Now level with me.....

[Omega]

hows it going people?
well intrested in the zxr 4, and have been looking up reviews and asking owners of the bike to tell me things about it...one things ive noticed is that almost review/person asked never has anything bad to say about the bike! now if this bike is absolutely perfect then who am i to question it...But all u zxr owners out there...there muct be some bad bits to this bike? hows t he reliabilty? fuel consumtion? handelling? overall power? low end power? lol come on...level with me!!!
cheers in advance!
Omega

[masterofinsanity]

you are asking zxr400 lovers to tell you bad things about the zxr400 on a specialist zxr400 forum, somehow i don't think anyone is going to tell you bad points, yes there are things to look for as per the buyers guide but if you want real answers check out greybiker forum or bikechatforums i think you may get a better response from a range of bike owners or find a vfr or cbr forum and ask them to tell you which is best a zxr or cbr etc then come back and see what they say.I dont think any bike is 100% perfect and all bikes have their faults but handling wise the zxr400 is fab, it certainly looks the best sports 400 in my opinion, and given a choice of all the 400s from experience i would have another zxr400 tommorrow be it brand new or a basket case cos once the nigglys are fixed you got one cracking bike!

[Jamz]

I think the main complaint you hear about the ZXR400 is people whining on about the rear shock being too hard.

Personally, I never had a problem in 50,000+ miles and thought the suspension at both ends was perfect, so I suspect the ones complaining are namby-pamby jessies who should be on Harleys.

Following on from that is the whole comfort thing.

Again, in my opinion, comfort is an entirely relative thing, and I sometimes rode mine for 9hr days - with only the last 30 mins becoming really uncomfortable. I never knew any different, though, so I suspect if you're coming from a Goldwing, you may well find it a tad less accomodating!

[Omega]

its specifically because you are a bunch of zxr lovers and this a zxr website that im asking! lol im already in love with the bike before ive even touched one, but its more a case of letting myself know what i should "watch out for", and who better to ask that an expert and lover of the thing? but ill defo take ur advse and look up the other forums and here what they have to say! lol zxr defo wins hands down on looks!

[carsounds_dan]

well i brought mine in august.
ive done no miles on it but already decided to strip it down and replace some key parts. if your afraid of hard work it could work out expensive, if you know your spanners then youll get on well.
camchain £19.86+VAT
tensioner (6000 miles on it) £20+VAT
cam followers £17 each inc VAT (theres 16 in your engine, so could work out expensive)
Sparks £29 (eBay)
Oil filter and Oil £25
Alarm £25 (eBay again)
Head Gasket £11.75 + VAT
Head Bolts 8 X £2.63 +VAT
3 X £2.93 + VAT
Sump Gasket £0.50 + VAT
Coolant Filer £2.33 + VAT
Valve clearance check £3.50 (Feeler Gauge from Halfords )

so parts can be expensive for some things.. but stuff like the head-gasket (head bolts aswell) will only needed at 20,000+miles, the alarm is an optional thing, but for £25 i recon its worth it. the coolant filter to me is a bit of a weird one, so i doubt ill change it. the air filter is sitting in petrol soaking, im gunna dry it with an airline when im ready. The tensioner i brought for £20+VAT rather than a new one for £75 or there abouts, the followers im gunna change the ones that need doing, if theres more of them than i can afford, second hand ones can be had for next to nothing.
A whole new engine comes in at about £350 at most breakers aswell if anything goes wrong (not that it will if you look after it). The body panels are getting a bit hard to find so getting a set of R&Gs is vital, theres a guy on eBay who sells them for £25 inc postage.
Overall the only down-side would be the maintainance, but anybike will have them, the ZXR400 is quite an easy bike to work on so it'll shouldnt cause too much harm.
Cheers
dan

[masterofinsanity]

as long as you read the buyers guide and fact file i'm sure once the head gasket is sorted and a general service is done with any bike your gonna get niggles but i can guarantee you wont be disappointed.

[superman]

i got mine in feb not familiar with mechanics of a bike but iv fixed afew things just by asking the folks on this website, someone on here will normally be able to talk you through it, truth is the ZXR is good not many faults if mine is a k reg and has been quite reliable, fantastic first bike no questions performance just short of a 600 (thrash most cars) looks just like a full size 600 so ppl who dont know about bikes cant get you mixed up with a pants 125, parts are dirt cheap an its simple its a nice simple machine. all this = perfect first big bike.

[RedexRobB]

The only bad thing on a ZXR would be the owner that doesnt appreciate it. There are some people who have bought nails and ended up spending more than what the bike is worth, but if you read the buyers section thoroughly and follow it to the letter you should be able to filter out any potential bikes that are going to give you some headaches. Most second hand bikes inevitably have minor niggles, but once they are ironed out you will have yourself one beautiful little bike!

[zxr_oli]

Downpipes seem to rust alot, as Andy and I have found out
I havn't been riding mine to long, but i love it

[RedexRobB]

My first ZXR downpipes were fine, but when i bought it, they were in really good condition anyway.

[jake]

I would like to add also, dont be afraid of ex racebikes.
These bikes love to be thrashed to an inch of there lives anyhow,but 90% of the zxr racebikes ive seen over the last year or two are lovingly pampered, with oil changes every one or two races,money thown at them for parts long before they are often needed,etc.. - much happier bikes than alot of the roadbikes me thinks

[gingernm]

Well, I for one love my ZXR. Previous experience with VFR400 (NC30), GS500 and a GSXR600.

Things that have gone wrong in the 18 months I've had it:

Downpipes rotted, 2nd hand replacement £80, fitted myself
Throttle cable snapped, £35 + fitting (didn't have a clue how to do this, was knackered after a nightshift and I couldn't be arsed to find out how to do it)

As said in previous post, don't be afraid to buy one that's seen a track. Mine had, but was lovingly maintained.

Other niggles:

It's not the quickest at the lights, needs plenty for a rocket start, but then show it a twisty road and you'll be smiling from ear to ear.
I sometimes get false nutrals.

To compare it to the VFR400, they are very similar, both very light all the weight at the bottom, but the Honda is getting on, too many dogs out there.

All the above is from an "impartial" ZXR lover, so GET ONE!! and start smiling!!


Rob.

[deviant]

i've had next to nothing go wrong with mine, and what has gone wrong is the usual stuff that happens to all bikes (fork seals, brakes/tyres/chain/sprockets wearing out). Mind I did buy a fairly tidy 8000 mile bike (now over 17000). Other than that I've changed the oil and coolant and that's it.

Only big thing that's gone wrong was a cam follower wearing out and then scratching the camshaft so that needed replacing too. Cost me about £600 to have it fixed, with hindsight that was stupid because I could have done it myself for 1/3 that or just bought another engine, but I'd put it in thinking it just needed the clearances adjusting and by the time they had it in bits and found the real problem I couldn't be arsed to try and get it home. Again, it could happen on any bike - dealer said they'd seen it on a lot newer bikes with <10k miles on them. Just very unlucky.