lily your dads hould be fine with all his experience, my old man(52) bought a new daytona 600 and hasnt been above 9000rpm on it yet, he says he doesnt need to its more than enough for hima nd whats he used to and hes ridden rc30/ow01's round donington when hew as cheif paddock marshall there

natty its a sad loss of life and ithink there shoudl be some limit to what you can ride after passing your test these days, 3 weeks ago i did a cbt for a 20 year old who's dad was paying for his test for his 21st birthday and then giving him his old 1500 goldwing for his first bike. i think a 600cc limit should be enforced that will be more than enough for a newbie to ahndle.

p.s. see you at louigimoto on saturday, im taking your advice and going to rich's to get the belts done

I agree deej 600 should be the limit for at least a year.

As for Kawasakis I had a ZX7R for three years before my 996.

lovely bike but .......

yep first bike I owned after passing my test.
amazed im still alive.

if I had the dosh I would get a ZX10 but only as an extra not a replacement

Them there New Fireblades keep winking at me from shop windows :rolleye:

JPM - if you fancy a thrash on a ZX as I've said before, you're welcome to take mine out.

She's nearly back to standard now though, so you'll have to be gentle!!!

I'm gonna use the ZX as a road bike for me and Mrs Rattler to pootle about on - its too slow for the track ;)

I'm saving the track work for the fire-breathing monster!!!!


At the risk of being overly controversial, I have a theory about Dukes and trackdays.

As you know I drifted away from Ducatis a couple of years back to a race R6 and really regretted it.

The R6 probably was a bit tired and may have not been the best example of oriental machinery, but I very much liked the fact that a Ducati can flatter track riding, whereas you had to absolutely scream the R6 to get the best out of it.

The same is true of the ZX10R, (albeit to a lesser degree, as there is relatively a lot more torque in the ZX than there was in the R6), but nothing really compares to the torque and laziness that a Ducati can offer you.

If you're in the wrong gear exiting a bend, so what, the Ducati will still pull you out of there sharpish, get it wrong on the ZX and you've got to wait a month before you can get on it fully or it'll spit you off in a trice!!!

It really is a beast and took me a long time in Spain to get anywhere near a decent pace on. (that and it pi55ed down!!!!)

I'd stick with the Duke for trackdays, the way it delivers power can get you up to speed quickly and is, IMHO, easier to ride quickly on a track for the likes of us.

Would the ZX go quicker than the 999R on a track? Probably, but you'd need a lot of track time to get used to it and then would have to try a lot harder to stay focussed. Any lapse in concentration could lead to a big mess!!!

Maybe that's why Weeksy is taking a look back over the Ducati fence? ;)

What's really frightening is how much bike you can buy nowadays for so little money. The ZX is an advanced bike that has far more power than I could ever use or control. The new GSXR1000 has even more power - beware!!!

In addition, one of the main reasons that I'm looking forward to the DD series this year is that I will be a better rider at the end of the season.

The Monnie has sooo little power that unless you maintain max entry and exit corner speed, you're not gonna get anywhere. It has approx 100bhp LESS than the ZX - amazing!!!

So maybe you should be looking at a much smaller trackbike that'll improve your overall riding skills? ZXR400 or the like??? That way you can keep the 999R for DSC trackdays and then stuff the Kwaka around Oulton to your heart's content?

Who knows? I'll stop now!
Tim:ninja:

Good read tim... well said:smug: So let me know if your looking at flogging the beast :devil:

You could laways wait a bit longer, according to mcn. A new zx10 is on the way.:o

I did think about seeing if I could get a decent trade in price for the new Gixxer ;) .

If I do sell the ZX it'll be to get a MV1000 I reckon. The MV's really do look the bollux !!!



There will be a new ZX10R next year - 2 year cycles for the big Jap thous'

Tim:ninja:

[Edited on 7-4-2005 by Rattler]

Ride one first..... They look the nuts, But must say i was a wee disappointed with the overall package !

deffo ride one first i had the spr i know its not the 1000 but i was so dissapointed i turned it out after 5 weeks