My approach to this motorcycle was supposed to be in typical UMG style. On paper, the whole deal seemed a cinch. The ZXR was a typical mess beneath the surface glitter. A hastily tuned up motor, basically a GPX engine with a new cylinder head thrown on, bunged into a state of the art alloy frame - neither designed with much thought of the other.
Under the race-track fairing there was a mess of plumbing that'd give even a Wop exotica motor mechanic a few nightmares. The dodginess of knocking out around 100hp from 748cc was apparent in the huge size of the oil cooler in addition to the water cooling. With a dry weight of 460lbs things became even more laughable.
And then I rode the beast and forgot all about such silliness. In fact, it was necessary to forget just about everything else as well. Talk about exhilaration. When I came back down to earth, my GPz500S felt like a moped. Fortunately, my first experience of this bike was out of town on smooth A roads.
Here the Kawa really excelled, the chassis felt more stable than anything I've ever come across and makes a Bimota I once tried feel twitchy. Once over 70mph, all the weight seems to fade away and it can be flicked through bends with ridiculous ease. The feedback through the very stiff suspension is race-track stuff and would be disconcerting to someone used to more remote Jap bikes.
The riding position is the sort of extreme nonsense that has no place on a road bike. Running around with my bum stuck up in the air and my head buried in the instruments was very strange indeed. Ideal for draping young nubiles over in scan magazines, but not much use on the road unless you can get away with cruising at 140mph.
In town, the above made me feel damn silly and was agony. Not helped by the fact that the bike twitched and leapt over pot-holes like an old Ducati single. The suspension only appeared to start to work once over 75mph, a speed achieved with such ease that it was ridiculous. I found myself cruising along with a ton or ton-ten on the clock without even thinking about it.
Whizzing past a line of slow moving cars I was so caught up with the buzz of the acceleration that as the speedo arched past 140mph I barely had time to smile at the plod mobile coming the other way. I consoled myself with the thought that there was no way they could read my speed at that rate of knots and accelerated up to an indicated 160mph, just in case they turned around in hot pursuit.
This is isn’t quite my normal behaviour mode, I hasten to add, but this bike has echos of the old two stroke triples, there’s such a huge kick from the acceleration and the speed that all your blood would've to congealed to lead not to whack open the throttle whenever possible.
That's the kind way of putting it. If you don’t ride this bike fast it’s hell. I once had no option but to ride it right across rush hour Shit City. It took hours, it just wouldn't slip through narrow gaps, I needed a rubber neck to look anywhere but just above the screen and I arrived at my destination a paranoid cripple. It was so bad that I went apeshit a few times and just whacked open the throttle and damned the consequences. Bouts of 120mph madness with black cab drivers around does not bode well for a long life.
But on A roads it felt like the safest thing on earth at speed, the result of the combination of a massive alloy frame and so much acceleration that it could motor out of potential trouble. I could whizz past lines of car on short straights that would've had me frightened to death on the GPZ500 that I'd be splattered by an artic careering around a blind comer. On the ZXR it ate up the distance in so little time that I'd have plenty of space to spare. Even psycho Volvo owners didn’t have time to throw their vehicles in my path.
Country roads were not really its ballgame, not least because the rear shock tended not to absorb the bumps and the whole back end would jive about like some old British twin at low speeds whilst the seat did nothing to bolster the comfort levels.
Indicated top speed was around 160mph an fuel consumption varied between 35 and 60mpg, averaging 42mpg. If you need to ask you probably can't afford it, but just for the record, the rear tyre was in need of replacement after 3000 miles and the other consumables will last no longer...
One naturally feels very sorry for the Japanese manufacturers, as there is a huge market they just don't care to serve. Many people would be willing to work their ass off to get hold of one of these hyperbikes if they then knew that subsequent running costs were minimal. The combination of ridiculous purchase prices with horrendous running costs is just too much for most people. Oh well, if the Japs are that stupid, there's a huge market just for the taking for the new Triumph triples and fours. There are, of course, many other big Jap bikes that are faster and even wilder and certainly better designed. Even in 1989, £5300 buys any number of hot bikes.
Anyone going to spend that kind of money will probably blow a little extra dosh on the well developed, and somewhat awesome, Suzuki GSXRI100 - a machine that relies on a mere oil cooler and air to contain the engine temperature. The Suzuki suffers from an ill-shaped alloy frame that works despite itself and an even more painful riding position.
The Kawasaki looks like a real proddie racer, with a bitza appearance under the GRP that is rarely seen on a Japanese bike. This may appeal to some, but I suspect will soon disappear when Kawasaki try to take back the title for best straight four from Honda with their second generation watercooled fours (what do you mean, you thought this was their second generation engine?). I'm willing to wait until next year when I hope to see a 100hp, 400lb 750 four styled along the lines of the ZX10.
Postscript: I also had a quick spin on a Kawasaki GPX750 with 10000 miles on the clock. This is just as much fun to ride as the ZXR, weighs 30lbs less and is £1100 cheaper. Unfortunately, the styling is the kind of eyesight that the Japanese had apparently grown out of some time ago, not helped by the fact that the finish was well tarnished after less than a year. This uses a steel frame (which Kawasaki proudly promote as being lighter than most alloy frames thanks to large section, thin walled, high tensile steel tubes), and had I not ridden the ZXR I would have claimed this as the best handling large four I'd come across. In fact, at low speeds, because the suspension actually soaked up the bumps, it felt more controllable, whilst the riding positon was perfect and a blessed relief after the agony of the ZXR.
Only handling problems with the GPX come if you whack on the brakes when well leant a over in fast bends - the back end hops about and the bike tries to run a little wider But owners of older Jap fours would be shocked by how well it goes. A year old GPX750 can be picked up for £3250 to £3500...
Al Culler