My review on the 60 ZX10.

[Fishy]

Had a few hours to kill yesterday so I went in to Mt Edens to have a good look at the 06 ZX10, man what a sexy bike (apart from the ugly heat shields).

Took it for a spin to compare it to the 05 which I rode not so long ago.

The bikes general finish and apperance is just awesome!!. Top marks to Kawasaki on the design, look and overall finish on this bike!. Black with chrome decals looks wickedly evil too!. Instruments are very well placed and easy to read. Mirrors work well, far more visibility than my blades mirrors.

Starting the bike revealed a deep drone from the twin exhaust which would drown out any other factory exhaust system on the thou's.

Starting off down the road the bike has a really nice riding position and felt so smooth and nimble (but coming off my bike with a rear tyre that is so farked its near shreaded would make a GSXR1100M feel nimble).

Opening it up down the motorway onramp was interesting, first gear launched the front skyward almost instantly, clicked second and kept it up for about 3 seconds then dropped it down as I clicked 3rd to early. The interesting thing was is that when the front touched down again I had a huge handful of throttle which had the front just hovering off the ground.

Any gear has mountains of pull right through the rev range which will get you smiling from ear to ear everytime you twist your wrist!.

Out of all the 1000cc sports bikes, this bike gets a 10/10 for comfort!. They have put a nice new gel seat on it and man what a huge difference it makes from the normal closed cell foam type seats. I will be investigating if there are any aftermarket gel seats available for my bike!. If anyone knows if they are available please let me know.

Overall in factory condition I would rate it at 9/10.

The things that I didn't like were...

a) The ugly heat shields around the twin exhasts.
b) The postion of the rear brake lever is too low when it engages in its "factory setting" (but hey, I hardly use the rear anyway - and its easy to adjust)
c) I couldn't take it home with me.

If you are in the market for a new 1000cc superbike, don't buy anything till you have riden one of these. You will not regret it!.

[bugjuice]

yeah, I sat on one at Mt Eden a wee while ago, and plan on taking one out myself.. very nice bikes
The heat shield and exhaust is easy to deal with when you buy it, Kawa probably had to do it for regulations, and the rear brake pedal is an easy adjustment

[Dazza]

Apparently Gel is no better than the high density foam now available,so I found out after dishing out hard earned dosh for a gel seat,being informed 2mths later by the same dude that sold me the seat:mad: :cry: :calm: But your right,look forward to riding an 06.

[Fishy]

Man after riding my blade, the 05 R1, 05 ZX10 and the K5 gixxer Im pretty sure they all have foam seats and all feel as hard as rock after about 30 minutes of riding.

this new seat on the ZX10 is just awesome!!, maybe its slightly different to the seat you purchased for your KTM?.

[Fishy]

yeah, I sat on one at Mt Eden a wee while ago, and plan on taking one out myself.. very nice bikes
The heat shield and exhaust is easy to deal with when you buy it, Kawa probably had to do it for regulations, and the rear brake pedal is an easy adjustment

Do it Buggy, you'll be blown away!. They are just awesome machines.

[Sniper]

NIce write up FS. Almost be tempted to got out and try take one for a ride.

[bugjuice]

Do it Buggy, you'll be blown away!. They are just awesome machines.
hell, you don't need to tell me that.. I'll be out there soon enough ;)

[k14]

b) The postion of the rear brake lever is too low when it engages (but hey, I hardly use the rear anyway)
you know they they are adjustable (well should be anyway), a few mins and it should be fixed.

Yeah agree that they are alot nicer in the flesh than in photos. Wouldn't mind a quick blat on one.

[Fishy]

you know they they are adjustable (well should be anyway), a few mins and it should be fixed.

Yeah agree that they are alot nicer in the flesh than in photos. Wouldn't mind a quick blat on one.

Yeah I know they are adjustable, was just commenting on the "Factory" settings on everything. :niceone:

[sugilite]

Great write up man, I enjoyed reading that.
I must get down to the local Kawasaki shop in Dannevirke for a test ride! :rofl:

[sAsLEX]

Starting the bike revealed a deep drone from the twin exhaust which would drown out any other factory exhaust system on the thou's.


One purchaser is putting a single pipe on his, similar to Loose Bruces and just takig the other pipe off and blocking it. Will be interesting to see how it sounds.

[Fishy]

Does LB have an 06 ZX10? I wonder how it would look with one bazooka out the back instead of 2? Be keen to see pics of one if someone has seen one done.

[sAsLEX]

Does LB have an 06 ZX10? I wonder how it would look with one bazooka out the back instead of 2? Be keen to see pics of one if someone has seen one done.

Nah using the same sort of pipe as what pizza boy has on his broken gixxer.

[Fishy]

Oh I see :niceone:

[Paulus]

NIce write up FS. Almost be tempted to got out and try take one for a ride.

What do you think our chances of ever seeing a demonstrator in Chch are? I'd say somewhere near nil.

[bugjuice]

Where's Nil?

[Paulus]

Where's Nil?

A place close to every franchise holder in Chch. Especially when asking about demonstatrors (except Sportzone Suzuki).

[Fishy]

Poor buggers, Auckland is so easy to get your hands on demo bikes. Another good reason to be a JAFA

[beyond]

Sounds awesome. Good write up.

Now how many bikes can I fit in my garage?? :shifty:

[Mental Trousers]

Poor buggers, Auckland is so easy to get your hands on demo bikes. Another good reason to be a JAFA

There's good reasons to be a jafa??? You live south of the Bombays mate, so that makes you a wannabe-jafa. Not a good thing.

Seen them getting around Manfield last weekend. Damn nice. Physically they're bloody difficult to distinguish from a ZX636. In fact, just to piss people off I'd love to see someone put an underseat single muffler conversion on one , cover up the ZX10 stickers, then go out and scare some gixxers etc.

[Fishy]

Sounds awesome. Good write up.

Now how many bikes can I fit in my garage?? :shifty:

You have room? Shit you can store my bike in there if you want? Will save me from having to leave it exposed to the elements at the moment. :niceone:

[Fishy]

There's good reasons to be a jafa??? You live south of the Bombays mate, so that makes you a wannabe-jafa. Not a good thing.

Seen them getting around Manfield last weekend. Damn nice. Physically they're bloody difficult to distinguish from a ZX636. In fact, just to piss people off I'd love to see someone put an underseat single muffler conversion on one , cover up the ZX10 stickers, then go out and scare some gixxers etc.

Only been south of the Bombays for 10 months now, so I still sorta feel like a JAFA and I work in Mt Wellington so I guess I am still one.

Yep they do look similar to the 636, bloody sexy looking bike man!. Would love to own one. Come on BIG Wednesday lotto draw!.

[bugjuice]

the old ZX10 (04/05) look like the ZX6s but the new one doesn't really look too much like it.. Headlights and exhaust cans are way different for a start..