PDA

View Full Version : 05 636 review



Zapf
2nd April 2005, 15:42
coming from having a SV 650 for 13'000k's and not having ridden a inline 4, I had to ride the 05 636 to find out what the 6xx class is all about.

Mt.Eden motorcycles was very nice to lend a potential buyer (me) their red 05 636 with 919km on the clock for a nice test ride, the roads I have ridden includes cruising the motorways and blatting around the twisties beyond clevedon.

1st off the 636 is small, compare with the big tall long SV, you do slot onto the cockpit, however due to the lowish screen your head, chest and sholders are open to the wind specially the buffering when you head towards the 5 digit rpm in 4th gear.

It purrs along with out the angry grow of my SV + M4 exhaust which in some ways is a disappointment. The seat is very comfy, after riding 2 hours I still don't have a sore bum issue. And that is pretty impressive. The handle bars are low, along the line of other 6xx's. However does feel closer to reach than others, hence you can be cruising along with one hand and be sitting stright up. However I did get quite a sore wrist after 2 hours. Which brings along to another point, the shape of the tank is very good. At no point was I under the feeling of my balls being compressed. And the contours on both side of the tank allows a very natural position for leaning off the bike.

coming from my 650 twin, for me there is virtually no power band on the 636 under 7000rpm. It is just usable in keeping you from being run over by the truck 5 meters behind. when cruising at 100kph in top gear, under WOT over taking is a slow process, as you wait for the revs and power to build. But drop it down 1 or 2 notch and she will instantly take you well beyond the legal limit.

compaired with the GSXR750, the induction roar is less and the torque is less sweet than the 650 twin or the 750 four. However it does certianly mumble on the stright and twisty country roads with the revvy motor and nice posh suspension. On the suspension side, the factory setup is biased more towards comfort either with a low preload or compression dampening so it soaks up the bumps very well while still delivering a good sport composed ride, the bike was never off track during corners. And I was only upset at the front suspension while going thru a series of small bumps on the road that happens to be in sync with suspension rebound, it was me that was upset at getting bounced around an in no way was the bike upset.

I personally think with a smaller and less torquey motor than the 650 twin, a higher level of skill will be required to extract the same corner speed. However the whole "package" will make the difference at the end of the day. So I can't wait to try riding a GSXR750 over the same stretch of road and see the difference.

Engine RPM / KPH - approx 5'500 rpm at 100kph in 6th gear.
Top speed per gearing (redline 15'500rpm) - 281 kph. Does anyone know the official top speed for the 05 636? I wasn't ballz enought to find out.

Two Smoker
2nd April 2005, 16:06
Nice review Felix.... go for the gixxer though... obviously better comfort and superior bike...

Ghost Lemur
2nd April 2005, 18:19
Nice review Felix.... go for the gixxer though... obviously better comfort and superior bike...

Not that you're bias or anything TS.

Nice write up Zapf. Sounds like you're still quite fond of your current machine. Which begs the question, "reason for upgrade?".

Looking forward to the next writeup. Going to try a 1k? r1/etc?

Two Smoker
2nd April 2005, 18:30
Not that you're bias or anything TS.

Nice write up Zapf. Sounds like you're still quite fond of your current machine. Which begs the question, "reason for upgrade?".

Looking forward to the next writeup. Going to try a 1k? r1/etc?

Me mate??? Nah not biased at all...




I think ive got a box of tui's around here somewhere...

Coyote
2nd April 2005, 19:08
Sounds like a good bike. Good write up :niceone:

Be good to hear about the 750

Zapf
2nd April 2005, 20:01
Not that you're bias or anything TS.

Nice write up Zapf. Sounds like you're still quite fond of your current machine. Which begs the question, "reason for upgrade?".

Looking forward to the next writeup. Going to try a 1k? r1/etc?

suspension and to a lesser extent brakes... are crap. so either spend money fixing it... or spend money on new bike :) but the SV engine is great... except when a 600 with TS screams pass you.... :P

bugjuice
2nd April 2005, 21:14
I think you need to ride my bike to compare the 05 and 04.
Really surprised Mike gave you his bike for that long! Normally he hardly lets it out of his sight, and it's for no longer than 30 mins, so to get 2 hours out of it, you must really have twisted his arm!!

Good write up, I found pretty similar things with it, but the ride may have been a little different since we're coming from different backgrounds..

On the back straight of Puke last weekend, I redlined in 6th at 282/285kph, but the engine was strong all the way up, never backed off

Zapf
3rd April 2005, 01:36
I think you need to ride my bike to compare the 05 and 04.
Really surprised Mike gave you his bike for that long! Normally he hardly lets it out of his sight, and it's for no longer than 30 mins, so to get 2 hours out of it, you must really have twisted his arm!!

Good write up, I found pretty similar things with it, but the ride may have been a little different since we're coming from different backgrounds..

On the back straight of Puke last weekend, I redlined in 6th at 282/285kph, but the engine was strong all the way up, never backed off

haha.... I didn't think I was twisting his arm.... perhaps I charmed / sweet talked him :)

so when do I get a blat on the orange 636?

thinking now that if I do get the 636 I'll definatlly need an exhaust... the factory system is way too quite. Which is where the 750 wins hands down, with a nice factory intake roar and good sounding exhaust.

SPman
3rd April 2005, 09:42
"Engine RPM / KPH - approx 5'500 rpm at 100kph in 6th gear.
Top speed per gearing (redline 15'500rpm) - 281 kph. Does anyone know the official top speed for the 05 636? I wasn't ballz enought to find out"
I think the real top speed is about 265k - around 163 mph.which is fast for a "600"

Two Smoker
3rd April 2005, 11:36
I think the real top speed is about 265k - around 163 mph.which is fast for a "600"

Which is about the same as a GSX-R600 according to the trashman...

Zapf
6th April 2005, 02:46
I think the real top speed is about 265k - around 163 mph.which is fast for a "600"

yep. most of the tuning is done for high end.... hence there is no torque in the low and low mid range.... air flow velocity is probly too slow thru the intake stacks....

And did you know that according to Bridgestone... the factory (OEM) tire on the 05 ZX6R and ZX6RR only has 4/32 thread depth on the front tire. Compaired with 7/32 for a normal new tires.... (cheating?)

http://www.motorcycle-karttires.com/product/Product.asp?group=2&nameID=159&typeID=39&size=

crazylittleshit
6th April 2005, 03:20
I'm the proud owner of a new 2005 zxr636 all 4 cylinders need to be at high revs to take off.
But I bet when it took off (it impressed) I only have 3 complaints about the new model
1: fuel small tank sick of filling it up all the time.
2: back brakes shit don't know why
3: and like you said you look through the screen to see the speedo
anything past that Is amazing the power is great the handleing great You get the feeling the bike is laughing at you when your riding saying nasty things like your a pussy. (still haven't used all the front tire yet)
I don't think I'll ever truly use the bike to its full potential but I'll give it a dame good try........
best bike ever I'm very happy with it :ride:

bugjuice
6th April 2005, 09:10
I think the real top speed is about 265k - around 163 mph.which is fast for a "600"
i saw 285 on the back of Puke the other weekend which was only stopped by the limiter in 6th. I'm waiting to get my speedo calibrated, but I'd be happy to do that again. If the real reading was 20kph out, then I'd have a big speed diff issue.. Could it be that big?

Quasievil
6th April 2005, 09:15
i saw 285 on the back of Puke the other weekend which was only stopped by the limiter in 6th. I'm waiting to get my speedo calibrated, but I'd be happy to do that again. If the real reading was 20kph out, then I'd have a big speed diff issue.. Could it be that big?

Fastest I saw on the back straqight at Puke was 254kmph. My bike was the actual bike used for the BRM report on the 03 ZXR636, one of the mechanics at HMCC (a racer) got 274 out of my actual bike.

I would doubt you had 285 on yours kit, maybe the speedo is out ?

I was tapped out in 5th to get my speed, I think the top for the day would have been maybe 265kmph

And I realise Im prolly heavier than you by maybe 15 kgs ?

bugjuice
6th April 2005, 09:19
Fastest I saw on the back straqight at Puke was 254kmph. My bike was the actual bike used for the BRM report on the 03 ZXR636, one of the mechanics at HMCC (a racer) got 274 out of my actual bike.

I would doubt you had 285 on yours kit, maybe the speedo is out ?

I was tapped out in 5th to get my speed, I think the top for the day would have been maybe 265kmph

And I realise Im prolly heavier than you by maybe 15 kgs ?
lol.. sayin your a lardy boy now? :shake:
I know the speedo it is probably out a bit, but that'd be huge. I'm gonna get it calibrated so I know for sure, but if definitly stopped accelerating when the little black lines got to the red bit on the revs. It helped that I got a draft from a zx10 before the kink which gave me the boost. I was leveling out around the kink otherwise and saw on averange 260-270 (and one 277) before the anchors came on. Hell, if I could afford another back tyre, I'd be out there now, doin it again. Wish I was..

The bike pulled hard all the way thru 6th too. I reckon it'd redline itself given a little more room.
We need to 'borrow' a run way and have a cop with a gun at the end

Zapf
6th April 2005, 10:58
I'm the proud owner of a new 2005 zxr636 all 4 cylinders need to be at high revs to take off.
But I bet when it took off (it impressed) I only have 3 complaints about the new model
1: fuel small tank sick of filling it up all the time.
2: back brakes shit don't know why
3: and like you said you look through the screen to see the speedo
anything past that Is amazing the power is great the handleing great You get the feeling the bike is laughing at you when your riding saying nasty things like your a pussy. (still haven't used all the front tire yet)
I don't think I'll ever truly use the bike to its full potential but I'll give it a dame good try........
best bike ever I'm very happy with it :ride:

yep my only complain about the 636 would bhe the, back brakes.... (perhaps they don't want you to lock it up), small screen (hence tach is uselsss, and not much protection from wind and rain). Don't know about the small tank, haven't lived with it for that long... but the 1/2 plastic tank would be annoying for fitting my tank bag on.

re. small tank / fuel use.... revs sucks gas...!

bugjuice
6th April 2005, 11:14
yep my only complain about the 636 would bhe the, back brakes.... (perhaps they don't want you to lock it up), small screen (hence tach is uselsss, and not much protection from wind and rain). Don't know about the small tank, haven't lived with it for that long... but the 1/2 plastic tank would be annoying for fitting my tank bag on.

re. small tank / fuel use.... revs sucks gas...!
the tanks are a little 'taller' than before, but apparently the few that I've spoken to say that they get a few more k's out of than the previous models did, so can't all be bad. Just have to get used to the way a sports bike sucks!

And I've heard the same complaint about the plastic airbox cover, that tank bag magnets are no good. Have to get a strap to hold the front down I guess

madboy
6th April 2005, 13:47
Back brakes on my 02 are shite as well (compared to my FZR), I just figured it was the individual bike... I'm reassured to know it's not now. I've never seen beyond 260 on my speedo, but that's more a circumstancial thing, it seemed to be pulling hard enough. I thought bike speedos were notoriously unreliable? I can't say I've ever hung round long enough to see what the true radar reading was.

Overall I'm pretty happy with mine, having owned it only a few weeks!

bugjuice
6th April 2005, 14:02
does anyone else know you can adjust brakes for feel? just tighten up the preload bolt, that's what I did, and I found brakes! Mine are sweet front and back
Works the same as the front brake, just looks different.

Lou Girardin
6th April 2005, 16:49
the tanks are a little 'taller' than before, but apparently the few that I've spoken to say that they get a few more k's out of than the previous models did, so can't all be bad. Just have to get used to the way a sports bike sucks!

And I've heard the same complaint about the plastic airbox cover, that tank bag magnets are no good. Have to get a strap to hold the front down I guess

Givi do a suction cup mount for their tankbags.

madboy
6th April 2005, 17:46
does anyone else know you can adjust brakes for feel? just tighten up the preload bolt, that's what I did, and I found brakes! Mine are sweet front and back
Works the same as the front brake, just looks different.Okay, dumb question of the day written from my desk before I go outside and stare at my back brake for ten minutes in the fading light - which one's the preload bolt?

bugjuice
6th April 2005, 17:58
Okay, dumb question of the day written from my desk before I go outside and stare at my back brake for ten minutes in the fading light - which one's the preload bolt?
have a look around your rear foot brake lever at the back, where it goes into the master cylinder. There should be a couple of bolts there, one is a locking nut, the other is the adjusting nut (both together). Slack off the locking nut, then screw in (or out, can't remember, but probably in) until you feel it's how you want it, but don't over do it or the brake will be on slightly and may get hot and wear.. Go play, best thing..

NhuanH
29th May 2005, 21:31
My thoughts on the 2005 636 (http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/showthread.php?t=12448)

As stated in that thread, this is a comparo after about 20000kms on a 2003 636. My shortlist was down to the 2005 636 and the Anniversary K5 Gixxer 750. In the end the package on offer with the Ninja was just too compelling.

And I'm sure there are a few more 2005 owners who could provide "living with it" feedback now...