CARLOS KAWASAKI ZX-6R
THIS MONTH I HAVE MOSTLY BEEN… Falling in love. Again.
Nearly everyone has a milestone they need to look forward to throughout the year. For most, it’s probably Christmas, or a birthday. For others it might be some sort of religious day, or an anniversary. For Boothy, it’s dinner time. For me though, nothing can beat the absolutely glorious feeling of picking up a brand new bike ready for a summer of serious spank-age.
And the best part is? I already have a proper soft spot for the Kwak.
Having spent the majority of last year razzing round on its little bro, the Ninja 400, when the Green corner released the ’19 middleweight it seemed like the perfect next step… and it was a bloody good choice.
Having done a shed load of miles on one of these things for March's issue, I can already safely say that it’s an awesome bit of kit. Riding all the way from Bilbao to Valencia (in Spain), cranking up some track mileage along the way, it was fair to say that the little 636cc was a much better bike than I ever expected – to the point where me and Boothy were arguing about who was going to ride it. It even transpired to a full-blown argument on the ferry home as to who was getting one as a
termer, and as always, I came out on top. Sorry Mike.
Actually, no I’m not. It may only be a few weeks into the loan, but after going for a few local spins and getting some weekend mileage I couldn’t be happier with my choice of termer for the year; it’s effortlessly easy to ride, has a real kick when you need it and has the handling tekkers and agility of something with even less weight; it reminds me of my old 400 in its DNA, but with that added go to keep me a tad more excited. For now.
Keeping in with the ZX-6R’s modest price tag, I don’t want to plaster it with a load of posh, expensive goodies, so the plan for this year is simply to address the essentials. For starters, we all know how much of a killjoy Euro4 can be on power, so with this in mind I plan on bringing the ZX-6R up to speed – starting with ditching the mahoosive end can and putting an obnoxiously loud pipe on the end. I’ve fallen out with the neighbours, so that’s only fair, isn’t it? From here on out I’m thinking a power commander to keep it in check and a couple of trackdays to see how the 636cc bodes – from there I can mess around with the suspension, get some sticky rubber on and give it some proper big licks. Besides that, I want to cover some big mileage on the green goblin. After riding this thing originally, I couldn’t (and still don’t) understand why the 600cc class went the way of the dodo bird a few years back. So, by the end of the year I’ll either be able to tell you if you should be jumping on the middleweight bandwagon and saving some dosh, or if a 600cc just isn’t enough nowadays.
Until then, it’s time to go and pull some skids and wheelies. Summer is going to be naughty.