In the early eighties, the UK suffered the VF400, whose vee-four motor exhibited its fair share of problems. By 1986, the mill had reinvented itself, becoming a much tougher device in a lighter, square section wraparound chassis - the VFR400, available both in stripped down form and with the usual race replica fairing.
Though the motor was tough, with the delights of two sets of gear driven cams, it was also awkward to maintain and a bit finicky after the first 25000 miles. A few have made it to 50,000 miles, or more, but that's pushing the limits of the motor's mechanical integrity. Suspension at this age's loose, the springing set up for small Japs rather than obese Westerners.
The naked VFR400 lasted for a few years, are dirt cheap in the UK - £1000 to £1500 - offer some kicks, with 60 horses to hand. It's just that any serious engine problems rapidly lead to a completely written off mill. Electrics rapidly decay, with exploding rectifiers and leaking batteries.
The fully faired VFR400R was soon upgraded to a single sided swinging arm, which improved the back end, though the front forks were still in desperate need of a stronger set of springs. These bikes were built between 1987 and 1989, some still turn up on the used market with relatively low miles for £1500 to £2500, which, if you can take the replica riding position and minimal saddle, make them quite good fun.
The vee-four engine offers a unique combination of fast spinning mill with an excess of torque that's wholly lacking in straight fours. The downside's the kind of complexity that sends the average backstreet mechanic into a frenzy of violence. With a bit of exhaust tampering they can hit 130mph and turn in around 50mpg but hard use ruins tyres in less than 3000 miles.
From 1989 onwards, there was a new frame and twin headlamp fairing, though the motor, having been well sorted by then, remained the same 60hp unit (restricted by Japanese licensing laws). This turned up as the NC30, as an official import, but was priced out of the market and was soon swamped by the excess of cheap grey imports.
Luckily, for UK replica devotees, the Japanese home market has lost interest in this kind of machine and, despite a ridiculously strong yen, low mileage imports are still available in the UK. Prices range from £2000 to £4000 in dealers, £1500 to £3000 in the private market. In Japan you can pick up reasonable stuff for around £1000, and immaculate bikes for £2000.
It's a bit of a lottery, mind, as the odd one does blow its motor in a big way - dropping a valve or ruining a piston; once one component goes the whole engine tends to explode. Hard to figure the good from the bad, with the prevalence of clocking mileage's no guarantee of a decent engine. Try a few examples until you become used to the silky smooth, torque filled power delivery, though it's doubtful if a dealer will let you speed test them on the nearest motorway. There are also a few crash damaged bikes on offer, cheap plastic flapping in the wind one area where a bodged repair turns up.
Honda's final rendition of the vee-four range was the RVF (launched in 1994), most notable for upgrading the VFR's weakest area by using upside-down forks. Oddly, the Jap spec model only has 53 horses at 12,500rpm and develops less torque, but tuned examples live up to their looks and exploit their excellent handling. Prices are heavy in the UK, £4000 up, albeit for low mileage, immaculate examples.
Honda CBR250/400RR
Early RR's had fairly staid race replica styling, minimal saddles, painful riding positions and well braced Tri-arm back ends. In 1988 they were pretty hot stuff, especially in 400 form that sold in vast quantities in the Japanese home market, where they are now out of fashion and available for £1000 to £1500. By the time they get to the UK, they fetch £2000 up in dealers.
The straight four engine's one of the toughest around, gear driven cams eliminating the usual Honda camchain horrors, despite running to over 15000 revs. High mileage can ruin the gearchange, electrics and, perhaps, the top end - but plenty of motors have pushed past the 50,000 mile mark.
There's little steel in the chassis to rust, more likely to suffer from the plastic cracking up and the exhaust disintegrating. There are some very rough looking ones on the private market but they still shift strongly. The 400's extra 15 horses overcoming its heavier chassis (360lbs), to provide some exciting kicks.
In 1990, Honda redefined the race replica genre with their Gull-arm back end, flash plastic and slinky (if oddly designed around the headstock) chassis. Usefully, many of the suspension, braking and minor ancillary bits will swap with the VFR400.
Again, both the 250 and 400 motors are as tough as most bikes around despite the silly revs and the way they are routinely thrashed. There are plenty of really nice low mileage imports in dealers, the major advantage of the 250 being that newish ones are a grand cheaper at £3000 rather than £4000 for the 400. Older ones go down to £2000 for the 250 and £2500 for the 400.
They are still on the expensive side in the Japan, except for crashed ones which are dirt cheap - some end up being straightened in the UK and sold off as prime meat but the majority seem to be okay. Not a bad buy, as engine faults are pretty obvious, it's just sad that there's such a lack of comfort and the expensive way the consumables go west doesn't exactly inspire. But that's pretty much true of all the replicas.
Yamaha FZR250/400
Another tough, ballsy replica, the FZR400 turned up in 1987, a not dissimilar bolide to the UK FZR600, save that the smaller bike had the benefit of EXUP to help with its torque development, though power (60 horses) still peaked out at 12000 revs. With 360lbs to shift, this made the bike somewhat recalcitrant compared to the 600, but at the right price (£2000 to £2500 in dealers) it's a useful device but one that really needs to be derestricted to really shine.
In 1990, the FZR400RR was introduced, with a chassis and styling upgrade, resulting in 11lbs less mass at 352lbs and a touch more torque. Progress of a sort, especially as the suspension was a little stiffer, but, alas, the comfort was pretty minimal...the only way to survive was to play silly buggers on the throttle. Fuel at 45mpg and tyres at 5000 miles, under such thrashing, were far from inspiring but better than some 400 replicas.
Remarkably short-lived discs, calipers and pads during our bad weather more than made up for any minor savings. Neither was the finish exactly inspiring, leading to many on the used market being close to high speed rats. The odd nasty one on the private market turns up for under two grand but the low miler dealer bikes go for over three grand - for which you can buy a very nice, rather more useful FZR600.
The FZR250 first turned up in replica form in 1986, with a square section tubular wraparound frame, giving a usefully light if not astoundingly stable 310lb machine with 45 horses at 14,5000 revs. A similar upgrade to the 400 took place in 1990, though this time at the price of an extra 14lbs, but the extra stability and better suspension more than made up for that.
250 engines often have the life wrung out of them, even if they are pretty tough for the first 30,000 miles. Plenty of old nails out there in the private market for £1500 to £2000; quite a few bodged examples that look jolly nice but will be hard pressed to live out the first week. Low milers in dealers are becoming rare, these days, but they turn up for around £3000. Spares for both models aren't too bad as quite a few were crashed and dumped in breakers, whilst some of the grey importers stock many bits.
Suzuki GSXR250/400
GSXR400's were screaming around the streets of Japan as long ago as twelve years, then being way ahead of the game and selling huge numbers in the home market. After two years of supremacy, the square section frame (not dissimilar to early GSXR750's) was swapped for the usual wraparound, Deltabox-style trellis with more restrained styling that would later inspire their GSX600/750 range. Weight stayed the same at 335lbs but handling improved marginally even if the suspension was still on the weak side for gross Westerners.
Minor engine, chassis and styling mods until 1990, when Suzuki switched back to the GSXR750 style trellis and minimal race replica styling, with the usual lack of comfort and, shockingly, an increase in mass to 375lbs, which helped tame some of the high speed weaves but did nothing for the power to weight ratio as grunt stayed at 60 horses throughout its life.
Post 1990 GSXR400's came with upside-down forks, nicely made but the seals are susceptible to road spray from British roads; a nasty job to repair and it's difficult to fit gaiters. As they kept making basically the same model until '96, there's a huge range of machines in the UK, backed up by a useful amount of spares.
Dealers prices for post '90 bikes range from £2500 to £4000, but three grand should buy a recent, low mileage example in fine fettle. Earlier models can be dirt cheap, less then £1500 in the private market and no more than two grand in dealers, but for that kind of money expect mileage to be closer to 30,000 than 20,000 miles.
Engines have run to 40,000 miles without exploding but can be dubious after 30k - piston seizure, worn cam lobes or a dying clutch; plus some of the GSX series' electrical nastiness. The frame can bend easily in a crash and the back end can buckle quite traumatically. The plastic cracks up in minor shunts; the motor should be smooth enough not to have it flapping in the breeze - if it does vibrate either the motor's on the way out or the plastic's been replaced with pattern stuff. An awful lot of GSXR400's were thrown down the road, both in the UK and Japan.
The GSXR250's a lot rarer in the UK. Early ones are now mostly worn out but '90/91 models were hot stuff, the kind of replica that can howl along at 17000 revs with a lovely banshee wail and exceptional fuel economy. £2500 will buy something very nice, with around 10,000 miles on the clock, from a dealer. Two grand on the private market will buy a reasonable bike; half that for the odd rat that has been through a couple of British winters and lost most of its finish, ruined its brakes and has the odd rattle in the engine.
Kawasaki ZXR250/400
Naked and nasty's, perhaps, the best description of the FX400 of 1985, which shared the relatively heavy engine of the GPZ400R (similar to our own 600), and weighed in at 380lbs. Though not an out and out replica, and therefore quite comfortable for up to a 100 miles, the FX had an edgy feel to its handling and an engine that had to be screamed above 10,000 revs to get anywhere fast.
British winters aren't kind to them, much in the same way that GPZ400/500 twins go off rapidly after the first couple of years. Rotten calipers, ruined silencers, wrecked paint and dodgy electrics are things to look out for. Luckily, many minor bits are common to other Kawasaki models and can be bought cheaply from local breakers.
Early FX400's had less than brilliant engines, with cam lobes, camchains or tensioners, and even crank bearings giving trouble after as little as 25000 miles - the mill's susceptible to a lack of regular oil changes and the cooling system's a bit marginal in town in hot summer weather. High mileage usually shows up in a shot gearchange action or rattles and knocks from the motor.
Post 1987 engines seem tougher, or maybe it's just their lower mileage, but we've seen bikes with 35 to 40,000 miles on the clock that are still running reasonably. A ruined silencer does in the carburation, which is often marginal in the UK, with flat spots around 3000 to 6000 revs prevalent. Not that anyone much bothers with riding them in that rev range.
Their major attribute's low prices, sometimes turning up for as little as a grand (in need of minor cosmetic attention) and, certainly £1500 should buy a good 'un with a useful amount of life left. They can be just as horrendous as a ZXR400 on consumables and fuel so don't really make it into the serious category.
The GPZ400R was a relatively sensible alternative but hampered by the peakiness of the motor and flightiness of the sixteen inch front wheel. They disappeared from the Jap market in 1989 but still turn up over here. Not particularly brilliant value at £1750 to £2000 in a dealers for something with 20,000 miles on the clock. A lot of potential hassle down the line and you really have to know what you're about to get a decent deal.
In 1989, Kawasaki went the replica route with the ZXR400 (similar to the ZXR750 in shape), adding a reworked watercooled motor that made a useful 10% more torque and had a much more robust chassis, though the rear shock was a touch marginal. Like the Suzuki, upside-down forks were fitted and suffered seal problems in our glorious winters.
Oddly and disturbingly, by 1993 the torque had decreased to the levels found in the original FX400, though the similar mill in the portly ZZR400 (440lbs against 360lbs) had more torque at 1000 lower revs. Probably explained by the way the motor was restricted to 60 horses for the home market; certainly, there are some very fast ZXR's on offer in the UK.
Recent ZXR400's turn up for as much as £4750 but £3250 to £3750 in dealers should secure an immaculate one. Private deals go down to below £2000 for the rougher stuff whilst £2500 will buy something with around 15000 miles on the clock - ie plenty of life left as troubles don't turn up until after 30,000 miles. Some have done 45000 miles without blowing up but when they do go down, one minor fault often blows up into a total engine write-off. Spares aren't impossible.
The ZXR250 turned up in 1990, full of itself with 45 horses at 15000 revs and a mere 320lbs of high tech chassis to shift. If you like flirting with 20,000 revs not a bad buy! The 1993 model lost both power and torque whilst reducing the mass to 310lbs; had flasher styling, better brakes and suspension. £2000 to £3500 in dealers is par for the course but quite a few suffered crash damage; repaired with varying degrees of finesse - some potential horror shows!