xj750_Pete
Young Rider
After my FZ6 was totalled, I went out and shopped for a replacement. I've only owned a cruiser and sport tourer. I wanted to try something different so I decided to look for a crotch rocket. I really wanted to get an R6s or the 2003-2005 R6, but locally, there wasn't anything that would fit my price range. I also went looking for a YZF600r (aka Thundercat) and was very close to purchasing one, but then I stumbled upon a nice 2007 Kawasaki Ninja ZX-6R at a nearby dealership.
The exterior seemed really clean and showed no signs of major damage, only a few scratches probably from a drop. It has a bit of mileage on it, but it starts up just fine and revs up very quickly without any hiccups or anything. The tires seem to be worn about halfway and by the looks of it, have been through the canyons a couple of times. The only thing that was missing was a license plate holder, which didn't matter because I can always get a fender eliminator. I put down a deposit the next day and a week later paid the nice gentleman and rode home my brand used Ninja ZX-6R.
It's been approximately a month now and even though going from a sport tourer to crotch rocket was frustrating at first, I am starting to get used to the Ninja. Here are my thoughts so far on the Ninja in comparison to the FZ6.
First off, ergonomics are quite different. When I first sat on the Ninja, I could no believe how far forward I had to reach to get to the handle bars. On the FZ6, weight distribution felt like 40/60, 40% being on the handle bars. With the Ninja, it was more closer to 60/40. With the aggressive riding position and me sitting up as straight as possible, I had to look down a bit just to see the instrument cluster, but I was able to see more of the road and sometimes I felt more focused than I did on the FZ6.
The seat is much harder than the FZ6 and narrower, but for me it was actually more comfortable. This was probably due to the fact that the Ninja's seat has smooth transitions unlike the FZ6's sharper corners.
Wind protection kinda sucks on the Ninja. My hands are shielded quite nicely, but most of the air hits me right in the middle of the chest. With the FZ6 my hands were shielded quite nicely too, but most of the air hit my neck, lower chin area and over my shoulders.
Foot pedal position is pretty good and fits me very well, even if it is more rearward than the FZ6. I find that standing at stoplights are a little bit easier on the Ninja than the FZ6 because the foot pegs don't get in the way as much. As far as long distance riding goes, my wrist start to go numb after about 20 minutes or so. If it's in stop and go traffic, I'll be lucky to last 10 minutes witout feeling any pain. The Ninja is not exactly the best motorcycle to tour the country with... On the FZ6, I remember I could go riding for about 45 minutes before my legs started to go numb, but then all I had to do was shift my weight around a lil bit and it would go away. Over all, the Ninja has a much more aggressive seating position that adds a bit more weight on the wrists. I just recently installed some Heli-bar clip-ons and they have drastically changed the weight distribution and really made the Ninja more comfortable to ride.
About performance, well, there is a reason why they call it a crotch rocket. First thing I noticed was that the clutch engagement was much more smoother and predictable than the FZ6, which had me thinking "Oh, so this is what a normal friction zone feels like." The gearing is much shorter in the lower gears than the FZ6. For example, with the Ninja at 40 mph,
4th gear = 4,400 RPM;
5th gear = 4,000 RPM; and
6th = 3,600 RPM.
I remember with the FZ6 at 40 MPH in
4th = 4,000 RPM;
5th = 3,500 RPM.
With the Ninja at around 70 mph, 6th gear = 6,000 RPM. I believe the FZ6 is also at 6,000 RPM in top gear at 70 MPH, but I don't remember. Another thing is that this thing really lets loose past 8,000 RPM and goes beserk past 12,000 RPM. Redline is at a very high 16,500 RPM. Once the Ninja is going faster than 80 MPH in 6th gear, it can really accelerate. The FZ6 was pretty fast too, but in acceleration in top gear, I'd say the Ninja would be faster.
The transmission is very smooth. In fact I think it is too smooth. I would much rather prefer the clunkiness of the FZ6 than the Ninja's. Not to say that either transmission is inferior to another, but I would rather have a solid feeling that the gear is in place.
Throttle response is super smooth and responsive, almost carb-like, but better. Take-offs on the FZ6 were sometimes snatchy. I think it might be unfair to compare because the Ninja has two throttle valves and a much more advanced fuel injection system. Nothing wrong with FZ6's FI system it's just snatchy at take-offs sometimes.
Gas mileage is ok. Compared to the FZ6 which I constantly got around 46-50MPG, the Ninja gets 37-43MPG. I'm guessing most of this is due to the gearing and fuel mapping? I'm not really sure, because I normally cruise at 70 MPH and they both run at similar RPMs, but they both get such different gas mileage figures. The Ninja IS overdue for a valve inspection, but I'm not sure how much this contributes to gas mileage.
Brake feel and modulation is better on the Ninja for both front and rear. On the FZ6, the front brakes felt "wooden" and the rear was really sensitive. With the Ninja, the front brake is really easy to modulate and it is easier to come to a smooth stop. The rear brakes also are easier to modulate and don't feel as grabby. I think the fact that the Ninja's both front and rear rotors are slightly smaller than the FZ6 may have something to do with this? Or maybe it is because the Ninja's brakes are petal shaped? Anyways, braking performance is pretty darn good on the Ninja.
Handling on the Ninja is a love/hate relationship. The first time I took a hard turn on the Ninja, I was grinning ear to ear. On initial tip in, the Ninja just drops into the turn. It is so effortless. And once it enters that turn it just sticks to it. Transitioning from one turn to another is quick and fun as hell. Also feel is great too. Everything communicates so well from the road to the bike. The slightest slip and all the bumbs and cracks are felt through the handlebars and the seat. Now this can work against me. For example, travel down any free way or street in the Los Angeles area and you will see what I mean. Those are the bumps and cracks I really don't want to feel. Now I commute almost everyday on the freeway and feeling all these road imperfections for about 15 minutes can be really annoying. On some freeways it's like I'm riding on a Po-go stick that revs up to 16.5K. I have recently adjusted the suspension. The front has preload, rebound and bound dampening adjustments, while the rear has preload, low/high speed repound and bound dampening adjustments. I turned everything down a bit and has really improved everday riding. Handling feel is very soft now, but I would rather sacrifice some road feel for comfort.
One thing that really bugs me about the Ninja is parking lot manuevers and U-turns. It appears that the Ninja's lock to lock range is much more shorter than the FZ6's. I remember I used to be able to do a u-turn in my two car drive way in the complex that I live in on the FZ6. With the Ninja, I have to do a 3 point turn. Tight parking lot turns used to be fun and easy, now with the Ninja, it requires slow carefully planned out turns or else I scrape a bumber or hit the curb. I've been doing some practice recently and I've realized that lots of counter steering helps.
As far as maintenance goes, it isn't too bad. Even though it is a fully faired motorcycle, I only have to remove the bottom fairing to change the oil and to lube the chain. The Ninja does not have a centerstand so everytime I need to lube the chain I have to pull out the rear pit stand. Valve clearance checks are required every 15,000 miles, compared to the FZ6's 26,600. The Ninja also requires 91 octane to run, but that is not that big of a deal.
Storage space is very limited. The only storage compartment is in the passenger seat, which could probably fit 2 snicker bars or one PCIII module. I mainly use this compartment to keep my insurance and the toolkit. I can reuse my Cortech tail bag if I really need to carry a lot of stuff.
Alrighty, that wraps up my review/comparison of the 2007 Kawasaki Ninja ZX-6R. So far it has been a very fun ride, but I have lost some versatility. I took a passenger once and I felt sorry for her. The seat is about as wide as a football and is really hard. I don't think she was very comfortable. For those that want to switch from a FZ6 to a sportier ride, I hope I this review was helpful.
The exterior seemed really clean and showed no signs of major damage, only a few scratches probably from a drop. It has a bit of mileage on it, but it starts up just fine and revs up very quickly without any hiccups or anything. The tires seem to be worn about halfway and by the looks of it, have been through the canyons a couple of times. The only thing that was missing was a license plate holder, which didn't matter because I can always get a fender eliminator. I put down a deposit the next day and a week later paid the nice gentleman and rode home my brand used Ninja ZX-6R.
It's been approximately a month now and even though going from a sport tourer to crotch rocket was frustrating at first, I am starting to get used to the Ninja. Here are my thoughts so far on the Ninja in comparison to the FZ6.
First off, ergonomics are quite different. When I first sat on the Ninja, I could no believe how far forward I had to reach to get to the handle bars. On the FZ6, weight distribution felt like 40/60, 40% being on the handle bars. With the Ninja, it was more closer to 60/40. With the aggressive riding position and me sitting up as straight as possible, I had to look down a bit just to see the instrument cluster, but I was able to see more of the road and sometimes I felt more focused than I did on the FZ6.
The seat is much harder than the FZ6 and narrower, but for me it was actually more comfortable. This was probably due to the fact that the Ninja's seat has smooth transitions unlike the FZ6's sharper corners.
Wind protection kinda sucks on the Ninja. My hands are shielded quite nicely, but most of the air hits me right in the middle of the chest. With the FZ6 my hands were shielded quite nicely too, but most of the air hit my neck, lower chin area and over my shoulders.
Foot pedal position is pretty good and fits me very well, even if it is more rearward than the FZ6. I find that standing at stoplights are a little bit easier on the Ninja than the FZ6 because the foot pegs don't get in the way as much. As far as long distance riding goes, my wrist start to go numb after about 20 minutes or so. If it's in stop and go traffic, I'll be lucky to last 10 minutes witout feeling any pain. The Ninja is not exactly the best motorcycle to tour the country with... On the FZ6, I remember I could go riding for about 45 minutes before my legs started to go numb, but then all I had to do was shift my weight around a lil bit and it would go away. Over all, the Ninja has a much more aggressive seating position that adds a bit more weight on the wrists. I just recently installed some Heli-bar clip-ons and they have drastically changed the weight distribution and really made the Ninja more comfortable to ride.
About performance, well, there is a reason why they call it a crotch rocket. First thing I noticed was that the clutch engagement was much more smoother and predictable than the FZ6, which had me thinking "Oh, so this is what a normal friction zone feels like." The gearing is much shorter in the lower gears than the FZ6. For example, with the Ninja at 40 mph,
4th gear = 4,400 RPM;
5th gear = 4,000 RPM; and
6th = 3,600 RPM.
I remember with the FZ6 at 40 MPH in
4th = 4,000 RPM;
5th = 3,500 RPM.
With the Ninja at around 70 mph, 6th gear = 6,000 RPM. I believe the FZ6 is also at 6,000 RPM in top gear at 70 MPH, but I don't remember. Another thing is that this thing really lets loose past 8,000 RPM and goes beserk past 12,000 RPM. Redline is at a very high 16,500 RPM. Once the Ninja is going faster than 80 MPH in 6th gear, it can really accelerate. The FZ6 was pretty fast too, but in acceleration in top gear, I'd say the Ninja would be faster.
The transmission is very smooth. In fact I think it is too smooth. I would much rather prefer the clunkiness of the FZ6 than the Ninja's. Not to say that either transmission is inferior to another, but I would rather have a solid feeling that the gear is in place.
Throttle response is super smooth and responsive, almost carb-like, but better. Take-offs on the FZ6 were sometimes snatchy. I think it might be unfair to compare because the Ninja has two throttle valves and a much more advanced fuel injection system. Nothing wrong with FZ6's FI system it's just snatchy at take-offs sometimes.
Gas mileage is ok. Compared to the FZ6 which I constantly got around 46-50MPG, the Ninja gets 37-43MPG. I'm guessing most of this is due to the gearing and fuel mapping? I'm not really sure, because I normally cruise at 70 MPH and they both run at similar RPMs, but they both get such different gas mileage figures. The Ninja IS overdue for a valve inspection, but I'm not sure how much this contributes to gas mileage.
Brake feel and modulation is better on the Ninja for both front and rear. On the FZ6, the front brakes felt "wooden" and the rear was really sensitive. With the Ninja, the front brake is really easy to modulate and it is easier to come to a smooth stop. The rear brakes also are easier to modulate and don't feel as grabby. I think the fact that the Ninja's both front and rear rotors are slightly smaller than the FZ6 may have something to do with this? Or maybe it is because the Ninja's brakes are petal shaped? Anyways, braking performance is pretty darn good on the Ninja.
Handling on the Ninja is a love/hate relationship. The first time I took a hard turn on the Ninja, I was grinning ear to ear. On initial tip in, the Ninja just drops into the turn. It is so effortless. And once it enters that turn it just sticks to it. Transitioning from one turn to another is quick and fun as hell. Also feel is great too. Everything communicates so well from the road to the bike. The slightest slip and all the bumbs and cracks are felt through the handlebars and the seat. Now this can work against me. For example, travel down any free way or street in the Los Angeles area and you will see what I mean. Those are the bumps and cracks I really don't want to feel. Now I commute almost everyday on the freeway and feeling all these road imperfections for about 15 minutes can be really annoying. On some freeways it's like I'm riding on a Po-go stick that revs up to 16.5K. I have recently adjusted the suspension. The front has preload, rebound and bound dampening adjustments, while the rear has preload, low/high speed repound and bound dampening adjustments. I turned everything down a bit and has really improved everday riding. Handling feel is very soft now, but I would rather sacrifice some road feel for comfort.
One thing that really bugs me about the Ninja is parking lot manuevers and U-turns. It appears that the Ninja's lock to lock range is much more shorter than the FZ6's. I remember I used to be able to do a u-turn in my two car drive way in the complex that I live in on the FZ6. With the Ninja, I have to do a 3 point turn. Tight parking lot turns used to be fun and easy, now with the Ninja, it requires slow carefully planned out turns or else I scrape a bumber or hit the curb. I've been doing some practice recently and I've realized that lots of counter steering helps.
As far as maintenance goes, it isn't too bad. Even though it is a fully faired motorcycle, I only have to remove the bottom fairing to change the oil and to lube the chain. The Ninja does not have a centerstand so everytime I need to lube the chain I have to pull out the rear pit stand. Valve clearance checks are required every 15,000 miles, compared to the FZ6's 26,600. The Ninja also requires 91 octane to run, but that is not that big of a deal.
Storage space is very limited. The only storage compartment is in the passenger seat, which could probably fit 2 snicker bars or one PCIII module. I mainly use this compartment to keep my insurance and the toolkit. I can reuse my Cortech tail bag if I really need to carry a lot of stuff.
Alrighty, that wraps up my review/comparison of the 2007 Kawasaki Ninja ZX-6R. So far it has been a very fun ride, but I have lost some versatility. I took a passenger once and I felt sorry for her. The seat is about as wide as a football and is really hard. I don't think she was very comfortable. For those that want to switch from a FZ6 to a sportier ride, I hope I this review was helpful.
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j/k. Have you adjusted any suspension settings yet? to help smooth out the hits?
