ZX-2R -> ZX-12R, something of a step-up

[Grasshopperus]

So I ride a ZX2R, also known as a ZXR250. It's my first bike and I ride it everyday, I really like it.

Last night a friend let me ride his ZX-12R around a parking lot, it's the first time I've ever ridden a bike with more than 250cc... HOLY SHIT

I didn't get out of 2nd gear and didn't go over 50km/h but the 3mm of throttle travel I applied brought me up to speed far faster than my bike ever could.

The freakin' speedo goes up to 340km/h, even going 100km/h would look like you're not even starting to move.

How do you psychos with big bikes manage to keep them at road-legal speeds?

Still, I've had a shit-eating grin on my face all day today.

[blackdog]

we psychos have enormous amounts of self control...

ahh who am i trying to kid :Punk:

[NZsarge]

You'd be surprised how easy you become accustomed to their ability to gather pace....


Then it comes back and bites you on the arse when you least expect it....

[Mudfart]

i can't wait. but im considering a thruxton so it wont be too fast really. im going through another faze of old skool iz kool, again!!!
bah, next week it'll be fast is bestest, again, and i'll be drooling over the 750's, again, again!!.

[Squiggles]

Most cant...

[AllanB]

Simple really - you only use first gear as they will do the legal limit in 1st.

[gale_wolf]

You'd be surprised how easy you become accustomed to their ability to gather pace.....
Then it comes back and bites you on the arse when you least expect it....
QFT.

Also... once you get past the "holy crap this is fun, i'll wind it right open every chance i get" stage, it becomes experience and self-control, and the memory of demerits and dollars spent in speeding tickets.

[Urano]

Most cant...

quote.


beside that, that's the reason why i don't actually understand bike over 750-800, and consider 650 the best solution.
in the 70s a 500 was a "technical" bike, and to have fun a 150-350 was way sufficient.
today if you have less than 130 cv well, "it's a bit lazy on the low...." and "yeah, but you'll get bored soon"...
WTF, 130 cv on a bike that often doesn't go over 200 kg!!!
and the germans got everybody think that with less than 1200 cc you cannot go touring... the 800cc? it's an "entry level" or "light" or "for women" (supporting the ego of all the men that need to have it bigger...)...
be serious men!

and you know what? you always meet all those guys with shiny ducati 1198/zx10r/r1/fireblades inside shiny dainese (not certified) suits with shiny arai helmets crawling on the mountain passes, burned away by young guys with 250s with tape on the fairing but a frame well prepared and a good suspensions kit...

[Urano]

double post.

[Qkchk]

The threat of losing ones licence is usually enough................ specially when you have 12 characters at the bottom of said licence.

[Madness]

You might be surprised at how well behaved a ZX12 can be if instructed to do so by the right hand. I owned a 750 once that would not sit comfortably at legal speeds, constantly creeping over the limit. A ZX12 will sit at 100km/h all day if you tell it to with little need to constantly check you haven't gone over the critical death-ensuing 103.9Km/h mark.

[FJRider]

The freakin' speedo goes up to 340km/h, even going 100km/h would look like you're not even starting to move.


I once owned a 100 cc Kawasaki that had a speedo that went up to 160 km/hr ... sadly I never got to explore those realms of speed on it .... I guess it was a bit buggered when I got it ... :innocent:

My current bike's speedo only goes up to 270 km/hr ... but it is an old bike ... :lol:

[javawocky]

So I ride a ZX2R, also known as a ZXR250. It's my first bike and I ride it everyday, I really like it.

Last night a friend let me ride his ZX-12R around a parking lot, it's the first time I've ever ridden a bike with more than 250cc... HOLY SHIT

I didn't get out of 2nd gear and didn't go over 50km/h but the 3mm of throttle travel I applied brought me up to speed far faster than my bike ever could.

The freakin' speedo goes up to 340km/h, even going 100km/h would look like you're not even starting to move.

How do you psychos with big bikes manage to keep them at road-legal speeds?

Still, I've had a shit-eating grin on my face all day today.

This is how it starts, mate invites to to ride big bike, your little 250 feels crap, and all you can think of when riding it is how blown away you were by the effortless torque of the big bike. Soon you are browsing through the trademe - then its buy now and you have a torque monster in your garage.

Don't EVER take it on a track day, cause you will be completely ruined. Riding on the road becomes very padestrian, you don't want to speed because whats the point when you have done well over 200 clicks on the track? So you plod along at 103.9 while dreaming of the next track day.

But yeah, as soon as you can, get the biggest bike you can - if you have self control. Cause, if you treat them with respect at all times, you will be greatly rewarded.

[Muppet]

I'm really happy with my 12'. The torque is incredible. However I find that I rode my CBR600 harder than this bike. When you ride a bike with this much power you tend to slow up quite a bit. The reason I think is that you know virtually nothing can beat it in a straight line so you have the "I've nothing to prove" attitude. I'm not a fast rider and am always the tail end charlie on a fang. I realised this when I went from a CBR600 to an R1, I didn't get any quicker in the twisties, in fact the bike bloody well made me nervous because I knew what it was capable of- head shakes and highsides!

I read a quote from a bike mag re: the ZX12r recently-"Go ballistic or schmooze the torque" I prefer Schmoozing!! The ZX12R, Hayabusa, Blackbird and ZZR1400 are all very fast bikes but are much heavier and longer than a sports bike so tend to be easier to ride IMHO. I've put higher bars and lower pegs on mine, plus heated grips and a double bubble screen. It's now a really good sports tourer, apart from the tank range.

[R-Soul]

This is how it starts, mate invites to to ride big bike, your little 250 feels crap, and all you can think of when riding it is how blown away you were by the effortless torque of the big bike. Soon you are browsing through the trademe - then its buy now and you have a torque monster in your garage.

Don't EVER take it on a track day, cause you will be completely ruined. Riding on the road becomes very padestrian, you don't want to speed because whats the point when you have done well over 200 clicks on the track? So you plod along at 103.9 while dreaming of the next track day.

But yeah, as soon as you can, get the biggest bike you can - if you have self control. Cause, if you treat them with respect at all times, you will be greatly rewarded.


You CNUTS!! You all knew about this (the track day stuff) all along and never told me? Bastards...

:shutup:

You might as well havce sold me P...

[R-Soul]

So I ride a ZX2R, also known as a ZXR250. It's my first bike and I ride it everyday, I really like it.

Last night a friend let me ride his ZX-12R around a parking lot, it's the first time I've ever ridden a bike with more than 250cc... HOLY SHIT

I didn't get out of 2nd gear and didn't go over 50km/h but the 3mm of throttle travel I applied brought me up to speed far faster than my bike ever could.

The freakin' speedo goes up to 340km/h, even going 100km/h would look like you're not even starting to move.

How do you psychos with big bikes manage to keep them at road-legal speeds?

Still, I've had a shit-eating grin on my face all day today.

Do you now understand how easy it is to pass a car? Its so effortless its almost disdainful. which is why you get overconfident and pass cars at stupid times, and cant get back into your lane because your riding ability has not grown with your bikes power...

The self control is ridiculously important.

[Grasshopperus]

This is how it starts, mate invites to to ride big bike, your little 250 feels crap, and all you can think of when riding it is how blown away you were by the effortless torque of the big bike. Soon you are browsing through the trademe - then its buy now and you have a torque monster in your garage.


I sense a kindred spirit, happened to you too eh? I'm perilously close to my full license too...


Do you now understand how easy it is to pass a car? Its so effortless its almost disdainful. which is why you get overconfident and pass cars at stupid times, and cant get back into your lane because your riding ability has not grown with your bikes power...

The self control is ridiculously important.

Understood, good advice

[madbikeboy]

Don't EVER take it on a track day, cause you will be completely ruined. Riding on the road becomes very padestrian, you don't want to speed because whats the point when you have done well over 200 clicks on the track? So you plod along at 103.9 while dreaming of the next track day.


It's worse than that. It's like being addicted to crack, waiting for the next hit. I have a litre GSXR. I have a 600 track bike. I'm addicted in the worst way. Bungy jumping is naff. Base jumping is kind of neat the first few times. Racing a jet boat. Racing a car. Parachuting (yawn). Nothing beats the sensation of full throttle on a good litre bike, wheelstands out of corners, smearing rubber on the exits, full lean with the rear starting to spin up.

This is the curse/gift that we are afflicted with. As we move up, each step lessens with the law of diminishing returns until the numbers on the speedo becomes academic. But, like Icarus crashing to earth, our soaring can be tragically Darwinian. Large displacement bikes ride like pussycats, it's only when you start to ride them harder and they spank back that you see the reality for what it is.

Track days are addictive, and riding on the road becomes passe - then racing, then...

Enjoy the passage of time and journey through the steps - PM me to have a ride on a race prepared 600 for an incredible visceral thrill. A litre is well beyond that even...

[tig99]

With the power comes cost, tyres petrol speeding fines. But soooo much fun. Try a 750, enough power less weight. Big bikes stops you getting old.

[Madmax]

tyres
some times 100km feels so slow you have a urge to get off and have a walk

[Blinkwing]

tyres
some times 100km feels so slow you have a urge to get off and have a walk

Yeah, driving on the autobahn in Germany at speeds of up to 300km/hr ... it's funny how slow 100km/hr seems. When my friends & I slowed down to 100km/hr, we thought we were going at speeds of 40/50. Huge shock when we looked at the speedo. "Wow, 100km/hr is slow!"

[Rhys]

Do you now understand how easy it is to pass a car? Its so effortless its almost disdainful. which is why you get overconfident and pass cars at stupid times, and cant get back into your lane because your riding ability has not grown with your bikes power...

The self control is ridiculously important.

I rember that lesson well, still have f**ked body to prove it!

[DarkLord]

true about the license losing part... I got snapped doing 123 the other day and got 35 demerits and a $170 fine...

kinda glad they didn't catch me on some of my runs around the lake... at the speeds I was doing I'd have been walking home :P