So, there I was, trawling through the ads online considering if I need another bike. I use the word ‘need’ objectively as to most bikers the word need has a very different meaning to other humans. I saw bikes I liked and those I certainly did not. I saw bikes with many uses and few with just a single use. I saw pretty bikes and downright ugly bikes but with all that choice I felt confused to what bike was ideal for me. It got me thinking on how I had actually chosen the bikes I owned.
At the time, I had too many bikes, and yes, I know that is a silly statement, but to the outsider, it seemed that I had many more bikes that I could ride given the temperamental weather of Caithness. I had sold two as surplus to requirements but I still had several sitting in the garage. For some reason, I picked the arbitrary number of three as being the minimum number of bikes I should have to keep me sane but to this day I don’t know why that number cropped up.
A level headed person would probably say as I had a classic bike, I needed a more modern machine for kicks and a hack/tourer for those longer journeys. I’m not level headed when it comes to bikes however and wondered if three was the wrong number and five would cover more eventualities. But, for the sake of argument, I stuck with three and wondered if I HAD to have just one bike, which bike would that be? I simply couldn’t decide and almost had a mental breakdown trying to get my mind around just a single bike. Not being able to answer the question, I forgot about it and found some chrome to polish to settle my nerves.
Sometime later I was cleaning a particular part of the bike and noticed a small plate announcing ‘Kawasaki Heavy Industries Ltd, Akashi, Japan.’ It was then I wondered how many of my bikes had that same plate affixed to the frame. Most of them was the answer. Was it by design? No I didn’t think so. So how come there was so many of them with that name then? Was it a brand fixation? No as I also had three, no sorry, two, no wrong again, one bike that wasn’t a Kawasaki.
Did I have a problem? Could it be described as a fetish and did other people suffer the same malady? I even found a piece of paper and wrote down all the makers of all the bikes I had owned over the years and it soon became clear that there were very few companies that I hadn’t owned at least one bike from. British, American and Japanese companies appeared on the list several times along with a few Italian marques.
The ommissions were Indian, Chinese and eastern-block manufacturers. I had even owned a BMW for goodness sake so my tastes must have been eclectic at some stage. So what happened? Was it evolution that after trying a host of Hondas and Suzukis I had arrived at my destination. My first bike had been a Suzuki closely followed by just about every British manufacturer that existed. I had owned several Hondas with the only Japanese maker I hadn’t moved towards being Yamaha. I know many of you love them but I don’t. They make a good piano but that’s it. Although the R1 is a blast and even the R6 is a brilliant bike.
But, I digress. So am I stuck on Kawasaki’s? Well, I didn’t think so. I remember someone somewhere saying that real men ride Kawasaki’s but I’m not so insecure as to allow that sort of rhetoric to have any effect on me. I think it has more to do with what fits.
Some years ago I owned both a Fireblade and a 9R at the same time but decided that I ought to sell one as they were both similar bikes. The Blade drew the short straw and I kept the 9R. Why? The Kwak seemed to have more character than the Blade yet could do everything the blade did and a bit more in some cases. The same applies to an incident some years later when perusing around a bike shop. I was trying several sportsbikes for ‘fit’ and though I liked the look of the Ducati’s, I found them cramped and awkward when on the seat. Then I saw a 10R and though being new it was out of my price range, I sat on it. It was like pulling on a silk glove. Everything fit and all the controls were exactly where I wanted them.
I suspect that other’s would find the bike odd and uncomfortable but although I am not particularly tall, I have longish legs and a bay window. It seemed to me that the geezer who designed the 10R envisaged it’s average customer as an over-the-hill wannabe racer with an unhealthy distain for exercise. But again, I’m slightly off topic. I think what I’m getting at is that it is just a coincindence that most of the Japanese bikes I lean towards just happen to be made by the Green Team.
So why was I trawling through ads looking for another bike? Simple, some of the ‘chaps’ were going on a jolly to the Stormin’ the Castle festival and invited me along. That was a problem. The only two bikes I had on the road were a Norton Dominator and a Kawasaki 10R. (Yes I eventually bought one) The Dommie with all the will in the world wouldn’t keep up with the team on a 900 mile jaunt and the 10R had zero compatibility with luggage.
So… I began the search for a tourer for the trip. Then came the obvious problem, I didn’t like what I was seeing. Yeah, yeah, I know some of you out there adore your Multistrada’s and Pan Europeans and love to annoy everyone you pass with the stereo’s blaring out some devisive crap from an ancient out of date radio station, but I don’t. I to make things worse, the modern bikes are as ugly as a Bulldog licking piss off a nettle.
Then a thought occurred. I had a ZZR 1200 collecting dust in the garage. It was waiting to be worked on to be sold on. There was a fuel leak and the carbs needed setting up and the… You get the picture. So I got to work to recommission the bike back to life but with just a couple of weeks before we left I had a lot to do. When I got it cleaned up it looked quite presentable and after the carbs were sorted I tested it down the drive and just managed getting it MOT’d two days before the off.
I had ridden the bike before it was laid off but found it somewhat heavy. I mean it wasn’t as heavy as a Rocket Three or a Hyabusa but at 520 pounds dry, it is quite a lump. Compare that with a Fireblade at 443lbs and you can see it’s no sportsbike. But neither is it a slouch with 160 BHP under the Tupperware and in its day was the most powerful production bike on the market. For a short while anyway.
So what is it like on the road? Due to the nature of the beast, I found that though it was a sports tourer in its day, it really needs to be set up for either solo riding or touring/two up use, as making a compromise with suspension settings make it mediocre at everything. When set up for solo, it feels excellent on the twisties but stick luggage or a passenger on the rear and it becomes heavy again with the agility of a Deathstar. Once I had set it up for touring however, the handling was as good, if not better than most of the heavy machines I had ridden.
Taking it down to Darlington, loaded up and after a few miles on the clock, I easilty became one with the bike and I soon got into a rythym. It rained some of the way and threw it down on the way back but I never felt the grip let -loose and even the heaviest rain caused little aquaplaning. The bike always felt safe and sure even at high speeds. The seat is a little hard for long hauls, not like something you would find on an FJR but that can be altered to suit.
All in all, I enjoyed the journey and the fairing works well in all conditions keeping most of the rain away from the rider.
Certainly, there are many bikes out there that can do this work and many are better at it, but for it's age, the pedigree of the ZZR shines through and though I wouldn't raise it on a pedistal, I can find little to critisise and much to commend.
The bike in the images is now for sale. If you are interested, a link to the ad can be found on our Facebook page
HERE.
