Faults:

Some scoring of the cam lobes.

General Comments:

This bike is fast by any standard with breathtaking acceleration.

It handles very well, and feels solidly planted all the time. It is a very stable bike.

The bike looks great. One of the better styling jobs by Kawasaki.

The acceleration is linear, and the engine doesn't need to be revved that high to get this bike moving.

You can cruise at 90+ all day long on this bike, and it's not even breaking a sweat.

The wind protection is very good.

The braking is very good.

Reliability is excellent.

This is a sport tourer, however the emphasis is on the sport side.

I've put about 20,000 miles on it, and I'm still very happy with it.

Depending on you size, age, health etc. it will be comfortable or not.

The stock seat is horrible for long rides.

There is one known problem that many of these bikes had, and that is the cam lobes pit severely. Some owners have replaced the cams, others continued to ride without replacing them with no apparent failures or other ill affects.

The bike is rather heavy and has a sizable wheel base.

Gas mileage is typically around 42 MPG, assuming you're reasonably gentle with the throttle.

Faults:

Faultless so far.

General Comments:

For a start this is very fast.

A quarter-tonne bike that covers the quarter mile in 10.5s! That will run to 180mph without the BS factor?

That's a fast bike; it's faster than Honda's Blackbird. It also boasts more ground clearance and more settled suspension. This helps it to hide its weight disadvantage to out-handle the Blackbird too (I know because I owned a Blackbird).

The ZZ-R offers brilliant rider accommodation with a huge fairing and a really well balanced riding position.

Tank range is very good for such a missile, but be warned, if you’re trigger-happy you could be stopping every 130 or so miles and spending time in jail if they catch you.

The engine and handling really suit the bike though; Ultra-linear power with smooth delivery and a very stable chassis make for a bike you can ride a long way on - very quickly. You can easily satisfy all your needs with this one bike (scratching, touring, commuting, except off roading!!) and even pillions like them.

This is a bike that has been very cleverly designed and developed to fulfill a niche missed altogether by the ZX-12R, Hayabusa and most other superbikes. It's the best big super sports-tourer, and the one of the most versatile day to day bikes you could own.

I really like it, but am gonna sell it and buy a KTM Adventure!