Kawasaki GPZ500S

I thaught i,d write a review on the GPZ500 as i have owned one for 15 months now, untill it was stolen 3 weeks ago! :( allthough it has since been recovered and im hoping to buy it back off the insurance company. (hence my review on the vfr400 nc24 which i braught to replace it) My bike is an 96 reg on an N reg, and had 10,000 miles when i braught it, and i have covered 7500 miles on it. Ok as with the NC24 review i,l start from the front and work my way backwards! Front tyre is 17 inch and lasts a while, it had an original front tyre on it when i got it, and only cost me £60 to replace it, so ... more

20 years ago I passed my bike test and have ridden alot of bikes in the past. However I have had a family and steered away from them until recently. Wanting to get back into bikes but not over powering myself I opted for a T reg Kawasaki GPZ500s. It was cheap enough to buy considering a lot of other makes and models of a similar size and age were more expensive. Then I found out why. The 17" wheel does absolutley nothing for handling. It was not the kind of bike to drop to the knees on an open bend, it was the type of bike to slide where it wanted to. She started first time though I did find ... more

Right - a real world review. I have owned 3 of these bikes. I keep each one for 60,000 miles then trade it in against a new model. I ride this bike in all weathers (except snow and ice), doing a 60 mile commute to work every day. Some of the reviews on here make me laugh. For example: "Fuel consumption I found to be no more than an average car" Really? I'd like to see an average car getting 60mpg "just starting out consider something else, A Bandit, or CBR600" Start out riding on a bike weighing over 200kg or a 100bhp sports 600? This is a good way to end up having a nasty accident. "front ... more

I have had two of these. Well I have ridden one and I have just bought a damaged repairable from eBay, it's not on the road yet. The one I HAVE used is the one I bought just after I passed my test. I had a Honda NSR125R and felt quite comfortable on that, so I wanted a similar bike with a bigger engine. I had only passed the restricted test so I could only have a bike of 33BHP or less. I scoured EBay and all the local papers but I couldn't find anything within my budget that I liked and was below 33bhp. I put a search in for under 33bhp on eBay and an auction for a gpz500s came up. It had been ... more

If you are new to the bike market and want a good all rounder with good looks then this is the one for you. It has enough power to see of the average family car and it looks like a super bike (at a distance) 600 bikes will leave you standing in third gear but if you want to race this is not the one for you. You do not have to bend to far to reach the throttle so your back won't snap after 3 miles. The sales suggest it is still one of the best for novices and town work,but if you are a novice you will find it perfect,however you will be buying a bigger one within the year. The engine is ... more