Is this a ‘coming classic?'

He doesn’t just plead the case for the hands-down coming classics, he often goes a little left-field to plead the cause for down-at-heel forgotten bikes, too…

ack in 1990, Kawasaki launched two rather good rocket ships for real roads. At the time, both the ZZ-R1100 and ZZ-R600 were cutting-edge ‘sports’ tackle and fast as hell, but as bikes became even sportier, soon the ZZ-RS were plonked firmly in the ‘sports-tourer’ camp.

The ZZ-R600 was a straightforward, 599cc inline four built into the body of what seemed to be a widebodied airliner. Oh yes, for its cubic capacity, this thing was huge, but comfy, too. The combination of a low, squashy seat; vast, protective fairing and a 14,000rpm redline meant comfortable cruising at just-over-legal speeds on A-roads and motorways. Kawasaki always seemed to be able to build a beefy motor and that’s the case with the ZZ-R, which was always a front-runner when it came to outright power and speed in the comparative tests of the early 1990s. It was reliable too, punting out around 99bhp and 47lb-ft of torque. Below 4000rpm it’s got enough welly to haul you away from the traffic lights, but it’s above that when it begins to really shine. Okay, suspension-wise we feel the machine’s advancing years (but then it was always soft from new) post-1995 bikes had preload and rebound damping up front, and rear shocks by now would do with a replacement (such as Hagon for around £300 or YSS for around £260.) Quality control – despite the halo ZZ-R moniker – wasn’t the best, with exhausts headers rotting, carbs icing up and paintwork suffering from stone chips. Brakes also need regular TLC to be at the top of their game. The gearbox is also not the slickest. What is good – especially now on the second-hand market – is the equipment levels if you want to do the miles. It has a centre-stand, a decent grab rail, bungee points plus all the goodies on the dash: fuel and temperature gauges, analogue speedo and rev counter and (later) a digital clock. There’s a lockable compartment, too… The ZZ-R600 ‘looked’ the same through its 16-year life, but the bike got the same aesthetics as its big-brother come 1993, with the move from the D to the E model. This meant new bodywork with twin ram-air ducts, new silencers and minor engine modifications. The instrument panel had a facelift and got a fuel gauge, suspension adjustment came for the E3 model of 1995-on, a clock for the E4 model, an alarm/immobiliser as standard for the E7 model on. On the recall front, the E1 and E2 models had swingarm welds that could fail, so a recall replaced the arms themselves. E2 and E3 models could suffer drive chain failures so these were replaced and on the F1 the same chain problem could happen and the tools could fall out of the bike onto the rear wheel! This was soon cured with another mounting strap and cover. Overall though, we would say that – while the ZZ-R may not be a bona fide contender as a classic – it does offer a lot of go and show for not much dough. They start at as little as £500 for a highmiler. Just avoid the ‘streetfighter’ ZZ-RS… kinda misses the point of the bike.