zx9r c2 long term review

[trevor saxe-coburg-gotha]

i bought a zx9r c2 for £1800 in autumn of '17. It was on 18k. I didn't want a zx9r, as such - but I wanted my cb500 a lot less! A street triple or a vfr750 / 800 seemed viable. Test riding it in the wet it felt....okay. I could tell it had 'something.' After googling and word-of-mouth 'research,' I took a punt. The bike was bone stock apart from some weird sissy bar thing I quickly ditched, and a faux carbon hugger (useful!).

https://i.ibb.co/0Xh4NwK/P1040240.jpg
5 years ago - still on 6 pots, OEM rubber lines and with OEM green wheels

It'd soon stranded me twice. Fuel pipe and coolant hose (perished). It had notchy AF headstocks too. After tyres, a valve check (w/ adjustment) I was soon into it for a fair chunk over £500. Not really a surprise, though.

The very plush settings turned out to be maxxed out softness. I went back to standard to stop it understeering and squatting, when coming on the power out of bends. This improved handling - except now it was too hard. W/ recent fork oil and tyres, plus swing arm bushings greased, ditto rear linkage, it was a good time for a set up. I went to Alpha in Morley and John duly sorted it (£40). Anyone in the Leeds area with cartridge forks and good adjustment front and rear, use this guy. He made it handle whilst still being plush.

https://i.ibb.co/QkBgzVQ/P1040250.jpg
The c2 and c1 bikes look a bit long in the tooth now, to be fair. The single light and nose cone more generally aren't great, styling-wise imo. The twin light E bikes are far sharper. Box section swing arm looks a bit Palaeolithic too (cf gull arm blades of same era, e.g.)

6-12 months in and i was starting to gel with it. Nines are not mega light but not heavy either. They make decent power for their class, same as a zzr1100, actually - but without the excess lard or length.

With 130bhp at the wheel, the nine is a right laugh. Power everywhere, always - but never abrupt or savage. The fuelling is fantastic. High watermark of the carb era. Wrist to throttle connection is telepathic - in town, or slinging it down goat tracks, or on technical b-roads. Brilliant.

Rider comfort is very good - a proper broad saddle, clip ons over the yoke, pegs not too high. Perfect for me at 5' 11" and salad-phobic.

Nines handle well - but absolutely benefit from new tyres. I will run them down to 1mm - but this is a sh1t idea. Once replaced, I feel like rossi - and wonder why I ever scrimped. On new rubber it's really accurate, happy to tip in, and feels lovely everywhere, all the time. Honestly - dreamy.

At some point my nine went in for a service for a few days. The guy lent me his cbr600fx. Straight away I was razzing the f*** out of it, wondering what the hell i was doing with a heavy, point-and-squirt merchant. The 600 took no steering at all!! It just went where you looked - there was no conscious counter-steering or careful corner set-up dramas. Also, it seemed to weigh nothing.

A month later I'd bought a W reg stock one with 12k on it from a bloke in Otley. It was great - apart from for one thing. It had a huge hole at 5k. They all do that, sir. You had to be up around 8k at all times. And the range was pants, as well. It was all pretty annoying, tbh. Bit cramped as well - more a lad's bike than a fatty's.

6 months later the 600 was gone, and the nine was firmly back in favour. Ok, it needed a bit more nursing than the cbr - the nine isn't ever "agile" as such. But the power trade-off was too high a price to pay, in my books. Overtakes on the nine are the proverbial Martini - any time, any place, anywhere. After years on the 500, taking pains to tee passes up properly and diligently, the nine just said yeah, no, that's on. Give it some welly and it'll be sorted in a second. No muss no fuss. It's almost too easy. Turbine smooth, quiet, oodles of oomph - always up for a tussle = loads of fun.

Yeah ok it's tried to kill me a couple of times. A swing arm bushing collapsed on me near Sutton on the Forest - I had no idea what was going on, but it just would NOT turn properly. But 99% of the time it's been a *very* good bike.

A couple of years ago I swapped the 6 pots for some refurb'd Nissin calipers off a Bandit 12 (cost me about £120 - a right steal). Just bolt straight on (need different banjo fastener though). And Hel lines. Wow - night and day difference. The lever travel is incredible - feel is a bit wooden, but fts. 4 pots waste the OEM Tokicos.

https://i.ibb.co/sb3zF5C/zx9r-c2-22-6.jpg
From a week or two ago - now with new discs and powder coated wheels (went w/ dark grey cos worried green would be wrong match)

So, in the last 80k miles it's had a radiator (about 30k ago I bought a Chinese E model rad new for £130 and my mate bodged it on - it's been amazing....so much better than OEM), and headstock bearings every 20k. Wheel paint I already mentioned. A couple of speedo/tacho bulbs here and there (I ride rough lanes, quickly). Callipers. About three rear shocks (low mile OEM ones cheap as chips on eBay). Some valve adjustment (but only twice, I think).

In other words, these bikes are unkillable. I have thrown all manner of crap at this machine, and it shrugs it off. In this way, it's the same as all those other great golden era litre bikes - the late '90s blades, the big Fazers, the gsxrs, et al. They're all over-engineered, and although their finishes might be a bit thin in places, they're essentially tough, fast AF and loads of fun.
____________________
"Life is a sexually transmitted disease and the mortality rate is one hundred percent."

Mobylette Type 50 ---> Raleigh Grifter ---> Neval Minsk 125

[chickenstrip]

Still love my modified 2005 Fazer, still don't think there's a bike made since I would want more. All bikes have their downsides, but this one has the fewest. I suspect that's how your ZX9 is for you.

The "golden era" you refer to really does seem to be a thing, doesn't it? I think it has something to do with a time before everything was sacrificed for sheer performance (you could still have fast AND comfortable), and things got too complex with all the electronic stuff.

Bikes have changed, but humans haven't.
____________________
Chickenystripgeezer's Biking Life (Latest update 19/10/18) Belgium, France, Italy, Austria tour 2016 Picos de Europa, Pyrenees and French Alps tour 2017 Scotland Trip 1, now with BONUS FEATURE edit, 5/10/19, on page 2 Scotland Trip 2 Luxembourg, Black Forest, Switzerland, Vosges Trip 2017
THERE'S MILLIONS OF CHICKENSTRIPS OUT THERE!

[trevor saxe-coburg-gotha]

Yeah having never had ABS or traction control, I can't miss it. ; - )

Me and a mate were on about the k5 gsxrs the other day - f*** me. Mad!! According to John Warrington - a tuning specialist at Malton - there are two distinct k5 gsxrs (even though they have the same designation, frame and panels etc. etc.). Some make 140 on his dyno, and some make 160 (!!!!). And of course, this was pre-ABS and traction control!

Those have to be the maddest of the mad - although I think, strictly speaking, post-golden era (that 'class' being no later than 2000), and EFI not carb. Apparently, a Power Commander III mod is seen as pretty desirable on the K5. In any case, the point is 160 at the wheel, no ABS nor TC. No wonder the k5 is such a cult thing these days.

This reminded me of something else, as well. I seem to remember reading not *that* long ago that the zx9r C1/2 was nearly £10k when it first arrived in dealers!! I'm not sure that can be true, mind you - apparently the gsxr k5 was £8750 five years later. I think the Yen might've taken a bit of a nosedive some time in the early 2000s, however.

Regardless, my bike would cost almost £17k today, once inflation is taken into account (according to some calculations, at least).
____________________
"Life is a sexually transmitted disease and the mortality rate is one hundred percent."

Mobylette Type 50 ---> Raleigh Grifter ---> Neval Minsk 125

[chickenstrip]

[trevor saxe-coburg-gotha]

[chickenstrip]

[Zen Dog]

Great review. My cousin had a ZX9R back in the day and he absolutely loved it, in full 90s style he invested in colour-matched green and purple leathers and lid to go along with it too.
____________________
Current - '94 VFR750FR, '00 VFR800FI Previous - '10 Street Triple R, '92 MZ ETZ301, '05 TTR250, NSR125R, KMX125, "Honda" Win (chinese copy of an old Honda design with a C90 engine)
My bike trip around S.E. Asia 2010/2011

[trevor saxe-coburg-gotha]

[trevor saxe-coburg-gotha]

[chickenstrip]

[Irezumi]

Good write up.

I used to have a J1 ZX6R (fish eye) which was slightly downgeared and at the time I found more than enough. Probably the best bike overall I have owned. Always wanted to have a go on the A1p which was 636cc to see what that was like.

Might be worth trying to have a go on one to see if that meets the power/handling combination you're after.

[Kawasaki Jimbo]

[trevor saxe-coburg-gotha]

One interesting thing to note about the zx9r is that the 'B' designated bikes, which were the first version to be manufactured, were noticeably heavier than all subsequent models. The B3s and B4s ('96 & '97) weighed in at 247kg - compared to the then Blade's 204kg. The ZX9r did redline at 12k, compared to the Blade's 10. But that that wasn't really much consolation. The nine had to diet.

When the C and C2 bikes came out in '98, they were a totally different bike. A titanium exhaust system and magnesium casings plus lighter wheels, discs and rear shock etc. etc. saw it tip the scales at 202kg. Much closer to the class leaders.

Unfortunately Yamaha's R1 turned up not long after the C1. Almost over night, the Kawasaki was an also-ran. The R1 weighed 10kg less and made 10 more BHP.

The spec sheet didn't tell the whole story, though. For road riding, and all round (plus all year round) duties, the nine was probably a better choice. It was comfier than the R1, a bit easier-going, but still pretty quick. The R1 was a better prospect for track riding.

I don't know, but I suspect the zx9r C bikes sold a lot better. It's possible to buy almost any spare parts on eBay, for just a few quid. Panels and tanks are predictably scarce, mind you.
____________________
"Life is a sexually transmitted disease and the mortality rate is one hundred percent."

Mobylette Type 50 ---> Raleigh Grifter ---> Neval Minsk 125

[mentalboy]

I found my C1 gave a rather cramped riding position, as did my R6. Perhaps it has something to do with ridiculously short legs and a long back, God only knows how I would have fared on some of the later smaller missiles that followed. Neither stayed in the stable very long.
____________________
Make mine a Corona.

[trevor saxe-coburg-gotha]

whoah i'm really surprised you didn't fit the c1 better - i honestly think it's pretty roomy

if i get on my mate's 2010 zx6r, or his L1 gsxr1000 i kind of have to get off again pretty sharpish otherwise discomfit kicks in - low clip ons and high pegs are horrendous imo

but the c1 and c2 feel like ADV bikes in comparison, i always think
____________________
"Life is a sexually transmitted disease and the mortality rate is one hundred percent."

Mobylette Type 50 ---> Raleigh Grifter ---> Neval Minsk 125

[Powler]

Nice review, they are tough bikes. I had a B2(1995) and a E1(2000) absolutely loved the B2 first bike I ground an exhaust on but that was in the red mist days, to old for that now. Only real trouble on either was the B2 had and issue with the head gasket, when the engine got hot it would blow back into the cooling system and the header bottle would overflow, £90 for a new head gasket fitted, sorted. Guess it would be more now.

[trevor saxe-coburg-gotha]

Yeah those who've owned the B bikes seem to rate 'em pretty highly - the guy who works on my bike ran one, back at the time. He preferred it to the C and C2 zx9rs. I said wtf, those Bs are right lard assed mofos - but he said they were the better bike, and others who'd owned both, that he'd spoken to over the years, agreed.
____________________
"Life is a sexually transmitted disease and the mortality rate is one hundred percent."

Mobylette Type 50 ---> Raleigh Grifter ---> Neval Minsk 125

[Zen Dog]

[trevor saxe-coburg-gotha]

ace

dat lid
____________________
"Life is a sexually transmitted disease and the mortality rate is one hundred percent."

Mobylette Type 50 ---> Raleigh Grifter ---> Neval Minsk 125