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.