Revival of the mini supersports? | Page 2 | GTAMotorcycle.com

Revival of the mini supersports?

It will probably be made in Thailand or Malaysia. The 250 4 cylinders of the 1990s made 45 hp or so; no reason this couldn't make a bit more although the A2 license class would limit it to 42. Not much of a restriction. I have my doubts about the 60 hp speculation.
 
Kawasaki is arguably building some of the most interesting bikes for 'average' folks right now. Good to see. Honda briefly (maybe 3of them) made an inline6 250 that has to be the craziest sounding small bike ever.
I'll predict some go fast parts makers and tuners will dial this up over 50hp in short order.
 
A lot of agreement on what others have said here. A 250-4 cylinder in a high state of tune will make a terrible street bike. Keeping it in the top one third of the rev range to run properly, while fun for a while...

Would a single be cheaper to produce? A light weight 500cc single with 42 rwhp would be a better street bike than a 250 4 cylinder with 42 rwhp.

just thinking out loud.

As it is now, kawasaki has a 400 twin that is proven to make 47-48 rwhp with only a full pipe and ecu flash. and said 400 has a reasonably good price.
 
It will probably be made in Thailand or Malaysia. The 250 4 cylinders of the 1990s made 45 hp or so; no reason this couldn't make a bit more although the A2 license class would limit it to 42. Not much of a restriction. I have my doubts about the 60 hp speculation.

They mentioned in the article "Destined to be made in Indonesia, right alongside the powerful Kawasaki Ninja H2, the 2020 Kawasaki Ninja ZX-25R is said to be world model machine. "

Couldn't they just install limiters like on larger displacement bikes?
 
A lot of agreement on what others have said here. A 250-4 cylinder in a high state of tune will make a terrible street bike. Keeping it in the top one third of the rev range to run properly, while fun for a while...

Would a single be cheaper to produce? A light weight 500cc single with 42 rwhp would be a better street bike than a 250 4 cylinder with 42 rwhp.

just thinking out loud.

As it is now, kawasaki has a 400 twin that is proven to make 47-48 rwhp with only a full pipe and ecu flash. and said 400 has a reasonably good price.

Low displacement singles seem to be on the way out. The only company that seems to be doing them right is KTM. Honda did a pretty good job at making sure all the 250/300 singles offered the visceral experience of your average riding lawnmower.

People want fun sport bikes but in most places insurance has nearly killed off the SS market. 10k is a hard sell but if the insurance is cheap enough I can see people picking these up. If you’ve had the chance to ride one of the golden era small displacement I4 bikes (CBR250rr, FZR 250/400, VFR 400, GSXR250, etc.) its much easier to understand the appeal of 19,000RPM

Can also see this being a good race bike if they spec it right / make it competitive against the R3/Ninja 400. With the majority of the smaller bikes being geared towards beginners you end up having to dump more money into proper clip-ons/rear sets, brake, suspension, etc. upgrades to get them track ready.
 
People want fun sport bikes but in most places insurance has nearly killed off the SS market. 10k is a hard sell but if the insurance is cheap enough I can see people picking these up. If you’ve had the chance to ride one of the golden era small displacement I4 bikes (CBR250rr, FZR 250/400, VFR 400, GSXR250, etc.) its much easier to understand the appeal of 19,000RPM
On the street? Surely you jest.
 
They mentioned in the article "Destined to be made in Indonesia, right alongside the powerful Kawasaki Ninja H2, the 2020 Kawasaki Ninja ZX-25R is said to be world model machine. "

Couldn't they just install limiters like on larger displacement bikes?
I don't think a limiter would be req'd. the actual rwhp of that 1990's 250 4 cyl is less than 40hp. Read some reviews of those bikes and you will find a lot of agreement that they don't really work well unless you're on a racetrack. and even there, they are difficult bikes to ride.
 
I think the real appeal here is the character and inspiration of the sound of those motors.

ie: I don't ride my 999 cause its easy to ride or economical lol.
 
Low displacement singles seem to be on the way out. The only company that seems to be doing them right is KTM. Honda did a pretty good job at making sure all the 250/300 singles offered the visceral experience of your average riding lawnmower.

People want fun sport bikes but in most places insurance has nearly killed off the SS market. 10k is a hard sell but if the insurance is cheap enough I can see people picking these up. If you’ve had the chance to ride one of the golden era small displacement I4 bikes (CBR250rr, FZR 250/400, VFR 400, GSXR250, etc.) its much easier to understand the appeal of 19,000RPM

Can also see this being a good race bike if they spec it right / make it competitive against the R3/Ninja 400. With the majority of the smaller bikes being geared towards beginners you end up having to dump more money into proper clip-ons/rear sets, brake, suspension, etc. upgrades to get them track ready.

I don't think the visceral appeal of a cbr 250 on track is that of riding a lawn mower. Tell that to the older guy on one back in the early days of 300 racing. He won the RACE 300 championship with one.
edit- the vfr400's are v-fours and they only produced about 52 rwhp OEM stock. A very nice 400 supersport. but its not a 250.

edit- here is ari henning setting a lap record at chuckawalla racetrack on his cbr300 (in 350 sportbike race)
 
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Well soon enough, insurance may make 600+ cc RR bikes unrideable on the road (except for the select few where money is no issue).

These may actually be a good fit for all the young riders that come on here bitching about riding an SS or nothing at all for their first bike, costs be damned. Most people that see that bike won't know it isn't eyeball bleeding fast. Even if the bike cost for 250 and 600 is similar, the insurance will be thousands a year cheaper for the 250.
Already are.

Personally I just like small bikes. I definitely could've bought a more powerful one had I wanted to. Heck, I went from a 650 to a 125 and don't regret it. Cost me a bit more too.

Only reason I got the CBX is that it was cheap so I figured it'd be fun to own for a little while.
 
If it's made in China it could be saleable here. Too expensive if made in Japan. I remember the Yamaha Phaser didn't sell though. The problem with small cc i4s is they have to be revved high to get torque. So while highway speeds will be easier, every day riding in city traffic won't be such fun unless you're into screaming it all over the place. Then there's handlebar buzzzzz. So yeah, the bike will have great novelty value, and make you feel like you're doing 150 when you're doing 50, but not practical except on a track racing the same class. Just my .02
The screaming all over the place is the fun part. And going through the gears. On my 650 I was way over the speed limit by 2nd gear and it wasn't even a fast bike compared to the 600s.

I also feel that if the bike was made in China that would completely negate the point of a high spec 250 because it would likely not feel premium at all.
 
It may not shine in Canada, but a large portion of South Asia limits CC’s to 250 or less. Some Caribbean islands the same . So there is a global market for a hotrod, because you can’t register a 600 anything. Now let’s add North American kids that can’t insure anything beyond 300, and these same kids love tuner cars with crap exhaust revving to 8,000 rpm in second , in traffic. There’s the market


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People want fun sport bikes but in most places insurance has nearly killed off the SS market.

It's really just Ontario

And yeah people will buy these just to have fun, the type who don't care for practicality or ergonomics they just want a motor that will rev to the moon and sound great. It's like todays F1 cars vs the old V8/V10/V12 ones, those old ones were way cooler.
 
its a motorcycle not an e-bike. Some of us buy these things to have fun ;)

Is it practical? no. Will it put a smile on your face? absolutely. most fun bike I've ever ridden was an FZR400. Nothing better than being able to open up an I4 and not have to worry about losing your license 2nd.
Lol, you`re telling me?! I have a Grom :ROFLMAO:

That said, i still don't understand the appeal of 19k on the street, you`re revving forever and not getting anywhere.

So can i discern that we're simply talking about the noise now? Probably why i don't 'get it' as i prefer music on my travels.

Getting too old and cranky for this noise stuff <bah humbug> :cautious:

(anyone who knows me or my bike already knows it makes more racket then a I-4 1K, i have dual under tails for petes sake. i'm just being argumentative!)
 
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Lol, you`re telling me?! I have a Grom :ROFLMAO:

That said, i still don't understand the appeal of 19k on the street, you`re revving forever and not getting anywhere.

So can i discern that we're simply talking about the noise now? Probably why i don't 'get it' as i prefer music on my travels.

Getting too old and cranky for this noise stuff <bah humbug> :cautious:

(anyone know knows me or my bike know's it makes more racket then a I-4 1K, i'm just being argumentative!)

It does seem pretty pointless to rev to 19k with only 40~ hp, if they try to make this an A2 bike
would need to make like 60-70 hp atleast
 
Dual undertails on a grom. That’s badass.


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