Kawasaki ER5 > Reviews (18)

Moved up from 125 class to the ER 5 and what a surprise....... made me realise how dangerous 125's are. With this bike it does what you ask of it! Ok it aint in the super sports league but........lets face it you are still looking at Ferrari type acceleration all the way to 100 mph. It will go faster but the wind prevented me!!!!! 45mpg cheap insurance cant ask for more. 0-60 in 4.5 secs is that slow? No it isnt. Does me, I dont need a p*n*s extension, this bike is light and great fun. Could do with a fairing as 80 mph is your realistic sustainable speed, £50 from Skidmarx, but it gets there fast enough for me, you really dont need any more performance, also if you are 6ft or over, forget it, its too small. Im 5ft 9in and I wouldnt want it any smaller. Great sound from the throbbing power plant very satisfying.
Update - Well afew more days have gone by and im afraid to have to report some bad news. After a visit to the local jet wash, and yes i was careful, I witnessed the paint on the crank cover actually peeling off! A piece the size of my thumb just flaked off. OMG at this rate its gonna be totally nude in a month or two! What do you do, get a brush out and get the airfix enamel on it? Well I did say poor finish I really now mean lousy and far worse than poor! Also the gear change from 1/2 is really a bang and the clutch on fast up changes cant cope if you are really gunning it. Quite snatchy in low gears and not much torque in the low gears, you have to dance a bit on the pedal. Well battleship grey enamel does the job and covers the bare metal well, keep a pot handy!
Update. Dont keep the rider manual under the seat as when you wash the bike it fills with water then you have papier mache manual! There are no drain holes!
By the way I have tried the GS 500 from Suzuki and its pants truly horrible compared to the ER5.