ZX-9R 2001 E1

First post up, normally i would just hang and read enough posts to get the info, but i have a bit of urgency on this one.
Never been a big kwaka fan, but my brothers car dealership traded one and its for sale for 7k.
Its a 2001, green ZX-9R, 11,000km on the clock with an aftermarket scorpion exhaust. I have been riding for a while now, so i know how to pick a good bike, but is there anything i should look out for on this model specifically?? or any kwaka issues?

Thanks for your help guys...and looks like a cool forum.

At 11,000 kay there can't be too many problems . If it has been on its rear wheel for those kays , can develope a shift problem in 2nd , but you would find it easy with hard launching test ride .
How else do ya test ride

$7000 , where is ya brothers dealership by the way ???

Ya gotta luv the 9

Ya gotta luv the 9

yep.

just a point of note.....a 2000 would be an E1, an 01 should be an E2. unless it was a november or december build date, then it could be an 00 - E2.

as billy mentioned the only problem that i've heard of is nobbers smacking it thru gears on the back wheel repeatedly has caused some probs.

treat em "as the manufacturer intended" with regular oil changes and services and she'll go strong for ever.

had my 105K old 98 model on the dyno yesterday with the boys and it pumped out 131..........nuff said.

probably an E2 then. Its at a car dealer so they wouldn't know much...not sure the exact location of the dealership, syd northern suburbs.
Is there a visual way of telling the model E1 Vs E2? This is the bike.
i am 90% going to get it, but never having spent heaps of time researching 9s like i did with my Gixxer i don't know all the ins and outs of these yet.
Oh one other thing...sorry for all the questions...they are mega high compression aren't they?? i am guessing that means they need to run on optimax???

i am guessing that means they need to run on optimax???

Not sure of compression, but it is stated on sticker on fuel tank to run Min 95 RON... Bikers in the know will tell you, DO NOT USE OPTIMAX. However, BP Ultimate or Caltex Vortex is fine..

I run either BP or Caltex in my bike without a problem

E1 and E2 refer to the year of manufacture rather than a model change. There's no difference apart from available colour schemes.

The next model change was 2002. It's easy to pick an F - just look for the braced swingarm and lack of pillion hand holds.

DO NOT USE OPTIMAX.

true...i only ever filled up my gixxer at caltex and mobil...what i mean is high octane fuel.

i'm sick to death of all this dont use optimax shit.

i've been using it in my bikes for a majority of the time since it was released. i have had no problem.

check out the latest issue of rapid bikes. jamie bezzina - a well know tuner of some renoun says he uses it all the time and that its actually good for the engine. i'll go with that along with my personal experience thanks very much.

most likely your zx9 will run fine on any premium unleaded - including optimax.

i'm sick to death of all this dont use optimax shit.

i've been using it in my bikes for a majority of the time since it was released. i have had no problem.

check out the latest issue of rapid bikes. jamie bezzina - a well know tuner of some renoun says he uses it all the time and that its actually good for the engine. i'll go with that along with my personal experience thanks very much.

most likely your zx9 will run fine on any premium unleaded - including optimax.

IF the bike is run everyday there's no problem as the optimax doesn't get chance to sit in the carbs, but if like me, the bike is a weekend toy then Optimax blocks the emulsion tubes in the carbs if left unused for a length of time

welcome to the forum duck (im NinetySix from cbr250.com)

the 2000 onwards 9R's run 12.2:1 compression compared to the 98-99 models ~11.8:1... which requires a minimum of 95 RON fuel, compared to the 98-99's minimum of 91 RON (tho ive tuned mine for 95 RON). im going to hop on the anti anti-optimax bandwagon too, theres nothing wrong with it... tho it helps to have the bike specifically tuned for what ever fuel you run.


ill say it again, you will have trouble getting a better deal than this bike for 7k not sure what kind of rubber it has on it but looks like it might need something better

theres plenty of reviews on the net for these bikes, including many unbiased reviews... most of them put the 9R behind the R1, 929/954 and GSXR 750/1000 in terms of track riding and they are right to really, the 9R isnt quite setup to turn as quickly (or as nervously) as the competition... tho raising the rear and dropping the front end can change that quite dramatically, tho you will probably need a steering damper after that (stock there is absolutely no need for one)... MadKaw on this site managed to run a 1:42 on his 99 9R track bike at EC (it also ran 1:44 at PI) so they have the potential in them


how ever the one thing all the reviews agree on is that the 9R comes up as the #1 real world street bike... hop on one and you'll know why the ergo's are fantastic and its a nice stable bike with plenty of wind protection.. they are perhaps the most under-rated bike in existance

also plenty of modification potential with them too, a good 10HP to be had with a full system with almost zero loss of low down power, timing advancer works wonders, stock air filter only needs the mesh taken out of it to work great and all the mods you need (including jetkit) are dirt cheap from the states. or they go great stock. kawasaki got the ram air system bang on pretty well, they have a fair top speed advantage over the competition (bar the gix1k) and you can really feel an extra surge in accelleration in the higher gears build quality is quite good too, and these bikes are seriously easy to work on if your that way inclined.

there is bugger all that would be wrong with it with only 11k on the clock... its typically only the 98-99 models that have gearbox trouble as they based most of the bike on the ZX6R and didnt quite make some components strong enough... how ever that was rectified with the E model (2000+)


have you taken the bike for a test ride yet? im sure that would help a lot

Is there a visual way of telling the model E1 Vs E2? This is the bike.

thats an E2.

the E1's came in mica and green/white/purple.

the E2's came in that green (which looks fantastic) and a red/silver/black colour scheme.

HTH.

for whats its worth, if you dont buy it let me know - i know someone that will.

one thing the E models were critised for was slightly abrupt throttle response when cracking open the throttle in the middle of a corner, apprently easily cured with a jetkit (with added bonuses even on a stock bike, even without seeing a dyno or "expert"). Not sure if that pipe will make that issue worse or disguise it tho. go and ride it!

seven grand grab it

http://venus.13x.com/roadracingworld/is ... igbore.htm
http://www.2wf.com/articles/bike_tests/ ... 0C1DE4.asp
http://www.motorcycledaily.com/03june02 ... 2zx9r.html
http://motorcyclistonline.com/roadtests/02zx9r/
http://www.motorsports-network.com/kawa ... ZX9R03.htm
http://www.kgrant.co.uk/Per_Bikes.htm
http://mzone.mweb.co.za/residents/clasqm/multi.html
http://www.dragbike.com/news/06-00/bikereview_zx9.htm
http://www.motorcycle.com/mo/mckaw/00zx9r.html
http://users.esc.net.au/~oblivion/2001_ ... _ninja.htm


try to filter through the marketing hype and concentrate on the writers actual oppinion


oh, they are also perhaps the best bike in its category if your of a larger build than most too.

any way, enough out of me