Kawasaki Sportsbike Riders Club - Australia - Online Forum

I was told the other day that a ZZR250 engine has different camshafts and different gearing....anyone know or have the specs for camshaft timing and lift/duration (I couldn't find a listing for the ZZR250 in KSRC manuals or a listings for one on that other site) plus if anyone knows the power figures, compression ratios and the gearbox ratios.

I dunno much about the ZZR except its supposed to be a sportier version of the GPX...is that right? Is it supposed to be a more powerful motor??

thanks

zzr 250 specs as listed in my owners manual

max hp: 26.5 kW (36 PS) @ 12500 rpm
max torque: 21.6 N-m (2.2 kg-m, 15.9 ft-lb) @ 9000 rpm

dry weight: 146 kg (Australian model is 2 kg's lighter than others)

bore x stroke: 62.0 x 41.2 mm
compression ratio: 12.4 : 1

Primary Reduction Ratio: 3.086
Final Reduction Ratio: 3.357
overall drive ratio: 9.252 ( top gear )

gear ratios:
1st - 2.600
2nd - 1.789
3rd - 1.409
4th 1.160
5th 1.000
6th 0.892

I always thought the gpx was supposed to be the more powerful of the two.
Other differences include 17 inch wheels on the zzr and adjustable preload on the rear suspension.

thanks smek

one way to check the difference is call in to a bike shop on a quiet day (so NOT saturday!) and "out of curiosity" ask them to look up the parts for the gpx /zzr cams to see if they have the same/a different part number.

Best way to do it i figure, as the GPX doesn't seem to feature on buykawasaki.com

It's there - it's called the Ninja 250R

oh, so is the zzr there then?
(i just had a feeling one of them was missing is all)

i have a pdf version of the zzr250 supplement for the gpx250 manual. anyone got a place where i can upload it?

mike-s wrote:oh, so is the zzr there then?
(i just had a feeling one of them was missing is all)

Yeah seems the ZZR250 isn't there - I don't think the US got it, but I could be wrong.
ty

is the baby ninja 250R another name for the zzr-250 or are they completely different bikes as i can only find manuals for the gpx and
ninja250R

From memory (and I owned my GPZ250R in 1994...) the ZZR, GPX and GPX were 27,28 and 29kW respectively with the same engine in different states of tune. ZZR is the heaviest of the bunch so the others should be slightly quicker. Got 200km/h out of mine going downhill, probably with the wind behind me too....bottom of Toowoomba range...probably only 150/260km/h on the flat I would guess.

To be honest I wouldn't be buying either of these bikes based on their 'performance' and any differences would be so minor that you could never tell the difference.

Decide which one you like more - the ZZR looks better and the GPX is cheaper. The GPX is also less likely to be farked in a minor drop due to more sticky-outy bits.

ty wrote:

mike-s wrote:oh, so is the zzr there then?
(i just had a feeling one of them was missing is all)

Yeah seems the ZZR250 isn't there - I don't think the US got it, but I could be wrong.
ty

TY is correct, the Yanks got the GPX250R, called the Ninja 250, and the Canadians got the ZZR250...and I don't think the Yanks ever forgave Kawasaki for that one

The bikes are mechanically much of a muchness, the engine/gearbox is identical, the main differences are the frame/bodywork and the wheels (16" vs. 17").

This is the US Ninja 250R Forum. If you want to know anything about either bike (the Canadians are also on there in force), these guys would have done it to death already:

http://forums.ninja250.org/

HTH

The rear sprocket sizes are different (to allow for the different wheel size). From regular patronage of the ninja250 site (I'm even on their map of the world, I'm the red dot in Sydney http://www.ninja250.org/map/) I've noticed that the GPX revs a bit higher at a given speed (due to sprocket config) so if your doing lots of riding at 80+ km a 15t front sprocket is worth fitting to drop the rpm a bit. There is a really good FAQ section (select options along the top) there which covers everything (they are a bit harsh on the zzr review, but it is a "sports tourer" (quoting kwaka aust site) it has a bit more steering rake and bigger wheels so naturally it won't turn as quick as the GPX).

This may also be useful
http://ninja250.kingston.net/speed.html
If you want to compare to a zzr, then use custom wheel and make circumference as 78, front sprocket 14 and rear 47.