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When Kawasaki announced the ZZR 1200 in late 2001, I knew it was a bike I had to have a closer look at. Growing a little bored with my Katana 750, I wanted something more suitable for commuting, and the occasional tour. That is, something with a little more power and a slightly more upright riding position, but still leaning toward the "sport bike" category. The ZZR seemed to be my wish come true. I first sat on one at the 2001 Motorcycle Show in Downtown Seattle. It was love at first sit. |
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However, the dealer at the show promised me they would probably not be on showroom floors until probably October of 2002 as a 2003 model. I was disappointed. Then while talking over my wishes for a new ZZR with a friend in early July, she exclaimed "A friend of mine just bought one and he loves it!". So I decided to stop by a local Kawasaki dealer to see if they had any. Lo and behold, there was one on the showroom floor. I went over and discussed with the parts manager the availabiltiy of the hard bags, just trying to get an idea of how much this all would run me, when the owner came over and asked if I were serious about the bike. I told him that my eye kept coming back to the ZZR. He then told me about the Zero Down, Zero Interest, Zero Payments plan Kawasaki was offering. I got serious about the bike really quickly at that point. My friends at Puget Sound Safety recommended that I talk to Puyallup Power Sports, which is the closest Kawasaki dealer to my home. I stopped by on a Wednesday, they worked a killer deal for me on the bike and got my financing approved. I told them to get the bike ready and I'd be back on Friday for a test ride and that if I liked it, I would ride it home. |
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So on Friday the 2nd of August, during my lunch break, I went back to Puyallup Power Sports. It took them a few minutes to get the bike prepped, and they were obviously nervous about me taking their only ZZR for a test ride. But with 0.7 miles on the odometer, away I went. I rode it about 2 miles before I knew I was taking it home. It just felt "right". So after a few more minutes of paperwork, I was riding it home. My buddy Randy and I ended up putting about 70 miles on our bikes that day. Took a cruise up nice and twisty SR509 to Dash Point State Park. When I returned home, I put Teri on the back and she and I headed out to dinner. She likes the view better from the ZZR than from the Katana, but she hates the seat. Looks like I'll finally have to break down and buy a Corbin. :-) All in all I ended up putting 92 miles on the bike that first day. Since then, I've commuted to work 3 times and the bike now has about 342 miles on it. I'm hoping to get it in for it's first service next week sometime and REALLY hoping to get past the break-in period of 1000 miles shortly after that. I think overall this will be a bike I can ride for YEARS to come. It is much better for me to commute on than the Katana was, and with a new seat, my Hurlbut won't get quite as sore. |
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Rants:
- Only one helmet hook
- Seat is too hard
- Odd placement of cargo hooks
Raves:
- Horsepower, Horsepower, Horsepower!
- Awesome throttle response
- Comfortable seating position
- Clock and Temp gauges, dash overall is awesome
- Did I mention Horsepower?
- Styling. Very unique, turns some heads as folks wonder what the hell it is. I love the looks. Some people hate them.
- Windscreen actually usable.
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Copyright 2002 - 2005, All Rights Reserved, John Hurlbut
Questions, Comments, Rants Here
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