ZXR400R vs. GSXR400

My first serious motorcycle was a 1989 Suzuki GSXR400. A five year old grey import, 24000km's gone west, a little tatty around the edges but straight and the motor wailed way past the power peak of 12000rpm making a mockery of the claimed 60 horses. The dealer said it had race ignition and exhaust; certainly sounded and felt like it! A most surreal wail on full welly! The bike weighed about 350lbs, less than the 25hp CB250 Superdream that preceded it! I was nineteen at the time, much madness ensued.

I was heroin light, but even so the suspension was a bit wimpy - especially the rear shock. Along with Japlop tyres, the handling was more a matter of squirming through the bends than holding a delicate line but the alloy chassis was undoubtedly strong and the steering geometry set up to aid rapid flickability. The angles of lean possible would've had me a hospital case on the Superdream! I was riding fast enough to piss off my 600cc replica mounted mates!

After a couple of months, a few very near misses, I decided a newish shock and stronger springs in the forks were needed. A couple of breakers visited and the bits obtained. Note to the mechanically inept, the upper fairing is dead easy to crack on reassembly and the suspension linkages can be put back on the wrong way around when assisted by a large hammer (after taking them apart to add some much needed grease). No need to ask how I know!

A pair of new Metz's completed the transformation. Felt like a brand new bike and there was no stopping me! Soon had my knees down and even scraped the odd elbow! I was faster through the bends than a friend's CBR600, the engine snarling happily at fifteen grand! The bike could take rapidly applied brakes when halfway through the corner and could be shrugged on to a new line with hardly any effort, yet it would scream along at 130mph with nary a rumble from the chassis.

Comfort was of the do or die variety, required a firm backside and a strong tolerance of pain. It encouraged mad riding, the wind taking some mass off my wrists. Anyone bigger than a midget would have problems squirming around and I found a 100 miles more than enough in one session. Apart from the CBR rider, most of my mates had similar problems on their replicas. Fuel was an astonishingly good 60-65mpg, oil consumption negligible, though I did change it every 1500 miles.

No real engine problems apart from the carbs needing a balance every 1000 miles. Fail to do that, the silky smoothness of the mill was replaced by loadsa secondary vibration. The main hassle was the triple discs, the calipers just didn't like English weather - can't really blame them, can you? They were buggers to strip down once a bit of grime got into them, needing a well placed thump with the hammer. The big problem was getting spare seals, and the like, one of the downsides of grey imports. Pads lasted about 3000 miles, ended up blowing a hundred quid sorting everything out. The discs were a bit scored, which didn't help things and used to ring furiously when the pads were down to the metal!

The plastic, as mentioned, was a bit frail. As well as a flapping fairing, the seat surround cracked up and almost fell off. Luckily, there was a mechanically literate gnome who lived nearby and was pretty good at the plastic welding lark. The paint was also well faded and I decided a respray was in order. The gnome volunteered, a very nice metallic dark blue and silver the result (BMW colours!). It looked so good that a week later some bastard stole it whilst I was in the chippie. I heard the unmistakeable growl of maximum revs, looked out of the window to see the bike exiting my life with a massive wheelie. I ran after it but a waste of time, as were the cops. I only had third party insurance!

About a year later I had the dosh together to buy my second serious bike, another Superdream providing some wheels in the interim - what a come down! I was all for another GSXR but the 400 was rare on the ground, at least ones that I could afford and weren't afflicted with rather obvious crash damage. I was mightily tempted by a street racer GSXR750 until I found out how much T.P.F. and T. would cost. Then a Kawasaki ZXR400 turned up in the local paper for 1850 notes. I was there in a flash and bought it on the spot for 1700 quid, just before the guy's telephone started ringing all night long with keen punters.

A 1989 model but only 9000 miles on the clock, all shone up like it had just stepped out of the crate! The stock silencer and ignition meant this one really only did do 60 horses, again at 12000rpm. The engine never felt as keen as the Suzuki's, nor was it anywhere near as silky smooth despite having much lower miles. The suspension had already been modded to much stiffer than stock and a newish set of Metz's were fitted - a tad slower turning than the Suzuki but a better feel of being absolutely glued to the tarmac. Comfort, or lack thereof, was just as dismal.

It took me about a week before deciding to fit a race exhaust and derestricted ignition. Both acquired mail order from a breaker. There followed a massive amount of hassle getting the four carbs to match the new ignition and exhaust. Even the gnome was left muttering obscenities, the best he could do was narrow the flat spot down to between 5000 and 7500 revs. The mill didn't want to go much beyond 13,500 revs, the secondary vibes heavy enough to have the mirrors twirling off! No great loss, I wasn't too enamoured of the view of my elbows, anyway!

A friend who had shot to fame on the racetrack (by causing a mass pile-up whilst wearing a novice jacket) handed over a set of flat slide Mikuni's and a box full of jets. The gnome beamed enigmatically and after a few tries the ZXR had a strong, fluid delivery of power that was a delight to play with, except that there wasn't a tickover circuit. The engine conked out below 3000rpm. A mild inconvenience insofar that all of the 400 replicas produce sod all power at the bottom end, just had to remember to blip the throttle at tickover.

One problem with the new set-up, it needed so much work on the starter to fire up of a morning that the battery soon melted - figure a battery life of around 4000 miles and you won't be far out! Quite expensive! Fuel was 30-35mpg (the stocker did about 40mpg) at the same speeds as the Suzuki and it even needed half a litre of oil between changes. Compare the two bikes sans plastic, the GSXR looked the much more thought out and integrated, confirmed by its superior power and economy.

The Kawasaki weighed the same as the Suzuki, but it felt a touch more ponderous yet more stable. I didn't feel quite so happy about scraping my knees along the tarmac, but either bike was in a completely different world to hack Superdreams (though the latter was used in the worse winter months; faithful old dog). Sixty miles was about the most I'd want to do in one session, the seat was basically just a bit of plastic bunged atop the rear surround! There was a touch more room to shuffle around but the concept of ergonomics was obviously a mystery to the bike's designers.

Whilst the Kwak lacked the quick wearing brakes of the Suzuki it made up for that by having upside-down forks with remarkably short-lived seals. If I got 3000 miles out of them I was doing very well. I also had to replace the wheel bearings at 19000 miles - the 120mph speed wobble had me panting with fear! - and do a complete linkage rebuild at 23000 miles. The motor needed a complete service every 3000 miles, otherwise the valves would rattle their way to an early death.

Overall, I enjoyed the Suzuki more than the Kawasaki but that isn't to say I didn't have some exceptional times on the ZXR - any of the 400 replicas can be sheer bliss on the right roads with the sun shining. It was on one such occasion that the Kawasaki met its untimely end. Diving into a corner that suddenly tightened up on itself, I braked so hard that the front end shot upwards and redirected the bike into the nearest ditch! I was heavily bruised, the bike a total write-off. Again, third party insurance meant I was broke!

T.A.