120kph). I think the main advantage of a bike over a car is the speed with which you can change gears. A car must take 5 or 6 times longer than a bike and that is the main downfall.

ok, you need a reality check here, it takes sod all to send a turbo car into the 13's,and 12's are not that much harder, example:

My old 1989 Galant VR4 :- Rear muffler unbolted, interior stripped out, boost turned up to 14psi(2 over stock) 13.7@97.7mph

Friends '88 Galant VR4 :- Bigbore exhaust, pod filter, interior stripped out, decent clutch and boost upped to 20psi :- 12.9@103mph

Friends '92 Galant VR4 :- (Newer shape, v6 model) :- Rear muffler removed, pod filter, interior stripped out, stock clutch, boost upped to 18psi :- 12.7@107mph

Turbo skylines respond just as well to similar mods, as do Subaru's, it's all about the driver. Most of the cars I get to work on now with the local Mitsi club are all completely street legal, and can run easy 12's, my new car, the Mirage, will run 12's on it's factory 13" Steel wheels! (And cost less than $6k to build)

Evo's, GSR's, VR4's, heck, anything 4wd is a doddle to launch, you dial up the revs, and then step off the clutch pedal whilst mashing the gas pedal.