Kawasaki ZZ-R 1100
The Kawasaki ZZ-R 1100 was born in 1990 with the launch of the D1 model. Although now seen as more of a sports-tourer than a race bred sports bike it was for a long while the fastest bike on the road. It was and still is an outstanding all-rounder being both quick and comfortable. The subsequent annual evolutions have continuously tweaked the bike...
Above: My 1997 Kawasaki ZZ-R 1100
After a couple of seasons on a ZZ-R 600 I decided it was time to take the step up and get some real power beneath me. I'm not a small bloke and after 2 years the middleweight ZZ-R was failing to give me the thrill it once did. Also, the maximum carrying capacity of 150kg meant that carrying a pillion was not an option. My 600 had just over 6000 on the clock which was very low for a six year old bike - all the sixes... not a good omen and definitely time for a change.
Being a good clean bike with low mileage I was looking to sell for around £2750. Ideally I wanted an older bike that would see me with bit of cash in my pocket after the dealing was done. I looked at a few options though I really knew that my mind was already made up. The Honda VFR was mighty tempting but the cost was prohibitive. A good second-hand model would have far outstripped my meagre budget and seen less than zero spare cash. I looked at retro muscle bikes too but they didn't really do it for me. The ZZ-R 1100 just made sense to both my heart and my head.
EBay seemed like a good place to start looking for that bargain bike and I watched quite a few over the course of a couple of weeks. I lingered and lurked around a bevy of promising auctions and patiently waited to make my move. All the good bikes were failing to meet their reserve and even the less attractive ones were making more than I was prepared to splash out. There was however, a half decent bike that hit £1600, reserve not met, and I decided to chase it up. It was being sold by a Honda dealer in South London who had taken it in part-ex. I enquired what sort of money they were after and was told £2100, clearly a prompt for me to go £1900 so we could finally settle on a nice round £2000. I didn't really think they would be interested in my ZZ-R 600 but I asked on the off chance. I told the salesman that I had it up for £2900 and realistically expected to get £2700. He checked his little black book and came back with a figure of £2400. The haggling commenced once more and we struck a deal at £2500. That's a 99 (T) ZZ-R 600 with 6200 miles swapped for a 97 (R) ZZ-R 1100 with 36000 miles plus a monkey in the back pocket. And that was that... Both dealer and customer happy.
So my new bike is an eight year old Kawasaki ZZ-R 1100 in Burgundy, 36000 miles, FSH to 34k, touring Scott-Oiler, GIVI rack, new Battlax tyres front and rear, new chain and cush drive and a 9 month MOT. BARGAIN...!!!
If you require more information on the general & technical aspects then check out the links below:
ZZR forum at MSN
Northampton based club for ZZR owners
Motad exhausts - stainless steel front ends, cans and full systems
Cheap and easy online insurance - get a quote instantly
You bought your ZZR, you took a chance, now worm your way out of a speeding fine