ZX9R or Fireblade - Which to buy?

[Mungel]

As title suggests, I am currently looking to buy a new (used) bike.
Have narrowed it down to either ZX9R - E1 model (2000-2002) or a CBR 900 RR (2000 - 2001) as that's all my finances can stretch to.

Looking for opinions and/or advice on these bikes to help me make a more final decision. Pro's/Con's, what to look out for.. etc etc.

Many thanks.
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Mungel
ZZR600 (dead) - ZX9R (sold) - FZ1S

[Naggedalot]

Have you tried looking at MCN`s website for the reviews of both bikes???
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`80 GP100, `79 KH100, `82 CX500, `82 CB250, `o7 Aprillia SR factory-R 50cc, `08 GSF650

[Bikeless]

Personally i would be looking at a blade or one of the first gsxr 1000's would probably be better.

[G]

[JAMSXR]

To be fair below MCN 'Review' there are lots of comment from owners which can be useful.

We should have a review section on BCF!
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Honda SFX50 > Aprilia SR125 > Aprilia RS125 > Honda RFV400 > K4 GSXR600 > KTM Duke > C1H 636 > K3 GSXR1000 > Aprilia RSV-R > Triumph Street Triple R > Ducati 899 Panigale > Aprilia Tuono 1100 > Triumph Daytona 675R > KTM SuperDuke 1290 2.0

[temeluchus]

Both nice bikes, find one of either in good nick and I suspect you wont be disappointed.
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Some shite cruiser. Now with guns and FREEDOM!

[The Tot]

Swings and roundabouts mate! Be flexible is all I have to say. I was in a similar situation to you 4-5 months ago. It was a tustle between the ZX9R E and CBR929RR so I just bought on price, condition and mileage. Admittedly I bought a CAT C 929RRY but it was in BLOODY good nick and for 2150, a steal! Got a load of spares with it too.

Speaking from personal experience, here's what to look out for on the 929

1) RECALLS! The one that my bike went in for was for replacement fork bottoms. They were suffering pitting and galvanic corrosion on a batch of RRY's and had to be changed. Honda are known for having very bad material's engineers! (later blades suffer galvanic corrosion between the sump bolt and magnesium sump!). I think some blades were recalled for headrace bearings. If your bikes were affected, then they would/ought to have been done.

2) Fuel Injection. Now this is where the 9R spanks the blade. Carburettion is so much more smoother on the 9R according to mate who rode mine and compared it to his. 929's were the first fuel injected mass produced hondas (OK, RC45's excepted) so it's notoriously glitchy at 2-3k in 1st gear. Fit a power commander to smooth it out. Fit a race can and get it dynoed and you'll not only notice an improvement in power delivery and fuelling, your fuel consumption is reduced too!

But for anything else, it's swings and roundabouts. I LOVE my blade and I'm finally getting used to how it handles. I can only speak from experience, but I treat the 929 as a 600 with more grunt. The chassis is stable, predictable but also agile, which some of you may brand as being "boring". I'd just say it's a well refined and well engineerd bike.

Overall, the bike's well built and whenever I do basic servicing tasks, i'm amazed as to how well put the components are! A joy to work on.

I LOVE the underseat storage offered by the 929! I've got my tool kit (selection of 1/4" bits and drivers), chamois + microfibre, gaffa tape, leatherman type tool, WD40, PCIII, Alarm, Bike cover and carry chain + lock under the seat!

Both offer similar sorts of performance although I'm certain that the 9R has a stronger engine in terms of drivability and power. It's also more comfortable than the Blade; but then again, the blade is agile yet forgiving. Goes to show how good the chassis is when you can trust putting sports touring tyres (roadsmarts) on them.

You won't go wrong with any of the two bikes. Admittedly, the insurance on the 9R was cheaper but that said, after owning 2 kawasakis and having been somewhat indifferent to their build quality, I'd happily take the honda... just seems to be better built.

Oh, look into the cockpit and you'll notice the LCD clocks and a multitude of other info which you dont get on the 9R. Blades come with an immobiliser as standard (HISS) so just get a cheap ass alarm if you want something that goes off as a deterrent!

Hope this helps.

Waits for people to big up the ZX9R and convince me I made the wrong choice on the Blade! Personally, I like the late 90's looks of the ZX9R more than the blade, but on either bike, you'll be going too fast for people to notice you anyway. That's another thing. Both bikes are missiles and will see you doing 140+ on a regular basis. So learn to develop a 6th sense or be sensible and don't twist the thottle as much
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The Tot 2019 Z1000SX - 2007 R1
Never argue with autism

[Coxyzxr]

You'd probably fall in love and defend which ever one you do buy.
Both good bikes whilst the Fireblade being slightly more iconic and bathed in a nice lime-light the ZX9 was a definte sleeper that those in the know enjoyed immensley.

ZX9 will be known for it's excellent motor, good ride quality and semi-practicality. With some decent tweaking and suspension sorting it can be made pretty competitive.

Can't comment on the blade as I've never checked them out.
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**WAS FITTED "WRONG WAY ROUND" !** CANT ACCOUNT FOR THE STUPID !

[The Tot]

Oh, one thing with the kwak that you'll LOVE is the induction roar! I miss it on the blade. ALL i get is camchain rattle lol!

But out of the box, VERY little needs to be done on the blade's chassis. It is as sweet as a nut and I can forsee keeping mine for quite some time.

You wouldn't buy either bike for their pratical pretentions but if you carry pillions a lot, I'd go for the 9R.

Oh, one thing that swings the blade in your favour - brakes! Bloody damn fine gold nissins are arguably better than the crappy 6 pot tokico's that come on suzuki's and kawasakis since they're prone to siezing - keep on top of them and they'll be fine, but there's been all manner of problems with 6 pots.

Both bikes made it into pb's top 100 bikes to ride so there you go. I've tried to not be biased here; just a matter of head vs heart + conditions and price. Privately 9R's go for really cheap and well worth the bargain. Scout about on MCNninjas since there were plenty going for cheap enough. I wouldn't spend more than 2.5k on a CBR929 and definitely not more than 2.2k on a 9R-E
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The Tot 2019 Z1000SX - 2007 R1
Never argue with autism

[JAMSXR]

[R6jonny]

[stesmith]

fireblade all the way
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One life- Live It

[The Tot]

It was only in the mags i think. My mate sent me a scanning for the blade one but it's a 7mb file since he took it with his camera!

The conclusion was that both were undervalued due to the competition but now would make VERY sensible performance bike bargains. 9R could never live up to the original blade, but then the 929 could never live up to the R1; the gixxer came and blew both bikes out of the water. BUT, for british roads, the 9R and 929RR have the necessary characters to make them sleepers on the road.

I think they commented something like "For the price of a new moped, you can easily have the best 170mph+ superbikes for the british roads!"
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The Tot 2019 Z1000SX - 2007 R1
Never argue with autism

[Mungel]

Thanks for all the input.

I was swayed by price in the end and picked up a 2000 E1 for £2000. Has a scorpion can (minus the baffle) which sounds sweet and matchs the paint job a treat. Its been dynojetted with the new can, k&n filter and iridium plugs and feels like a rocketship, compared to my old bike (ZZR600 - recently deceased)
Did 150 mile journey back from where I bought it with ease and in more comfort than I was expecting (and better mpg than my old ZZR600)

So far, well impressed. Will be putting it in for an oil/filter change and getting it once over'd to ensure its in top health.

Going to be short shifting for a while yet, as its a different league to my old bike, thats for sure.... 'wheelies at 6k in 2nd gear just off the throttle!!!???!!! What the hells that all about then???
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Mungel
ZZR600 (dead) - ZX9R (sold) - FZ1S

[Coxyzxr]

[Coxyzxr]

Can we get an update on the bike?

I'm certainly interested to see how you're finding it after getting to know it better.

Kind regards.
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**WAS FITTED "WRONG WAY ROUND" !** CANT ACCOUNT FOR THE STUPID !

[Wave2k]

pre 2003 Kawasakis are generally pretty shoddy, a mixture of poor build quality with poor reliabilty and the oh so common head gasket faliure problem, go with the Blade

A friend of mine from a ZX6R (2001) to a ZX9R (same year) and BOTH have had the head gasket go and BOTH are under 15k

Ive lost count of how many pre 03 kwaks have had this, must be in the 30's.
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Ducati 1299 Panigale
2009 Corvette C6 z51
RS125->CBR400->RXS100->GSXR750K2->Ducati749S->CBR600RR5->TL1000R->DRz400->RSVR1000->Honda VTR SP1->CBR400->GSXR1000K6->Honda H100->CBR600RR3->Ducati1299

[G]

Bit late.
I've never met anyone that's had head gasket problems with post-95 design Ninjas. Similarly, build and reliability of the sports bikes, in my experience, tends to be similar to the Hondas of the time, I'd say.

The 02 and 03/04 bikes use the same engine, though there may still have been a few tweaks.

[Coxyzxr]

[Mungel]

[Coxyzxr]

Sounds great.
Keep us posted. Zx9r is my wish list bike.

I really wouldn't worry about realiability issues on it. Whilst I agree build quality (as in paint finish and corroding brakes etc) has always been kawasaki's weak spot, their engines are not.

They also made a few lemons in their time, mainly headg's on the 400's but 9r's are all good. I've ripped apart a few high milage kawa engines now and i can tell you what I found was quite supprising.
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**WAS FITTED "WRONG WAY ROUND" !** CANT ACCOUNT FOR THE STUPID !

[G]

If your old discs are still legal and you're wanting to sell them for a reasonable fee, I'd be interested .

[Mungel]