Paging Bear...

....no, really.

ZX9Rs... I seem to remember you reckoned on certain models not being all
that - which ones are the ones to avoid (1)?

Also, are these a bit more forgiving in the riding position stakes, compared
to an early Fireblade - I found the riding position on that urban tiger I
owned, a bit too prone for my liking.

TIA

(1) Apart from any that have suffered at your hands. ;-)

 

Isn't he off on his hollies?

--
AndrewR, D.Bot (Celeritas)
Kawasaki ZX-6R J1, Fiat Coupe 20v Turbo
BOTAFOT#2,ITJWTFO#6,UKRMRM#1/13a,MCT#1,DFV#2,SKoGA#0 (and KotL)
BotToS#5,SBS#25,IbW#34, DS#5, COSOC# Suspended, KotTFSTR#
The speccy Geordie twat.

 

No idea.

Well anyone with experience of these will do... I just seem to remember him
being very anti one particular model of these, and wanted an honest opinion
on which one to avoid and why.

 

JackH said...

I'm not Bear, but I studied ZX9s long and hard before buying the one I
had.

E and F models are said to be down on power from the Cs. Personally I
think it's irrelevant now as most of them have since been fitted with
aftermarket cans which do away with the supposed catalyst restriction in
the stock silencer anyway. C2s are a bit better sorted than the C1s,
especially the rear shock and fork set-up. It's easy to tell them apart,
C1 models had no flashy graphics, they were plain colour with simple
logos. C2s has flashy graphics with a bit of purple in every model. All
C models had single headlight and subframes welded to the rear of the
frame. E models have twin headlights and bolt on rear subframes, E1 and
E2 are pretty much the same bike woth differing graphics. F models came
standard with 4 pot Nissin calipers and have different bodywork that
looks like E model but is totally different.

Best of the lot is a 1999/2000 C2 in Candy Persimmon Red with an Ohlins
shock and 4 pot calipers from a TL1000S or Gixer 6 SRAD fitted. Avoid
ones with blowing downpipes as they are incredibly expensive to replace.
Also check the brake calipers for sponginess. If they are then you're
looking at about 150 quid to sort the seals and sticking pistons. Blue
ones are the easiest to get replacement panels for on eBay.

Most important, avoid the pre '98 B model, it was a dog in the handling
department.

They are all very comfy. All of them share a similar peg to bar distance
and they all use the same seat pad. None is as comfy as a Gixer thou
though.

 

Kawasaki downpipes in rotting away non-shocker.

Ok, that in particular rings many bells - ta very much.

Yes but you're ever so slightly more challenged in the height stakes, than
I - have you ridden an early 'blade, as a comparison?

The main thing I didn't like about that was how prone I had to drape myself
over it - didn't feel natural at all, and as a result I didn't gain enough
confidence on it be able to throw it around like I thought I'd be able to.

Nor do they attract the same price tag... ;-)

 

Just my take on it but I'd go for either an E1 or an E2 and accept
that the rear shock will be fucked at 10k miles. They have better
suspension as OE than the earlier models (1) but they have a cat in
the exhaust that will lose you a bit of BHP until you change the can
for a race one. The brakes are as good as anything else of that era if
you change the discs to Pro-Lites (2) and know how to bleed a brake
system properly. They go like ****, are comfortable to ride for 500
miles in a day and turn in reasonable mpg. Buy one if the price seems
ok.

(1) You can adjust the ride height. Ignore the idiots - this does
make a difference.

(2) Not expensive to buy and when used with HH pads they work well. I
never had a problem with mine and we ran the same set up on the first
ukrm race bike. Others will shout and scream about the original 6 pots
being crap but they aren't.

 

Do these just bolt on?

 

Earliest ones are shite.

C1s break their gearboxes.

Es are more powerful at the top end but have less mid-range.

A C2 is The One To Have (my mate Niall has just bought one).

 

Linger said...

Direct replacement. Just buy a pair of 4 pot Tokico calipers with the
90mm spacing, fit new pads and bolt straight on. I did this with my old
9R after I sold it to Beelzebub cos the old calipers were fucked. You
don't even have to buy new hoses, they fit straight on. Use Vesrah
VD344JL pads and you'll love them.

 

Speaking of which....

 

Statto said...

Thanks for reminding me, I must dig that out of the big pile of bits I
have in the garage and sort it for you. There's a new rubber end gasket
needed that I can source direct from Micron, so I'll order that asap.

 

Grr, is that why i've had no luck finding a blue seat hump for the 12R
after 18 months on ebay ?

P.

 

If anything is ready for collection by next weekend, the underground
railway will be passing close by yours.....

 

Jackie said...

If it is I'll let you or Chris know.

 

Except for my C2 which I bought with the C1 body work, because all those
purple slashes looked completey gash.

The C2 had annodised blue fork tops. The C1 had dark or silver ones (I
forget now as it's been a while since mine went).

 

My C1 has blue ones.

 

Sorry, yes, different blue bits. The bit that isn't blue on the C1 is on
the C2, and vice versa. Where the bits are the central threaded part (not
the bit used to tweak the settings), and the outer circular bit that sits
on top of the head thingy. But I don't want to get too technical.

 

Well OK, but it is important to get these details right, you know.

 

Oh absolutely, that's why I'm always so precise. If there's any doubt at
all, I prefer not to saying anything.

 

Switters said...

I didn't really give a **** about which bits were blue on mine, as long
as they worked. I hated the purple bits on the paintwork though.