Buying a GPZ900R

Sorry, slip of the brain/finger. In the UK they also used the KZ
notation (not ZX).

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..'_/_|_\_'. Ace (b.rogers at ifrance.com)
\`\ | /`/
`\\ | //' BOTAFOT#3, SbS#2, UKRMMA#13, DFV#8, SKA#2, IBB#10
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I thought it was because it's status as the ultimate sports bike was
actually eclipsed fairly quickly by the arrival of the GSXR750, which
is the bike that (to my mind) started the trend for, and is the ancestor
of the modern supersport clit bike.

 

Nurofen Plus. In large doses..

I had a cortisone injection into the plam of my right hand last Friday
and I'm waiting to see if it makes any difference..

Phil

 

I think you can take Paracetamol with that too... Have you tried
something like diclofenac sodium or arcoxia? They helped with my joint
pain.. didn't get rid of it, but did help.

 

Disagree, actually. The Gixxer kicked off the mass-market race-replica
thing[1], which isn't the same. The 900R was never intended as a race-
rep.

[1] You could argue that the RD500LC did, but it was hardly a mass-
market bike.

 

It did a bloody good job as one at first, mind.

I recall sitting at Brands in '84, watching 900Rs with taped over
lights riding all round the race-prepped GS Thous and Z1000s in the
production races.

Won the proddie TT too, iirc.

 

He thinks it'll make him younger.

 

I remember riding them back to back in '87 and thinking they were
from different eras. The handling and weight were startling
on the gixer whilst the GPz felt more like just an evolution and
refinement of what Kawasaki always did well, and still do to some
extent... bikes for MEN. The gixer was definitely the standout bike
for me (in my early 20's) of the eighties. The RD500 I can't speak
for, I never rode one. But I think of it, and the Gamma 500, as
more or less last gasp of the great days of the two smoke.

 

Hag Hughes, best mate of Jason Emmet who is Sean's brother. Jason
turned out to be quite a tidy club racer too. Hag and Jay had their
identical black and white 250LCs featured in the back page of PB when
they were teenagers.

 

And this is the nub of it. If you're going to buy a bike that 20+
years old, you might as well get something that the rest of the world
considers desirable too.

 

Both used to write for, and race on behalf of, FB in its heyday, iirc.

 

I never read Fast Bikes, it always seemed just that little bit shit to
me, a bit like TWO magazine is.

 

I think you're both right. The Kawasaki proved that the Japanese
could build a big that had handling to match the engine - previously
just about *every* big bore jap bike had power aplenty and was
criticised for its handling; it's what kept the Italians and the likes
of Harris in business. After the 900R, it simply wasn't acceptable to
launch a bike with 'bad' handling. But, the Gixxer did start the race-
rep/sports craze, and led to the modern sports bike sub-culture. But
(personally), I think the Kwak had the bigger influence.

 

Good question. Remember the Orbital - the FI stroker that Ford was
developing in Australia?

 

Actually, it was a company called Orbital who were developing the
engine on behalf of Ford. I saw a Police Fiesta when I lived in Norwich
that had been to Hethel to have the suspension tweeked by the Lotus
bods. That Fiesta absolutely flew and the coppers I spoke to were full
of praise for it. Lotus also made it handle before giving it back to
the Police

It just so happens I have a close friend who now works for Orbital in
Perth, Aus.

 

Bloody hell. Obscure Strokers R U. I should have known you'd have an
inkling.

I can imagine a tweaked two-stroke hatchback with Lotus suspension would
be rather fun. Any idea what happened to the engine, then?

 

Absolutly, been a while since we've met up

 

Fire engine

 

And there is room in the garage