... Its also that lovely Kawasaki Green. It came with braided Goodridge hoses which provide mucho stoppo when needed and a Rhencullen undertray, which has tidied up the arse end nicely. The OE screen has gone and there is a green double bubble to keep the wind over me. A carbon fibre rear ... Read review
Advantages: fast, torquey, badge of honour, superb Disadvantages: not for the faint hearted
...Its also that lovely Kawasaki Green. It came with braided Goodridge hoses which provide mucho stoppo when needed and a Rhencullen undertray, which has tidied up the arse end nicely. The OE screen has gone and there is a green double bubble to keep the wind over me. A carbon fibre rear hugger keeps the crud away from the rear shock and a nice little Scottoiler keeps that chain lasting "6 times longer". A good deal I thought.
... ...SEAT
Is the usual Kawasaki affair, nice and comfy, roomy and sports orientated. I have noticed that when it rains, the rider seat seems to disperse the rain away. Which is nice. The pillion seat, however, is a different story. The pillion sits high, really high, with no grab rails. I'm told by the Mrs that its not too bad, but we'll see after the run to Wales in the summer.
ENGINE
WOW!!! I've been used to the 9R so I ... more
I have only had it a week, so this can be an ongoing review (maybe). After much umming and ahhhing I traded in my ZX9R and RVF 400RR (which I miss badly!!) and stumped up another grand to get the 12R.
Its an X reg so its full power (pre 186mph legislation). Its also that lovely Kawasaki Green. It came with braided Goodridge hoses which provide mucho stoppo when needed and a Rhencullen undertray, which has tidied up the arse end nicely. The OE screen has gone and there is a green double bubble to keep the wind over me. A carbon fibre rear hugger keeps the crud away from the rear shock and a nice little Scottoiler keeps that chain lasting "6 times longer". A good deal I thought.
Missing one thing though... Blueflame Evo 3 Titanium Oval exhaust. £260 from the great guys at Taz Motorcycles. Now we're talking. Putting on an average on 4.3 horses it should hopefully help the ZX12R to a healthy 192bhp (gotta get that Dyno'd first though).
This bike is capable of silly things so I'll break it into sections. DASHBOARD Well set out, everything easily available to the eye. The numbers on the speedo are incredibly tight together, from 0 - 220mph. Its not a screeming rev box so the redline is at 11000 (although you never spend to much time up there!). There is also a nice digital screen with a fuel guage, trip meters, clock and engine temp.
SWITCHGEAR Usual stuff. Cable clutch (which is a 12 plated clutch!), horn, lights, start, emergency stop etc...
TANK The fuel tank is decieving, its plastic and its a dummy. On top we have the fuse box and petrol cap. The front half of the dummy tank helps house the huge engine and airbox. The back half is tank, which goes down in an L shape under the seat (ooeer). Also you are only going to get about oooh 110miles to the tank. Which is scarey because its a 22L tank.
SEAT Is the usual Kawasaki affair, nice and comfy, roomy and sports orientated. I have noticed that when it rains, the rider seat seems to disperse the rain away. Which is nice. The pillion seat, however, is a different story. The pillion sits high, really high, with no grab rails. I'm told by the Mrs that its not too bad, but we'll see after the run to Wales in the summer.
ENGINE WOW!!! I've been used to the 9R so I was expecting a bit more poke but this is a joke! The bike will do silly speeds and can lose you your license in two gears. Dumping the clutch at the lights will send you skywards, slipping the clutch at higher revs will leave lovely black lines on the road. This bike will outspeed a Honda Civic Type R in third gear, so.... needless to say , you need to be very carefull!
It will also pootle at 30mph in 6th gear. Gently roll it to 40mph and the engine responds without bogging. Remarkable. Throttle response is excellent and not snatchy, this might be to do with the F1 grade (so it says) sparks, and excellent ECU governing the injectors. This is Kwaks flagship bike so everything is well bred. I have found that with the after market end can the ECU gets a little confused with exhaust gases echoing in the pipes, as a result you will notice slight drops and gains in revs. This is sorted by being a bit more positive with the throttle hand.
SUSPENSION Sorted. USD forks keeps it up-to-date and sharp. Its not going to out corner a 600 with its weight, but it will eat any bumps and ripples trying to keep up. What's more fun is two up. The bike will corner perfectly with a pillion. It think this is something to do with a longer wheelbase and the 200 section rear tyre.
TYRES Be prepared to fork out, a 200 rear tyre will only last the hamfisted around 3000 miles. I have Dunlop D207's on at the mo, and I'm happy with them. Although I will jump ship to Bridgestones for the summer.
FAIRING Designed in a windtunnel by Kawasaki Aerospace. Perfect for high speeds. It has fins on the lower sides to keep the bike stable at very high speeds. I dread to think what it would cost to replace this fairing OE.
RAM AIR. This is where the performance comes in. The quirky snout that potrudes underneath the lights is a wolf in sheeps clothing. At 100mph it can add over 12BHP to the engine. And I'm told by a Honda race technician that at 150MPH there is up to 6PSI in the intake. Thats the equivalent to the turbo pressure in a Cosworth RS.
GENERAL The bike is great, it sheds is 230kg (ish) weight as soon as it moves. It will handle like a smaller bike, and give you the confidence to hammer it out of a roundabout. BUT BEWARE, you will spin the back end up if you are hamfisted. The lights are excellent and horn is substantial. This is a bike for big bike fans. It will make an R1 feel like a push bike and it will shame some car drivers in engine size. Like the Hayabusa, the ZX12R is something to be very proud of indeed.
Performance, Comfort, Looks 
