2005 Kawasaki ZZR600 from United Kingdom

Summary:

Cheap reliable sleeper

Faults:

My ZZR600 has been very reliable and currently has 40500 miles on the clock. Would trust my bike to take me anywhere.

General Comments:

This is my second ZZR600; my first was a 1999 and I now have a 2005.

These bikes are just brilliant; as fast as most modern sports 600s, but comfier and with more miles to a tank and storage too.

Capable of blasting down twisty back roads and motorway mile munching. Can happily do 500 miles plus a day on the wide comfy padded seat.

As well documented the ZZR600 has weak front calipers, soft forks and a weak rear shock. But the ZZR600 is very forgiving if you over judge your skill level, so is a great first bike.

For price, comfort, acceleration and speed, I don't think it can be beaten. And the induction roar above 8000 RPM is addictive.

Would you buy another motorcycle from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 17th September, 2018

1997 Kawasaki ZZR600 from United Kingdom

Summary:

Oldie but a Goodie

Faults:

Dodgy electricity thingy under the saddle meant the battery went flat. Not the end of the world.

General Comments:

Wow!! An older ped it maybe, but crikey. Back in 'my day' you needed a 900cc bike to match the power and speed that the ZZR has on tap.

Whoosh... You could lose your license quite easily in second gear and the top end is plenty fast enough for plod to send you straight into the clink, and rightly so.

Give the old thing the berries for any length of time and it guzzles fuel, but is great fun and the ZZR feels safe and planted in all but the worst conditions. A little on the heavy side compared to more modern machines, but in the right hands (or perhaps the wrong ones) and it'll easily hold its own against some of its newer rivals.

Pottering about is a bit of a chore, heavy on the wrists and neck... Not unbearable but very noticeable after a few hours trundling, but on the plus side, the saddle is quite thick and wide, so aching bums aren't too much of an issue.

Being 'of a certain age' my ZZR's 'choke' was a novelty, but because I'm 'of a certain age', too, that presented few problems... Other than forgetting to close it on occasion... chug chug, oh yeah, silly billy.

The fairing is excellent as are the mirrors, so no buzzing rear views and fewer bees buzzing in your face, too!

Cheap as chips to buy, an excellent example could be yours for less than £2000.

Would you buy another motorcycle from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 2nd August, 2018

1994 Kawasaki ZZR600 from United States of America

Summary:

Money pit from hell. Never again

Faults:

Now I know you'll say it's an old bike, and I bought used, so of course it had things wrong. This I know all too well from previous bikes. But by far this bike was the one that I began to hate out of all the bikes I've ever had. I was constantly having things go wrong with it, starting with the carbs; tore into them many times before they actually started working right. This is no easy task to take them out.

Then after it started running OK, the rear shock blew out! Guess what, when it blows out it compresses and stays totally compressed. The bike was on the ground, not ridable, left me stranded.

Then it starts having the familiar 2nd gear jumping out, as lots of others have also experienced. So I had to pull the engine completely out, and split it open and replaced the gears and shift forks, and had to do it all in a weekend, because come Monday she takes me to work - it's my only transportation. Two all nighters later and I got it all done, and after work that Monday night, bang, I'm stuck again at a gas station, which luckily I coasted into off the highway, instead of pushing like I had to do so many times. This time it wasn't getting me home, because no matter what, she didn't fire any more. After diagnosing for about a week, I narrowed it down to the main ECU, the brain so to speak; another common issue on these, and hard to find in town, and wow are they pricey. Waited for another week and put it in. It fires up right up and away I go for another week

Then the reg/rect burns up in smoke and leaves me once again pushing the pig off the highway. Got another put it in, painted it real nice and shiny black with a flat black motor and frame; looked great and sold it for what I paid one year before.

This bike cost at least three times more than I paid for it, and it was broke down or needed to be worked on almost every time I got on it. Would never buy another Kawasaki Ninja again, especially after all the common problems they seem to have across many years and many popular models.

General Comments:

Piece of crap. Was always working on it and the cost to repair in parts was ridiculous, for a 30 year old bike.

But that said, it was comfortable and I could get 60 miles a day on it when it worked. And once I fixed the ram air and carbs, it really did have a nasty powerhouse in it. Loved how it would howl from the airbox when at WOP.

Not the fastest 600 in the day, but it held its head up high I think back in 94. But many years of abuse probably condemned it way before I got it. Anyway, I found too many problems among the Ninjas, and will never own another unless given one cheap, and I mean cheaply bought while drunk maybe.

Would you buy another motorcycle from this manufacturer? No

Review Date: 15th March, 2015