INterested to hear from anyone who has owned and/or raced a fzr400. How bike felt compared to GS, common problems, common and useful upgrades/mods, etc. The guy I bought my gsxr rear wheel said it cam eoff his fzr400 race bike so I wonder if this bike has the same rear tire size issues as the GS.

I'm considering one for my next bike. Would like one better than a 600 (possibly lower insurance and plenty of HP for me).

Anyone?

A sweet bike, but there aren't many around. Look at http://www.fzrarchives.com for some info.

You might also try searching the WERA archives.

Try this thread for tire information:
http://forums.13x.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=25102&highlight=fzr+400

I think the FZR would be a great bike for the canyons.  I had a chance to ride a 1992 FZR when I was abroad and found it light and very responsive.  You might be hard pressed to find a bike in decent, unabused shape for a reasonable price, though.  But who know, you might get lucky!

Would a FZR 400 be cheaper to insure than a SV650S?  

Adam

Also, what other bikes are you considering?

FZR 400 Questions

I have owned both the fzr 400 and 600. Both a lot of fun, but the saddle leaves you wondering if you will ever have kids after a long ride. Other than that they had good looks and were inexpensive (used). I havent seen many more recently however.

Nice little bike.
About the size of a GS but with a I-4.  The only problems with them are that they are a getting a bit long in the tooth (the "newest" ones here in the US are all over 10 yrs old), and its hard to find ones that haven't been raced, crashed, or otherwise abused.

Insurance is still better for an SV.

IMO, when the 400 came out, it was a race bike. It shouldn't have been street legal. The suspension was so harsh (on the street, but might be decent compared to the GS, of course I weigh 125lbs, so it was perfect for me on the racetrack). It's basically a four-stroke TZ250 that weighs twice as much, but handles as good. Bicycle shorts under leathers helped with the comfort. Long reach to the handlebars (that's expected) and the faux tank cover is Wiiide. The 400 came with a 4" wide rim and plenty of space for decent sized tires, but you probably wont want to go any wider than 140/70 on the rear. And the handling is very sensitive to tire changes. A 120/70 front will really slow down the steering. Oh, yeah, really good rain protection, the lower fairing kept my feet completely dry in a heavy downpour.

Quote from: Adam RWould a FZR 400 be cheaper to insure than a SV650S?  

Adam

Also, what other bikes are you considering?

My iinsurance bases their premiums strictly on engine size. And given that the majority of my riding is in the canyons this seems like the ideal bike for me.

Also considering cbr600f3  or maybe an f4i, speed four, and a few others.

Quote from: scratch... Long reach to the handlebars (that's expected) and the faux tank cover is Wiiide. The 400 came with a 4" wide rim and plenty of space for decent sized tires, but you probably wont want to go any wider than 140/70 on the rear. And the handling is very sensitive to tire changes. ....

Just found out from reading the fzrarchives that the rear was an 18" wheel-explains why they were switched out for cbr f3, bandit or gsxr wheels.

And why is it expected to have long reach-that part actually doesn't sound good. I dont like that in concept but would have to ride it to see how I'd feel.

You may want to consider the FZR600 too. I just bought one. It's not the prettiest looking bike out there, but you can find them for very cheap. While not as poweful as the newer 600s like the R6, they are a lot of fun. The FZR600 is as easy to ride as the GS, if not more, with twice as much power. Besides, like the GS, it's gone unchanged for over 10 years, so there are plenty of spares around.

BTW, you can see mine at this other thread
http://www.gstwins.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=5442&highlight=

Local guy who has done a bunch of writeups/blogging about racing a fzr400: http://fur-o-dynamic.org/ (no really, that not a spam link ;-)

Quote from: pantablo

Quote from: scratch... Long reach to the handlebars (that's expected) and the faux tank cover is Wiiide. The 400 came with a 4" wide rim and plenty of space for decent sized tires, but you probably wont want to go any wider than 140/70 on the rear. And the handling is very sensitive to tire changes. ....

And why is it expected to have long reach-that part actually doesn't sound good. I dont like that in concept but would have to ride it to see how I'd feel.

It's a race bike. A long reach is expected in a racebike to get you into that racer's crouch, although I'm 5'10" and I could sit up fairly well because of long arms (fairly noticable at my first race...I looked like a geek! ).