how do they compare?

They all compare, they've all got two wheels and an engine. After that, it's just a question of taste. Yamaha's are simple honest value in my opinion (I have two of them!!) ,but to be honest they are all much of a muchness- except Honda's, there shite!!

 

i dunno how much you will pay in oz as im 7000 miles away in ireland but id say you should be able to pick up a lovely FZR 3ln for 4 grand.

in ireland you'd pay around €1,000 less for an FZR than you'd pay for a similar age/mileage/condition CBR or ZXR. and it cost me €500 less to insure it too!!

 

yep FZR250 3ln should cost about $1K less than a CBR250RR (MC22)with the same Km on the clock...

FZR250 2kr should cost about $1K less than a CBR250R (MC19) with the same Km on the clock...


so 3ln $3500 to $5000, 2kr $2500 to $3500

there are a comonly a bargin bike too around $1500 to $2000 without rwc and reg...

 

carbs are troublesome, or so some people say, other than that im not sure. FZR does have EXUP tho!!!

 

The only thing that will compare to an FZR (in decent condition) is the CBR and the ZX2R.

The difference is only about 2hp brand new, and on a 15 year old bike it comes down to many many varying factors. Carbs, compression etc.

My bike will own most 250c.c bikes out there. The only bike that has beaten me consistently is my mates babyblade CBR. The CBR's are your biggest competition. But seriously, don't worry. The difference is not that great, they will still have to work hard to beat you.

Bite the bullet, buy the FZR and have some fun. For $4k you will definitely be able to pick something decent up. Just do your homework and ensure it runs well.

 

it's something only the yamaha's have. basically it's a valve in the exhaust pipes that opens / closes depending on RPM. The higher the RPM the wider the valve.

This increases back pressure at lower rpm, which makes the engine torquier and basically makes it better for general commuting than the CBR's / ZXR's / etc.

When it comes to racing tho, you might as well remove the exup, because at higher RPM (which you'd be racing at) the exup is fully open and doesn't make a difference.

All in all there's so little difference between the power / etc of the CBR vs ZXR vs FZR that for your experience it will be the rider that either wins or loses a street drag, and not the bike.

If you're really worried about that, then I hear that changing the sprockets makes the bike a bit of a beast. you lose a bit of top speed but gain a lot in acceleration.

 

The other big bike makers have started using similar technology as well.

 

Hehe, yeah. <!-- s --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_biggrin.gif" alt="" title="Very Happy" /><!-- s -->
2 teeth off the front sprocket (from 17 to 15) certainly makes it more lively off the line. Also a heap quicker for roll-on's for anything under 100km/h. My only advice is to learn to ride it well then do the sprocket change. It'll make things easier to start out with the taller gear ratio's, then alot more fun with the shorter ratio. <!-- s --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_biggrin.gif" alt="" title="Very Happy" /><!-- s -->

I'd say go for the FZR. They're not as common as Baby Blades, not as expensive as ZXR250's and a darn sight sportier than the Across.
As for the power, they're much of a muchness with the CBRRRRR and the ZXR250. Actually, supposedly because of the exup the FZR's are meant to have a teeeeeency bit more torque than their competition; but a teency bit more of not much is still 6/10's of S.F.A.

 

I am a fan of the fzr250 as well. They will perform similarly to the cbr(r...) and zx2r, and should out perform an across easily. This, of course, all depends on the rider as a good rider on an across will beat an average one on a fzr through twisties etc.

Carbies are a common fault - they may need to be cleaned etc. Gear box is fine (haven't heard of anyone with an issue about this).

Another problem is that they can be expensive to insure in australia because they are grey imports - something australian insurance companies tend to frown upon. Phone a few agencies and see if they would insure it if this is a concern!

 

I have just recently got myself my L's and bought an FZR250 88 2kr. I found my little beast in the trading post for $1800. I bargained him down to $1700. The bike runs fantastic with no issues. So you can pick up a real bargain.

I have found a few FZR's in SA go up on ebay which. I don't know how it has gone lately.

The FZR's are certainly alot cheaper than the CBR's. My thought's are why spend a heap of money on a bike that you can upgrade in 16 month's time.

 

Carby cleaning isn't tooooo hard (for a non-carby person like me). Once the all knowledgable TBone had shown me what was what in the world of carbys, i'd be fairly confident at doing it again should i need to.

The sprocket change isn't as hard as i had thought it would be... but getting it off should the nut be on rather tight might prove to be difficult. I will get round to writing it up eventually (with pics), hopefully in the next fortnight.

 

just remembered a few things, the CBR (Rx10) has a gear driven camshaft which doesnt need replacing like a chain might. its also quieter and argueably more reliable, but ive never heard of the chain driven system needing work or replacement on an FZR.

and as for the Kwaker ... it has a K-RAS system, which is a Kawasaki Ram Air System. basically the air intakes from the front of the bike are linked into the airbox so the faster you are going, the mose air gets RAMed in and the more power you get.

FYI the air intakes in the front of the FZR just flow cold air onto the cylinder heads to aid cooling!!

 

Nope, no speedo correction needed as the FZR's speedo is a shaft driven one (cable driven..) connecting to the front wheel. The only time you'll need to think about correcting the speedo is if you change your front tyre profile by some extreme amount.

Side effects, yes plenty. You WILL use more fuel, you WILL be cruising at a higher RPM... and you MAY get addicted to the feeling of more power.

 

the Ram air intakes on the ZXR250 are fake, just like the FZR