How much cheaper is racing a small bike really?

The ZX-25R just debuted in Indonesia. It’s interesting but not overwhelming. 50 hp with promises for about an extra 2 from an Akra exhaust, up and down quickshifter, traction control and rider modes, Estimated $7800 USD, and 400 lb “curb weight” which they didn’t say exactly what that means. Just apples to apples comparison to a Ninja 400, that‘s 30 lbs heavier than the Ninja 400’s advertised curb weight. So, kinda meh. Expensive, but exotic and cool, but also possibly quite heavy, though who knows for certain until someone could get it track prepped. If an opportunity in the next year I’m still in Okinawa presents itself for me to purchase one I may still, but I’m not foaming at the mouth for this bike any more either.

 

Curb weight should be gassed up ready to go. I'm still interested in one...

 

Oh hell yes I’d still love one too. That 400 lbs weight doesn’t put me off one bit.

 

That's about fucking pointless and only serves to make it more expensive. If you need traction control at 50 HP you probably really should take up another hobby.

 

I must have skimmed past “traction control”.....didn’t realise it had that.

 

That baby Kawasaki looks and sounds awesome. If I wasn’t so damned old, I’d buy one when available.

 

Being older is the best reason to get one. When one of the kids comes screaming on the inside showing us what’s up, we can always chalk it up to......”ah screw it, I’m old and have work Monday morning.....”

 

Retired old. Young man shit got me aching all the time old.

 

Well at least it looks and sounds like a proper race bike.

 

My 30 hp Xmax scooter has TC... it's stupid.

 

That 25R is sick , damn

 

Yeah the TC isn’t important to me, but the “SE” version is the up-spec version and all the electronics come as part of that package deal. So, up and down quickshifter would definitely be worth the $1200 price difference to me.

Worth pointing out that I have no idea what it would actually cost me to purchase one here in Japan. The $7800 USD estimate is from converting Indonesian currency to USD, but the press release a couple weeks ago in New Zealand would support that the price is more like $10,000 USD. Then I don’t know yet what Export and customs fees I would need to pay to get this thing out of Japan, which is a tricky process. BL: this bike is still pretty damn cool to me at $7800, but if it pushes well upwards of $10K then I lose interest rapidly.

 

In defense of this bike coming equipped with TC, however, I can speak from first-hand knowledge about the East Asian motorcycle scene. And bikes over 250 cc are pretty damn rare in this part of the world. All the governments severely disincentivize owning and operating anything 250 cc and up with EXPONENTIALLY higher registration and insurance fees as well as additional licensing requirements. So this bike is being sold to these markets as a “premium” sport bike like any of the bigger ZXs, just capped at 249 cc. So I assume they understand that modern customers of “premium” sport bikes want options for electronics.

I agree that for track use TC is not going to be necessary on a 50 hp bike. In which case I’m sure it can just be turned off, not sure why anyone would be offended that it comes with optional TC.

As for the curb weight it’s not a deal breaker for me, I’ll reserve final judgment until people get their hands on them and can share the weight of one that’s track prepped.

 

my lil vespa 291 makes close to that... its got some work done to it. It lights up the rear tire pretty good when the belt locks in ~20mph. That being said... Ive been playing with different belts because
they wear pretty quickly when subjected to hard acceleration contests...hehe.
I talked with some folks that did a malossi kit on their electronic nannied modern vespas and were disappointed how unremarkable the end result was compared to the earlier models...lol.
They were still working on a Rexxer flash to get around it.

 

I'm not offended it's just a pointless cost added to the price of the machine for any market.

 

There are no details on what exactly the "Traction Control" is. Could be as simple as Street mode and Rain mode. Or maybe it Monsoon mode for that part of the world. And the extra weight are the stowed inflatable rafts that come out in emergencies.

The weight does kill it for me. It's more like 40 lbs heavier than the 400. Figured 15 lbs heavier max for more metal in the engine, extra 2 pipes for the header, and bigger front suspension. But its an asian/indian produced bike for an asian/indian market.

 

It is heavy considering the ULW/Ninja 400 competition in my mind as far as a race tool. I like exotic bikes and I’ve owned a couple over the years, but when I got into racing I quickly realized I’m not a bike collector and I care above all else how the bike will compete on the track. So the exotic bikes didn’t last in my garage.

It’s still a cool bike with some appeal for me, but I need some more info before I dive head first into the unknown depths and buy one.

 

And if you do get one, be ready for the line of people wanting to take it for a spin.

 

i go through supermoto slicks quicker than i do pirelli slicks on my R6 but i'm not the fastest guy on the 600. I manage about 10-12hrs a set on my FS450, probably a terrible example lol.

 

Those tires are way softer, and that bike has 60hp and weighs 230 pounds so that all plays a big part!