Hi

[jigga1980]

Hi

I'm new here, just having a look around as thinking of a zxr400 as my next bike.

My name is Jon, from the West Mids.

Currently ride a Kawasaki ZZR 250. M reg, engine rebuilt low miles it's the gpx engine
which has 40bhp rather than 33bhp. Great little bike, iv'e had it since Jan 2007. Passed my test Dec 2006.

However it had an overheating problem which took months to fix just the way it went, also with the weather
not done much riding, probably around 2k so far.

Thinking of changing it around this time next year as will have more experience and hopefully no claims. Want
something similar in character to the zzr, i.e light chuckable easy to ride. Need to save the pennies aswell which
is also a factor!

The zxr seems like a great bike, not much heavier that the zzr but more power. ZZR is a little under powered especially as
the carbs aren't quite right. Also personally I think the supension is a bit soft, according to reviews zxr is very stiff.

For me I enjoy riding a bike at sensible speeds and taking corners, it's the best part IMO. However one of my mate's is the opposite bought and R6 as first bike then R1 less than a year after and wrote it off, he goes everywhere at 150mph, not my thing, each to their own I guess.

Out of curiousity got some insurance quotes, zzr250 £180, zxr400 £335, cbr600F £487 (all fully comp). Not too bad for the zxr, thought would be a lot being a rare bike.

Anyway I'm rambling, bored at work on a Friday!


Jon

[masterofinsanity]

Hi Jon
where abouts in west mids are you?
the zzr250 is not like the zxr400 mate, the zzr is smooth and glides on rails, the zxr400 is fun, flickable, light and grin factor unreadable.you will love it!
think we all ride with mates like yours, they're the ones with all the scars!
anyway welcome to my site

[RedexRobB]

I used to have a GPX250, parallel twin cylinder jobbie. They used that same motor in the EN250.

If you like bumbling along more then a bit of hard riding i think the ZXR might not be your cup of tea. Its a pretty hard core bike compared to a ZZR. But if you can get a ride on one go for it and see what you think, youve got a year or so to get a ride so plenty of time.

[jigga1980]

Maestro - I live about 10 miles outside of Wolverhampton.

Rob - I lke the single seat conversion on your sig.

Would be good to get some test rides on a few bikes. It's a bit of minefield really. One thing that has just come into my head, I rode my mates R6 only up and down the road slowly but hated the riding position was like I was lying flat on the tank. Don't know if zxr is similar in that respect.

The only other bike I have been on is the gpz500 I did my lessons/test on. Like my zzr better, gpz riding position was really high, felt like you had to fight it around the corners.

In no rush anyway, it is a little annoying having to ride eveywhere above 9000rpm to get any pick up. But it sounds pretty mean so it's all good, also the fuel economy is excellent.

[superman]

Ahow do mate, im in the midz 2. love the ZXR Wicked bike i think its more than likely what you will like as its got the power and corners well. i aint long got mine to be honest, its my first bike and its great...

[masterofinsanity]

Maestro - I live about 10 miles outside of Wolverhampton.

Maestro eh em !

[rene]

the zxr is very close to the R6 rideing sytle just the seat hight is lower. It lets you hand off and move around in the bends perfectly but you are putting weight onto you wrists

basicly its a SPORTS bike not a sportstourer, there is a zzr400 whats ment to be nice but personaly id go for the 600

have you looked at the likes of the SV650 ect?

[superman]

Baz has turned into a credit card!!!!!

[jigga1980]

masterofinsanity - Looked like maestro at a glance lol!

Just been watchng http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... &rd=1&rd=1

Seems the 400s in general are a bit more expensive than your average 600 but tend to hold their value more so won't loose as much come resale time.

The plan is when I am thinking of getting one keep the zzr then have time to look and get the correct one, then sell the zzr after.

[rene]

personaly i think the 400's are going to start going up in value again (even more so if its a nice example) due to them getting rarer and rarer.

I've ran out of garrage space now buecause i cant sell bikes can only buy ....but when i do make the space i'll be getting somthing FZR400 or a zxr400 and doing my dream project of fitting a zx6r engine into her

or both...




quite fancy a GSXR400SP as well

[masterofinsanity]

Just been watchng http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... &rd=1&rd=1

that looks quite clean model there.

[jigga1980]

Couldn't resist a bid

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... &rd=1&rd=1

Like that colour!

Seems a nice bike

[RedexRobB]

Thats looks like a good buy, even better if you get it for less than 1800 quid!

[jigga1980]

It went for £1850 in the end.

Problem with choosing a bike is I don't really know anything about bikes. Most people on a general forum seem to be biased towards the bike/make they have, more so on model/make specific forums.

Was just talking to a 'mate' she has a gpz500. Had a few problems with it but she does a lot of miles on it, also its an older bike. Said get a cbr 400 from a reliaiblity point of view (they seem to be very expensive to insure and buy).

I would be looking at a last of the line zxr 1999-2000 so granted it would be 7-8 years old but the one's I have seen done 15-25k miles so should be ok reliabilty wise? Assuming they had been serviced/looked after etc.

Not the type of person that likes spending ages fiddling in the garage, would rather be riding it!

Had an overheating prob with my zzr, that was down to the gasket not sealed properley as the engine was bought seperatley and obviously hadn't been put together properley.

Chain needs replacing, but that's wear and tear which I wouldn't count as unreliablity.

[RedexRobB]

Its like most bikes, you never ever really know what your getting when buying 2nd hand. Fair enough, if a bike has a reputation for being reliable your pretty safe, but even the most reliably made engine will go wrong at some point if they are neglected.