Kawasaki Sportsbike Riders Club - Australia - Online Forum

Your thoughts if you would indulge me...

I am considering buying another bike soon and I'm weighing up the 636 against the 10. (Only in green)

Having already been the proud owner of a 05 ZX-10, I am curious as to your thoughts about the 636.

Performance, power to weight, whether or not the inside of your leg catches fire on the 636 as it does on the 10 etc..

I am 6ft, 3in and 85 kg so I am of the impression a 10 would suit me better....

I am open to suggestions and opinions from all.

green10 wrote:Your thoughts if you would indulge me...

I am considering buying another bike soon and I'm weighing up the 636 against the 10. (Only in green)

Having already been the proud owner of a 05 ZX-10, I am curious as to your thoughts about the 636.

Performance, power to weight, whether or not the inside of your leg catches fire on the 636 as it does on the 10 etc..

I am 6ft, 3in and 85 kg so I am of the impression a 10 would suit me better....

I am open to suggestions and opinions from all.

I'm 6ft, 9in (on the slack) and 88kg's and fit the 06 636 nicely...

Frame does get hot (hardening the fuck up fixes that)

It's a totally different riding style, you'd need more corner speed to keep up with the bigger bikes but they are light and nimble.

Just ride one see how it goes...

I have a blue one if you want to swap for the 10

I find the 10 is very much like the 6 only the corners seem closer together.

My learned friend, aka Stereo moved from the 6 to the 10 and misses the buzz of the six. It's not to say that the six was any faster, just that the ten feels lazy to go the same speed. If you love screaming it a bit and like the peakyness of being up near the red line, the six is the way to go - on the road that kinda riding is not practicle on the 10. But hey, you don't gotta change gear so much on the 10.

Interesting so you go from 10 to 6 ?

Anyway both are my dream bikes so please continue ...

i had an 06 636, really good bike, can't say i had any criticism of it! It was a very fast bike! I am looking to going to a 10 soon, i feel they both handle really quickly and was impressed with both!

obviously the power won't be the same, but the lack of power in the 636 is still great as u can pin it a bit harder through corners!

btw: i am 6"3 and weight 90kg

I have an '03 636 - frame gets very hot. Haven't ridden the 10 (really should rectify that), but sitting on the two one after the other they feel to be about the same size physically and about the same weight. I am a lot shorter and a bit lighter than you

There is a lot of personal preference involved. I am basically the same size as you and I found I felt like I was going to fall off the front of the later 636's and the motor seemed peaky compared to the '98 6 I had before the 10. On a hot day I'd ride the 6 with my legs like a $2 whore to keep them coolish. Handling wise I don't think the 636 feels any quicker than the crim, maybe even slower. But you'll just have to ride one and find out for yourself.

Well I've recently bought an 04 shape (first reg in 05 though) ZX6R 636 after binning my 98 C1 ZX9R. I would say comparing these two bikes would be easier than the ZX10R and the 636 due to the marked differences. There is a definite improvement in the handling of the 636 over the ZX9R (bless her soul ), whereas the difference between the feel of the 10 and the 636 is harder to pick. In saying this however, I have ridden my mates 05 ZX10R (a few times actually) while he rode my 636 and I found the 10 to feel considerably bigger and heavier than the 636. The 10 obviously had a massive low and mid compared to the 636 (although still not as much as the 9...you gotta love the 9 ) but when you get up into the revs on the 636 it will keep you happy for hours (admittedly, I never reached the revs on the 10 as it would have been blistering speeds ).

Personally I would suggest you would be more suited for the 10 considering your size. The 636 'feels' like the pegs are higher and you are squatting forward more and a bit more cramped... the 10 I found felt like you were sitting 'in' the bike rather than 'on' the bike that I do when sitting on the 636. My mate is 6' something and weighs over 100kg and he looks suited to the 10 yet big on the 636.

I bought the 636 over the 10 for two reasons...I couldn't afford a 10 (pretty good reason really) and also I wanted more of a track bike to be forced to go back to basics on, to throw about more and work harder on...I'll see if it was the right decision soon I guess.

but definitely...you'll never know 100% unless you ride both ...either way you are right....gotta be in green!

I rode both when I was shopping for bikes back in the day!

Size difference, there's not much. Low down torque, the 10 shits on the 6 (Well duh.) For ease of riding, I'd definitely say the 10. Just as nimble as the 6, but you dont have to ring its neck like you would the 6.

The 6 is lighter, has less crank inertia and is easier to change direction on and handle braking and turning forces on. The 10 is harder to get into the turns, has more weight and more crank inertia and is physically larger and harder to manage braking and turning forces. And that's not including the fact that the acceleration is WAY more physical to deal wih on the 10!

All the late model 600's are knife sharp in there steering and are immensely flickable. They are able to carry insane turn speeds and are easier to balance on the throttle without upsetting tyres or chassis, making them less physically demanding.

But it's alla relative! I grew up with litre bikes with elastic frames, rubber brakes, concrete tyres, 240kg weights and less than 100hp, so to me 600's are miles ahead already!!!

Benno wrote:I rode both when I was shopping for bikes back in the day!

Size difference, there's not much. Low down torque, the 10 shits on the 6 (Well duh.) For ease of riding, I'd definitely say the 10. Just as nimble as the 6, but you dont have to ring its neck like you would the 6.

Well said Benno. The 07 6 I took for a ride didn't like it one bit. The whole wring it's neck to move and constant gear changes from cruise-fun mode gave me the shits. Handed the key back and thanks but no thanks.

The 10 test ride-negotiate-Sold

torque...a ZX10R has it ...everywhere.

You need to be a bit more model specific, for most riders the biggest difference would be in insurance costs

Pontikat wrote:You need to be a bit more model specific, for most riders the biggest difference would be in insurance costs

insurance was the same for 07 zx6, and 07 zx10 for me when i was looking.

thats why i got a 10.

the kind gentleman said "they both fall into the HIGH PERFORMANCE sportsbike category"

Thank you all for your varying points of view.

I am still partial to the 10 given the whole "keep the revs up" thing, but on public roads, this may not be the best idea.....fewer gear changes means less rooting around with the lever and more time for fun.

I did love my 05 10, but a baby and a new SUV put an end to that pretty quick.

In the next few months or so, I'll start seriously looking for an 04/05 10 so if you think you might know one that might be coming up for sale in Melbourne, please keep me posted.

Thanks again....