Kawasaki Sportsbike Riders Club - Australia - Online Forum

As some of you may know I have recently taken a brief break from Team Kawasaki to pick up a new GSXR 750. Firstly, to give credit where its due.. the gixxer 750 is a phenomenal bike. Its light.... stupidly light at 190kg wet (lighter than a lot of 600's), its nimble and its quick. You miss that real torquey feeling you get with the bigger bikes but it is not a slouch by any stretch of the imagination at 112kw.

However, what I feel has now happened is I have given up my do it all ZX9R to get the (in my mind) ultimate back street scratcher. In the tight corners now, im actually having a heap of fun, rather than getting nervous and worried. This is no more evident than on day rides. The Gixxer is actually surprisingly comfortable for riding (when compared to many of the other modern sports bikes) but anything more than a couple of hours and I begin to feel it. Back, neck and / or wrists.. something will start to get sore. This is in stark contrast to my zx9r which saw me doing 6 - 7 hour stints without issue.

There are a lot of reasons why i finally gave the 9 away, not least of which was the fact that it was aging and missing newer features like fuel injection and fuel lights. If I had to pick between the two bikes I would (at this stage of my ability and skill) take the gsxr 750 - it's just a better bike for me, for now.

In saying that I do desperately miss my 9. It was a fantastic bike and i can't have been happier owning it. What im curious of is whether the ZX12R would feel (to the rider) similar to a ZX9R? I can tell already that the pillion capability wont be there on the 12, but for the rider, whats the comfort level like? Is it a similar feel to a ZX9 - which I actually felt extremely comfortable on.

The concept of a ZX9 style bike with newer tech and fuel injection is very appealing. Seeing it took me 6 months to find the 9 i wanted, i figure it will take just as long to find a 12 i may want, so I thought I might start keeping my eyes open.

It will be a second bike, so funds will be limited. I'm at the $8k price point so there are a couple low km 2003 models that have my eye.. 2006 would be preferable, but they are still in the $10k range.

ZX12R owners are like ZX9R owners... pretty much in love with their bikes and it's pretty difficult to separate a 12 owner from their bike.

I came to 12 ownership straight off a 9... basically because I wanted a bigger, newer 9, and the 12 is often described as such.

I actually flirted briefly with the idea of a 14... my old girl had one, bone stock with flies still in etc... it didn't push my buttons. Don't get me wrong it's a great bike, refined, limo-like, deceptively powerful... but I wanted something a little more raw (and let's face it they are just a fat tourer ). She made me an offer only a fool would refuse to buy it from her, but I refused... and went and spent even more money on an older, lower redbook value 12R.

Most 12 owners will tell you the same thing, once you've owned one you'll never look back... but there are other bikes out there are more refined, and on paper, a better choice. Paper be damned. Just buy one imo, you'll love it to death. I've yet to find a bike, no matter what the numbers are on paper, that feels the same on the bum dyno, its just pure unadulterated raw power, very stable at any speed, very planted in corners. It's an honest to god big bore sports bike that can hold her own on a track, but you can tour on it better than those mozzie 1 litre things. She really is in a class of her own.

PS the seat is ok, It tends to get a bit wooden if you're in the saddle for 3 or 4 hours but it's better than the 9 seat was imo.

Jonno has a couple for sale...
http://www.ksrc-au.com/phpBB3/viewtopic ... 16&t=37809

the new 9 is the ninja 1000... just saying... for me a zx12 is just very big...

Whoever said the Ninja thou is the new 9?? Its nothing Like it..

Mate i LOVE my 12 its everything i want for what it was made for,it to me is a steroided 9.You get the write tyre's and set the suspenion up buy someone that knows what they are doing and they handle great for a big bike.Yuor best bet is to test ride one that has at least a 190 rear tyre on it and see how you like it.Jonno has a great 05 model that would be worth having a look at IMO.

hoffy wrote:Whoever said the Ninja thou is the new 9?? Its nothing Like it..

im not sure if hoffy is trying to be facetious here but i actually think i might agree with him.

The Ninja thousand should be the new 9.. there is no doubt about it... however a couple of things make it not. It definitely leans a bit more to the tourer side than the 9 did, and its got the same slightly de-tuned version of the engine the z1000 had. Look at the end of the day my 9 had 104kw at the rear wheel on the dyno when i sold it.. the 93 of the ninja 1000 would likely not feel much different at all.

As far as modern bikes go, the ninja thousand is definitely the closest you can get..... the problem is... well it just doesnt have that 9 style to it now does it? pretty poor reasoning isn't it..... I mean, it isnt terrible looking.. a little weird definitely.... but i think it needs to grow on me a bit more before i could even consider going into a store and dropping $18k on one.

MAXUMIS wrote:Mate i LOVE my 12 its everything i want for what it was made for,it to me is a steroided 9.You get the write tyre's and set the suspenion up buy someone that knows what they are doing and they handle great for a big bike.Yuor best bet is to test ride one that has at least a 190 rear tyre on it and see how you like it.Jonno has a great 05 model that would be worth having a look at IMO.

That sounds the best plan but finding one to ride is easier said than done. Especially seeing im probably not going to be able to act on purchasing one for a couple months at least.. i just kind of what to know if it is what im after. Who knows i might step onto it and realise that it isnt the bike for me. I know that is what happened on the zx10.. i was super keen, but just sitting on it in the shop and i knew i was never going to be happy on it.

And im not going to buy Jono's 12... Jono is keeping his 12.. he is just going through a moment of crazy... Lets let it pass and he can get back to his riding and being the 12's biggest fan

Join the Zedolution

Being a nine addict just for kicks i went and sat on a 2011/12 zx10 last week and was surprised that it wasnt as aggresive as i thought.In fact if i didnt get of it in a hurry i think i could be tempted Sat on the new ninla 1000 just didnt do it for me So when the track zx9 gives up the ghost i reckon i will be taking a test ride on the zx10

i've heard that about the new 10.. in fairness the last one i sat on was the 09 model and it was.... well to me anyway aggressive... perhaps i should give the new one another shot.

Having never owned a 9 or 12, but ridden both through some twisties.

I would say that even with their massive differences in frames, they are amazingly similar to ride. But yeah the 12 has a bit more go, and it has injection.

z900/zx9 wrote:Being a nine addict just for kicks i went and sat on a 2011/12 zx10 last week and was surprised that it wasnt as aggresive as i thought.

That's because they are made for short-arses. Us normal sized people struggle immensely to fit on them.

z900/zx9 wrote:Being a nine addict just for kicks i went and sat on a 2011/12 zx10 last week and was surprised that it wasnt as aggresive as i thought.In fact if i didnt get of it in a hurry i think i could be tempted Sat on the new ninla 1000 just didnt do it for me So when the track zx9 gives up the ghost i reckon i will be taking a test ride on the zx10

just do it mal.......

maraach wrote:

MAXUMIS wrote:Mate i LOVE my 12 its everything i want for what it was made for,it to me is a steroided 9.You get the write tyre's and set the suspenion up buy someone that knows what they are doing and they handle great for a big bike.Yuor best bet is to test ride one that has at least a 190 rear tyre on it and see how you like it.Jonno has a great 05 model that would be worth having a look at IMO.

That sounds the best plan but finding one to ride is easier said than done. Especially seeing im probably not going to be able to act on purchasing one for a couple months at least.. i just kind of what to know if it is what im after. Who knows i might step onto it and realise that it isnt the bike for me. I know that is what happened on the zx10.. i was super keen, but just sitting on it in the shop and i knew i was never going to be happy on it.

And im not going to buy Jono's 12... Jono is keeping his 12.. he is just going through a moment of crazy... Lets let it pass and he can get back to his riding and being the 12's biggest fan

If you don't live to far from me you can take mine for a blast if you want to see what there like,just don't drop it PS i hope to god Jonno keeps them or at least one