Kawasaki Sportsbike Riders Club - Australia - Online Forum

robracer wrote:

maraach wrote: Basically if they made a gpx500 i would have already bought one

But they did its called a GPZ 500

yeah they are cool, not the easiest to come by though.....

King Nicholas wrote:I ride my Z750 in Melb traffic as my everyday commute & it's fine. I do have a mate who wants me to buy a motard with him, which would be perfect for getting in and about the traffic. They are light, narrow and surprisingly quick!

what are the z750's like? never even considered them? Arent they based off the zx7r engine? Only asking because the zx7r was my prior bike and it the 9 does a much better job comfort wise around the city imo.. the 7 killed my wrists..

And dont get me wrong, i love my 9... i couldnt think of a better all round bike. It's just that within 20 minutes of riding towards the city from my house its sitting on 105 degree's and the fan is going crazy.. Also usually im lucky to get to second gear and i have to spend the whole time watching the speed.. not exactly fun.. However on the weekend, its an awesome bike.

the bike courriers in london all ride honda cb500s a few were starting to get around on er6 but most were on cb500s with huge miles on the clock. the only other TRX850s i saw in london, other than mine, were all courriers

You sit quite upright on the Z so the wrists are fine. It's not so wide that I can't get between cars at lights. If you wanted to you could just leave it in one gear and ride as it has enough torque. They are fairly cheap for what you get. The best thing to do would be to go and take one for a ride. I heard (but don't know) that the Z750 engine was based on one of Kawasaki's 900 engines so because it is smaller it doesn't have to do as much work. If you are in Melbourne and end up deciding to get one, whatever you do, don't buy the Navy 2008 one in Hampton. They guy changed the advertisement on bikesales.com.au. It used to say he couldn't get a roadworthy due to a crack in the frame but he changed it after he couldn't sell it after a few months. If I hadn't been doing my homework for 6 months prior to getting mine I would have bought it!

Probably get a few jabs about this, but in my honest opinion I really enjoyed my Suzuki Across.

I hammered that poor thing & couldn't kill it, I was a motorbike courier with it for a few years.
Very, Very comfortable.
I used to double my girlfriend up the F3 to Gosford back in the day, she would fall sound asleep.
Ended up coming off it one day totally demolished the front end, sad day indeed.

photomike666 wrote:If you want simplicity, spewie bandit is basic, does everything it says on the box and even has bolt adjustable valves - no shims!

Yes, the Suzuki Bandit is a great bike! (I'm Bias!) Suprisingly simple, bullet proof, but not as easy to navigate traffic as my six was, the six was a great lightweight and quick bike,

talking about gpz500 found this:
http://cgi.ebay.com.au/Kawasaki-GPZ500S ... 7C294%3A50

id go an er5 if your sticking to kawa, but if you dont give a shit about brand dedication then consider an older gs500 as well. Hell the modern cb400's look like a shitload of fun too.

Thanks for the links the gs500 is definitely a contender. Would have preferred to stick with kawa, but for what this bike is going to be, i don't mind all so much.

At the moment i seriously have my eye on :

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/KAWASAKI-ZZR600- ... 1|294%3A50

It isn't the best looking bike in the world, but hey, that's fine by me.

Does anyone have any info on the zzr600? From my very limited knowledge, i was under the impression its a zx6 engine (from the same time) in a heavier touring package? Does it make a reasonable commuter? How would it handle heavy traffic (which it will spend a lot of its life in..)

should handle it perfectly... they had up around 100hp by the end of its life i think... a much more upright riding position than the ZX6R

go for it!!!

also where is daisy when u need her?? calling daisy

If you are after something just for comuting I would look at the KLR650 or KLE500. The KLE is the same e3ngine as the ER and with both bikes you sit up right and have a better view of traffic. They are both narrow so lane splitting is easier. Also on the weekend you have a bike that you can have fun on with dirt roads. Z750's, ZZr600's won't be much better than your ZX9 for commuting.
Both the KLR and KLE have been around for years so yo can pick one up know matter your budget.
The KLR has a large fuel tank as well.

hrm thanks for all the info guys... guess the best thing for me to do is go out and ride a couple bikes and try and suss things out... never seen a KLE but will keep my eyes open

I've done a fair bit of reading about CB400 vs GS500 vs ER5(net, magazines, reviews, comparisions etc)

The GS500 and the CB400 get glowing reviews, the ER-5 - not so

KLR650 - tough as 4" nails , suprising road bike on the right rubber... (It's an average dirt bike at best so tyre to suit)

>> supermotard option >>

If the mighty megathumper isn't quite zippy enough for you simply add a little 'hairdrier' and hang on !!!!

Z750