KAWASAKI ZR-7 (1999 - 2004) Review

Year: 1999

Best all rounder I’ve ever owned. Better than my old 1980 Z650.

Buying experience: £1200 14 years ago. Has 34,000 miles on the clock. No major issues what so ever. Other bikes come and go through my garage but the Kawasaki stays.

Version: ZR7S

Year: 2001

Fine all-rounder at a good price.

Buying experience: Bought from a Kawasaki dealer, who had spent a fair amount of time and money to get the bike road worthy again. This included re-balancing the carbs, new tyre, fork seals and quite a few other things. I think it had sat in a garage unused for years. I paid £2500 and the bike only had 2030 miles on the clock.

Year: 1999

Annual servicing cost: £50

super reliable, good fuel tank range and for me a lot of fun and plenty fast enough

Buying experience: bought from ebay nearly 7 years ago and still my go to machine

Year: 2004

Annual servicing cost: £50

Bought mine a year ago as a second/winter bike and very glad that I did. Totally reliable (so far), very comfortable with a good range. It's not the most exciting bike to ride, but has a certain charm handles well enough and the gentle power delivery is very unlikely to catch anyone out. Standard rear suspension is too soft with a passenger on board, but that is easily fixed. It's grown on me and I like it far more than I was expecting to.

Year: 2004

Annual servicing cost: £150

Worst feature is no 6th gear! Any speed above 60 and your aching to change up. Best features, under seat storage and huge fuel tank for 200+ miles.

After years away from bikes I fancied getting back into them but on the cheap and nothing sporty. Just over a year ago I got an ‘02 for €1,800 with 30,000km on it. I’ve done about 6,000km since then, mainly days out and a couple of trips. I took it to Italy and Switzerland in the summer, ran without a hitch and was lots of fun. For last month I’ve been commuting on it too. It’s dead comfy, did 10 hour days in the saddle and only had sore shoulders some days. Very economical and I get 230 miles from a tank before reserve. After a long time out of bikes it’s very reassuring to ride, I’m no scratcher though. Very little power below 3000 revs but from then up to 6000 is smooth as silk, apart from a slight vibration at 110kph. As somebody else has said if you want to go over 6000rpm, this isn’t for you. I like the looks a lot, even though mine’s tatty. A screen is pretty much essential for touring, wind blast is an arse on any naked. Nice to have centre stand and fuel gauge. Only complaint is I’d like a 6th gear, but that’s a minor quibble. If you want a cheap reliable bike you can ride on all day at legal speeds you can’t go far wrong with this. Whoever did the MCN review lives on a different biking planet to me!

I managed to pick up a 2004 model with just 3k on the clock from a "Born Again" biker. Got her for just £1500. I have used this bike, rain or shine. Snow, Ice, Fog you name it. It's bomb proof! Regular checks on the usual and the odd spray of chain lube and she's ready to go. I easily get 45mpg and clear 200 mile to the tank on my daily commute. She wont break landspeed records, looks boring but she's a proper workhorse! I've had loads of bikes and she's as good as any I've had! Cannot fault it! Added a screen and heated grips for winter comforts, apart from that totally standard.

Had mine for 3 years,paid £1800, toured France lots of times, Spain and Italy as well, 230 miles to reserve, cruising at motorway (+) speeds easy , two up touring with luggage and tent, and a corbin seat for comfort now at 23000 miles I,ve still got it, and I'm not going to change it unless it gets too heavy for me at my age (63)

been running my ZR7-S for 3 years now, no problems whatsoever. A very capable scratcher and a nice tourer, Handling is a lot better than I would have imagined for a hybrid sports/tourer. Engine pulls well but could do with a 6th gear for cruising on mtorways as it's a bit revvy.

I bought this bike a cheap, hopefully reliable, run-about which I could use during the summer months to get me to work and the occasional run at the weekend. I'd previously owned a Hornet 600 and Bandit 600, so thought I'd try Kawasaki for a change (my nearest dealer is Kawasaki so it made sense). At £1900 for a 4000 miler 03, bought privately, so a decent price. First impressions are pretty good, certainly not as good a handler as the Hornet but on par with a Bandit. One thing it does have is loads of low down torque - this bike will happily run from walking pace in 2nd or 3rd gear, making it a relaxing bike to ride. If you tried this on most middleweights, they wouldn't be happy, except the old Fazer 600, which has the best engine of the bunch. It's only got five gear and to be honest there's little point revving it past 6000rpm - if you're in a hurry this is the wrong bike for you! It seems to carry it's weight very well and with the low seat height is a very easy bike to ride. In terms of maintenance it should be a doddle - air cooled and 8 valves. Good fuel consumption too (50+ mpg). Cheap to insure. It was also sold in the US for while, so parts are never going to be a problem. Build quality if pretty good, but I have serious doubts about using this bike over the winter - it doesn't look nearly as winter resistant as say the Hornet. The engine in particular look prone to corrosion. Stainless pipes look good though. Another aspect I like is the looks. In blue, it looks great. Putting aside preconceptions about it's performance (not up there with the Fazer and Hornet), for me it's the best looking middleweight. None of the watercooling / plumbing you get with most of the other contenders and I'd say it's better looking than the Bandit (just). So if you're after and low maitenance, good looking, cheap to run and buy, "proper" sized, slightly cumbersome run-about, this might be worth considering.

Great commuting machine, with a flexible engine. Gets 50+ mpg and and 200 miles on a single tank without a problem. Suspension too soft to be pushed in the twisties, although the brakes are surprisingly effective for a heavy budget machine.