Kawasaki Ninja 500R > Reviews (1)

Having enjoyed a 305 for some time, as an alternative to my 1973 T100R, I needed a bit more power for carrying passengers. The 500R came up, quite cheap. I tried it and liked it straight away. Phenominal acceleration, 0 - 60 in less than 4 seconds! It often makes me smile when I see the faces of drivers of "high performance" cars, as they start to disappear in the mirrors. A friend of mine, with a Z4, said my exhaust looked dirty. Used normally, expect around 65 mpg. It doesn't drop too much if it's pushed. And with only 498 cc, it still manages 60bhp.

It revs freely up the redline at 11k, and tops out at around 125, although I've seen an indicated 135. At just over 11,000 rpm, that's probably about right. But remember that the early ones only have a single disc up front and a drum on the back!

It handles well (again, the later ones are better), giving confidence for high speed cornering. Just about everything on it is straight forward, and fairly well thought out. Usual Kwak problems with lacquer peeling. Fairing protects (just). The mirrors are very good for checking the state of your elbows! They are a bit limited for watching traffic behind though. It's pretty comformtable, but you can start feeling it after about 100 miles.

If you've just passed your test, and want a step up to more performance, this is an ideal way to get more experience. easy to control, pretty forgiving and if you look after it (servicing etc) very rewarding motorcycling. After a few months, if you need more performance, move on to your Ninja/ZZR/Fireblade etc. There are so many about, they can be picked up quite cheaply, but so well sought after, can then be sold on, though a lot of owners I have met buy a bigger bike AND keep the GeeP.

To sum up, it's a pretty good commuter, reliable, pretty economical and a good starter. The mirror problem can be overcome several ways: there aftermarket extenders, none original replacements, or, so I have been told, ZX6R mirrors will fit, and give a better view, The only time mine let me down was a broken clutch cable. Maintenance? Doh!