Thoughts on bike upgrade ZX9 - RF900

[Retep5]

Ok so I'm looking at moving up to a bigger big now. Would like some opinions on bikes.

Currently moving from a Ninja 250R with 25,000kms of riding.
I'm 72kg 6 foot and will have a pillion of similar weight but shorter 5,10.
Budget once I've sold my Ninja 6,000

Looking for a sporty bike but still comfortable for pillion so probably something that's a sports tourer leaning more towards sports.
I will not be doing any serious track days but would like to be able to comfortable do 300 - 400 kilometres a day.
May use for light touring with soft panniers etc....
Would like something that is not a slug but doesn't have to be the fastest thing on the road.

Currently been eyeing up the Suzuki RF900 and the Kawasaki ZX9.

Any other bikes I should take a look at.

Cheers

[EJK]

Earth to Drew, come in Drew... We have a thread for you.

<img src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-K9bSEN70Mxo/UIStulrzV4I/AAAAAAAAAHY/bdNenVJ5yzI/s1600/phone-medium_new.jpeg" />

[White trash]

I've got a MINT 98 ZX9R with 22,000km you can have for $6K. It's the best one I've ever ridden and while RFs are nice, the ZX9 is a different level in terms of performance. Possibly not as comfortable long distance though.

[Warr]

Hornet 900 gets my vote for ... some reason ... and I own one too :)
The others you are looking at are heavier, older.. have carbs.
Hornet get more bang for your buck. Injected .. trouble free and going for good prices.
Easily able to do the pillion thing with ease & also comfortable for pillion too.

[fridayflash]

ive owned an rf, and whilst i liked it id prefer the zx9 (ive ridden one a fair bit)
im also 6' and found the suzuki a bit uncomfortable, the kwacka had more of a
crouch posi but comfortable with it...and a lot more in the way of performance
and handling imo

[blackdog]

Loved my ZX9R to bits. SWMBO didn't one little bit.

Both models are getting on in years a bit now, maybe throw a newer/lower mileage SV1000 or Firestorm into the mix for similar money?

If it's step up from the wee Ninja, neither will disappoint.

[ducatilover]

I'd go the RF, because they're cheaper :sweatdrop

[mossy1200]

http://www.trademe.co.nz/motors/motorbikes/motorbikes/sports/auction-622034312.htm

http://www.trademe.co.nz/motors/motorbikes/motorbikes/sports/auction-610137207.htm

http://www.trademe.co.nz/motors/motorbikes/motorbikes/sports/auction-617584680.htm

http://www.trademe.co.nz/motors/motorbikes/motorbikes/sports/auction-618880982.htm

http://www.trademe.co.nz/motors/motorbikes/motorbikes/sports/auction-610390324.htm

[Drew]

Earth to Drew, come in Drew... We have a thread for you.Hahahahahaha, nice.

The ZX9 is more capable for sure. Slightly less comfortable to tour on for the rider, lots less comfortable for the pillion.

They are getting on in years now, so for reliability I would expect the RF to be the better bet. What with that Suzuki motor being fucken near indestructible...Trust me, a slide needle has made a trip through the intake/combustion chamber/exhaust on mine, and it's still going strong even though I didn't even try to find what was left of it!

Problem with the RFs though, can be finding a non restricted one. New Zealand was never on the export list as I understand it, so we got leftovers from all over the world. The difference is like night and day power wise. 'Pussy' from this place knows which is which, all I know is that my UK one is full power and DOES keep up with an '05 CBR1000RR with standard gearing to 160k's

Couple motivational pics for the musings...Because I like showing off.

[fridayflash]

im with you on the restricted models, my mate had the original 'manta ray' bike (93-96) they were usually single colour bikes
the next ones from 97 onwards were mostly canadian and usa market models and were a lot cheaper..$10,990 new
difference was about 100hp vs 120hp, altho to make it even more confusing there were other low (88) hp models
mine was a bit of a dud..a mint 99 model but im certain it was a low horsies model..it was quick..faster than my mates
bandit but felt gutless..compared to my mates 94 model which was thoroughly grunty! having said all this..rf's are cheap
and you get a lot of bike for the money...i sold mine to a bloke who owned zzr1100 and he thought the rf was real quik!
so maybe its a perception thing?

[baffa]

No love for the CBR900?

Admittedly I have not ridden an RF or ZX9, but I can tell you from experience the CBR900 will tick all the boxes in terms of handling and performance, and is really good to pillion on.

Im 6'2, the gf is 5'11, and we were quite happy on that bike.
She hates the CBR1000 unfortunately.

Looking to sell my 900, its on this site somewhere if you wanna have a look.

[Retep5]

Cheers guys awesome info.

Gives me a few things to check out and lookout for while I'm selling my current bike.

[tigertim20]

what others have you considered, as the links someone posted above show, there is a huge variety in the 6k region, some absolutely fantastic bikes to be had for that kind of coin.

Test ride time!!!:Punk:

[SPman]

ZX9R all the way - good comfy bikes that can still get around pretty quickish! My 2000 model dynoed at 139 rwhp - an R1 at the same time did 137!

[Drew]

ZX9R all the way - good comfy bikes that can still get around pretty quickish! My 2000 model dynoed at 139 rwhp - an R1 at the same time did 137!

Are you implying that your ZX9 had more power than an R1, or that the R1 was fucked? Even a '98 R1 should have over 140 at the tread, especially on a dyno optimistic enough to rate a ZX9 at 139 at the tread.

[AllanB]

Reckon you can do better, newer for $6 or slightly higher. Used market looks to be fucked so there are a lot of nice rides out there going for silly money.

I'd take the Kawa over the Suzi out of the two you listed.

[sugilite]

ZX9R's are great, I raced a c1.
I noticed this on trademe, http://www.trademe.co.nz/motors/motorbikes/motorbikes/sports/auction-623022690.htm
If I'm not mistaken he has fitted a muzzy 998 kit to it. When that same kit was installed in my ZX9R C1 race bike, it all of a sudden could pass 2006 model mildly worked over GSXR's with ease. The power was very manageable still, just more of it everywhere. Amazing piece of quality kit, the motor should last for a very long time. That bike has all sorts of other goodies too...

I did a fair few km's on my sisters unrestricted RF900, and it too is a great bike, just that ZX9R will do pretty much everything better.

[mossy1200]

ZX9R's are great, I raced a c1.
I noticed this on trademe, http://www.trademe.co.nz/motors/motorbikes/motorbikes/sports/auction-623022690.htm
If I'm not mistaken he has fitted a muzzy 998 kit to it. When that same kit was installed in my ZX9R C1 race bike, it all of a sudden could pass 2006 model mildly worked over GSXR's with ease. The power was very manageable still, just more of it everywhere. Amazing piece of quality kit, the motor should last for a very long time. That bike has all sorts of other goodies too...

I did a fair few km's on my sisters unrestricted RF900, and it too is a great bike, just that ZX9R will do pretty much everything better.

Buy It.
Better ask about rear footpegs etc. Also plate mount a bit iffy but looks like a lot of bike for 5.5

[Kornholio]

ZX9R's are great, I raced a c1.

I did a fair few km's on my sisters unrestricted RF900, and it too is a great bike, just that ZX9R will do pretty much everything better.

Heh yeah you were a nut on that ZX9, my mate(Ash Collet) binned one nicely in front of us at Paeroa BOTS.. Have had dealings with an RF900 as well and I would pick ZX9 over RF any day for performance and they not that much less comfortable than the RF... what about a 98+ GSXR1100... they looked fairly comfy for 2 but a mate had one and he could really pedal it along

[F5 Dave]

I had my RF for 5 yrs. They were always very cheap.

I spent quite some time improving mine as Suzuki seemed to have not used a human being as its design platform & there were a plethora of annoying mistakes in placement of components. Pillion footpegs 3" too high for a 5'6 slight female to not get cramp. Indicators so far forward you couldn't run panniers & pillion at the same time. Handlebars 10 degrees too much angle backwards.

I'm 5'8 & road motorcycles are built for me. No really, they are. This was a queer arrangement that maybe suited, heck I dunno, an 8yr old perhaps. If they were strong enough to lift the bus off its stand. A bigger mate made some plates to move the pegs further back.


They were always very cheap. I grew to hate mine.

ZX9s never appealed to me, never ridden one just never like the look of em & what they stood for.

Given the choice I'd plum for a ZX in a heartbeat.

[Drew]

The rear indicators should be given the arse, and integrated into the enormous brake lights. I have intended to do this for a long time, it requires a couple resistors, and a couple normally closed relays.

Peg position has always been fine for me, and I dunno about the bars. Ergos seem fine to me.

If you're not gonna upgrade the suspension on one, run a 190/55 rear tyre instead of the 170. All of a sudden you have cornering clearance and a sportbike like tip in.

I am biased of course. I love my bike. I can peddle it pretty bloody quick, or on a trip to Aukland I only have to stop for gas once.

[F5 Dave]

Yeah I'm just getting cranky

[EJK]

If you want my 2 cents, I too was looking for RFs and other sport tourers before I got my current bike. I read most of Drew's threads and posts about RF900s (Thanks KB search function! *hint hint op*) and read most of the stuffs about RF400s, RF600s, Suzuki Katana GSX600s, 750s (teapots), Honda Blackbirds, Kawasaki ZZR400/600/1100 even ZX9s. I even watched probably most of the RF900 videos on youtube as well, just to see how fast they're capable of. I began to like RF900s for it's reviews and such.

I nearly bought one! But suddenly I saw a late model Plasma Candy Blue ZX10R for sale and my ego got the best of me.

I've always wanted a 2005/06 plasma candy blue ZX6R, but a 10R... what the heck? :innocent:

[Ender EnZed]

This CBR900 (http://www.redbaron.co.nz/used-bikes/Sport/771-Honda-CB900R/) could well be worth a look. It's even local to the OP.

[F5 Dave]

On the sensible side of the coin; lots of guys get hurt stepping up too big too quickly. Don't think a 600 is a pansy bike as they'd whip the thous we grew up thinking were death fast.

[baffa]

Are you implying that your ZX9 had more power than an R1, or that the R1 was fucked? Even a '98 R1 should have over 140 at the tread, especially on a dyno optimistic enough to rate a ZX9 at 139 at the tread.

According to wiki (its good enough) the first gen R1s had 150hp, or around 130 rear wheel hp. They didnt crack 140 rear ponies until 04 onwards.

[Boob Johnson]

I've had a fair bit of saddle time on my RF900 before I sold it. It was the first big bike I owned. Fantastic bike for the dollars but would choose the Kwaka over it. In saying that I tend to agree with a post above, at $6k you could have a 2003/4/5/6/7 SV1000, modern, fuel injected & sounds wicked with pipes! In fact you can buy my 2007 SV thou (30,000km's with 1 owner prior to me) for $6300 :whistle: