Kawasaki ZR7

...your knees into the tank.... Great bit of design. If you know the Z series you'll see that it has just been cosmetically upgraded to suit modern market and kawasaki are just playing on a good engine. Thanks kawasaki.

I'll try to add more as time progresses...  ... more

I ride the ZR7-F1. i love it even though it has it's faults which do sometimes annoy me.

But what is different about it?? Not much, apart from cosmetics and the rear swing arm and mono shock. There has been just a slight modification with the frame and ride style in comparison with previous Z's. It's the same old proven 'bomb proof' engine. it's superb on long journeys. doesn't like sitting at lights in hot weather with a hot engine. economically brilliant, tyres are an improvement though wheels are pretty standard alloys which have been used on other makes.

One thing, I'm not fully happy taking a corner when it's raining. You can feel the front end go light when cornering and it sometimes feels like it's gonna skip out. Maybe it's me, maybe the bike. The headlamp seriously needs an upgrade or additional lights.
Overall, looks good, will run for ever and parts are reasonably priced. Servicing is simple. After spending a month touring parts of France on this bike, i've learnt a bit more about it.

The turning cidcle is quite short and will handle this turn with ease under good control. On a long run, fuel consumption is best at about 55mph. If you find a nice long stretch of road, opening up the throttle is adviseable hehehe.. it loves to sit at over 100mph with ease. The bike tends to gently mould itself into long sweeping corners and even at speed it will hug the tarmac.

The standard tyres on this bike are the Bridgestone 'battleaxe'. Seems to be a medium to soft compound. after a good dry ride, you can feel the tyres and how hot and sticky they get. The way i've been riding these last few months means I will soon have to replace the rear tyre as it's starting to go bald, but saying that, this will be the first tyre change after 9000 miles. I'd probably get another 3 or 4 thousand miles from the tyre, but taking safety into mind (that and the law) i'll change it soon.

Changing or cleaning the air filter is quite simple though putting it back can sometimes be a bit tricky. Try to get the filter aligned correctly.. or struggle for ten minutes or so. Battery removal/installation is relatively easy, though you gotta remove the petrol tank, luckily the bike comes supplied with all the correct tools.

If for any reason you had to 'jump start' the bike, then i advise carrying a piece of insulated cable, at least 5mm thick, with a small crocodile clip at one end. The small clip will be needed to connect to the battery + terminal. The earth connection can go anywhere but the gear change arm is a good spot.. Any other jump lead clip will not fit down the gap between bike frame, tank mount and battery housing. there is a big risk of shorting the battery on the frame if you use a large connecting clip.

With all my previous bikes my left hand used to go numb on occasions. I've heard that there is a scientific reason as to why bikes should cause this, but with the ZR7, I'm yet to experience this problem.

Headlamp adjustment is a small screw under the headlamp itself...easy to adjust.

There is plenty of storage room under the seat, I carry a chain and padlock, waterproofs, spare gloves, a map, bit of wire with crocodile clip..hehe. and a few other select tools. The tools are thoughtfully stored behind the battery.

for those of you who are worried about the seat height, there is an option to buy the reduced height seat.

Although the brakes work well, I am changing the standard rubber hose for the reinforced hosing. This hosing has a flexible metal casing that increases brake performance by reducing the amount of 'swell' in the standard hose.

A genuine Kwaka Zr manual even gives you a table for shim replacements. i love the stainless steel exhaust, you can even tuck your knees into the tank.... Great bit of design. If you know the Z series you'll see that it has just been cosmetically upgraded to suit modern market and kawasaki are just playing on a good engine. Thanks kawasaki.

I'll try to add more as time progresses... 

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