KAWASAKI ZZR1100 (1990 - 1997) Review

Year: 1997

Annual servicing cost: £120

Never a dull moment riding a big old girl like this.sometimes too easy to ride on long runs but a bloody night.are on london streets now down to 20mph...so makes an even heavy bike that much heavier..thanl you mayor of london and the cycle brigade

Buying experience: To be fair excellant value for money.private seller.

Version: C

Year: 1991

Best features: Engine performance. Gorgous looks. Best seat ever for long distance (it needs to offer support, not cushion comfort.) Highly pleasant and readable dashboard. Unparalleled stability. Very nimble on twisty roads despite its weight. Good fuel economy, Excellent suspensions.Worst features: Most delicate bike to handle at low speed and/or in off road conditions, mostly because of the zero torque/high vibration zone below 2500 rpm. This problem is not present on every units. Nearly impossible to throw soft luggage over the passenger seat. High end aerodynamics and great looks have a high price tag when compared to the ZX-10 it replaced. The latter, not nearly as pretty or aerodynamic because of the multipieces body, but so much easier to service, with way more storage capacity and easier access. Any work to be done to the carburetors is a nightmare because of the air box design (that flaw was corrected on the D model.) The long side covers are fragile and need removal for nearly every service task you can think of. That includes adjusting the rear chock preload. The inner covers around the thank fit nearly as poorly as the air box. Brakes are good but not great. The dished output sprocket is a stupid and lazy idea. This was corrected on the D model. Footpegs are set too high for nothing. It affects knee comfort, but worse, it makes leaning far on left turns potentially dangerous, as the center stand side leg touches immediately after the left footpeg. If that happens, it's an automatic low side. I could go on about many irritating little things, but then it would amount to having your cake and eating it. The genius of the ZX-11 is coming up with never seen before levels of performance, matched with civility, reliability, and do it all (and doing it well) capabilities.

Version: D1

Year: 1993

Annual servicing cost: £250

Faultless .Had it from new and still the same as it was then . I'm 66 now and still easy to ride . Excellent all round sports tourer

Buying experience: From dealer new £7000 (Aug 1993)

Version: D

Year: 1995

Annual servicing cost: £120

The 1100 only has best features, the engine is clearly astonishing,but lots of other stuff, brakes, suspension, even handling, is a clear country mile better than the zzr 600, which is similarly better than any other 600 of comparable age. Financially they both are a brilliant buy. £2000 will get a lovely one. Is that good or what?

Buying experience: You are going to love this. I bought privately, the bike had a bad case of road rash, thrown down the road courtesy of fantastically dangerous head bearings. And I was nuts enough to drive it 180 miles home...she was 25 years old, pretty good in every other respect...price.. Bought on ebay £821. I replaced the headbearings £26, and repaired the damaged plastics, and resprayed her. £150 approx. For less than £1000, a perfect bike. Have had blokes take photos of her, shes called bluebell and finished in metallic cadburys purple and metallic light blue pearl. Gorgeous!

Version: c2

Year: 1991

Annual servicing cost: £150

it is a heavy bike to push around all my friends have had them moved on to zzr1200 zzr1400 but i will not let it go it owes me nothing and no one would give me much for it so its staying with me

Buying experience: i bought it privately the guy had to sell it broke his heart he had waited 2 years to get the bike then only had it a few week it is a bizarre story which i will not go into just to say it was karma? I looked at it did not try it fell in love with it my fried who used to race road it home for me i had his car an hour 1 hour later he turn up with a beam on his face and he was at the time a racer on the track £300

Year: 1991

Annual servicing cost: £250

best features :- ride one then you will know

Buying experience: privately £1500

Version: d1

Year: 1993

Annual servicing cost: £600

I have had my 11 for over 2 years now, and it is by far the most superior bike I have owned, reliable, extremely fast, and great to look at. Mine has done 85k and still runs like a dream. I have no plan to sell it, I bought a perfect condition ZX9R but ended up selling it because I preferred the ZZR in almost every way/

Buying experience: I bought mine for 650 as a non runner, sorted it myself, bargain.

Year: 1990

I have had the old girl for 25 years now, and still love her to bits. The bike has aged with me, and still provides a comfortable and fast ride for my old bones. The styling has stood the test of time well, and nothing has gone wrong or broken. I upgraded the front calipers to GSXR 1000 6 pots but apart from that it is standard. After all these years I still cant say there is anything I would swap her for, which is testament to the all round ability of the bike.

Version: D1

Year: 1993

Staggeringly good bikes. I sold my 11 with just under 60k on the odometer and it had never missed a beat. An MRA Vario screen, heated grips, and Michelin road-pilot tyres were my favourite mods. The Blackbird was faster - but the Reg/Rectifiers cause problems. The Busa faster still - but luggage options were more limited, and not as comfortable. The Big Z was just about spot on. I've regretted selling mine, ever since! Pointless comparing them with sportsbikes. It's not what they were designed for. These are comfy, (very) fast, mile munchers!

Buying experience: Bought used, from a non-franchised dealer. Check the usual things, but there isn't much that goes wrong with them - and they tend to be bought by reasonably sensible people, who appreciate them for what they are.

Year: 1991

The ZZR is fast, comfortable and still an extremely capable bike - either lugging 3 heavy Givi's and wife for a weekend away, or in everyday use as a Continental Commuter.

Year: 1991

Annual servicing cost: £500

Fantastic ability to scratch B roads and devour m'ways

Had my ZZR1100 D1 for about four years now. It is a truely astonishing bike in just about every respect if you use it for what it was meant to do, that is Sport Touring. It is not a Sports Bike and has no pretentions of being so. Yes it is fast, unbelievebly fast, it is reasonably nimble, but not as flickable as a 600cc sports bike. Comfortable, well that depends on your size and shape. I am 5.11 and in truth it is a little short from knee to peg, it is a bit of a streatch to the bars but this can be cured by fitting a set of bar risers. The seat will get a little firm after about 150 miles but then what bike dosn't. But now the good bit, stick a set of hard cases and top box on this thing, slap a tank bag up front, dump you better half on the pillion behind you and head for Jean Claud's back yard and this thing comes to life. You can Sport Tour, two up with a full set of luggage, Girlfriend and all her dresses, shoes and makeup safely stored and have a blast. The engine has so much grunt that it will eat the A6 down to S France in a flash, or toodle along the country lanes like a pussy cat. 6th gear will take you to interstella speeds and right down to 25mph if you so choose, it is just as stable at either. The added wieght of all that makeup is shrugged off as if it is not there, it hardly affects the fuel consumption at all which is brilliat for a bike this size, ( I get about 53mpg on a run) In short, if you want to hoon it up with your mates, buy an R1 if you want to do a bit of touring at interstella speed you couldnt do better than a ZZR1100. They are as cheap as chip to buy, you may have seen comments about some dropping the crank on number 3 cylinder but I have done 51.000 miles on mine and with regular oil changes and basic maintenance this wont be a problem. Be prepared to staple your top lip down as it will be stuck to your teeth when you grin like a Chesire Cat on acid as this thing rockets you towards your destination while your sports bikey mates are still leaving the rendevou point.

I have a 1996 d4 zzr1100, bought her with 9000 on the clock 4 years ago, last year i rode her to Finland to see some friends who live there,from my door and back, i did 3028 miles in 7 days with a 7 day break in Finland, and she never missed a beat at all, she was fantastic all the way and back,especially on the German autobahns where i could let her rip, where i had a great dice with a maserati clocking 155mph which was great until i pulled in for the next fuel stop where i found i had completely ripped the ass end out of my water proof covers on my panniers, what the hell it was worth it for the grin factor, considering i was fully loaded with two big throw over panniers plus a big rear seat bag, she did me proud, but 155 mph was the fastest i could take her because with all the luggage i had packed on her any faster and i had a bit of a wobble starting in the bars, not to bad but enough to steady me up, but if you want a great bike with loads of character get one of these bikes, and they still get looked at if they are in good nick even along side today's pocket rockets, happy riding all . goucho

I have had my ZZR1100D for 6 months now, we did not have the best of starts, with me loosing the front end in France and still having 300+ miles to go. Even battered and not in the best of health she got me home. After a few searches of E-bay, got her patched up again so that I could truely enjoy the experiance. She may not look the best, but she still goes like stonk. Excellent to ride, not as nimble as my Sprint ST but a fantastic place to be. The world is a constant blurr, and when you get to 140mph its time to get behind the screen. One of the most relaxing and easy to ride tourers going.

I've owned my 1997 ZZR1100 for 6 months now, I bought it with 13000 miles on the clock. My previous bike to the ZZR was an R1..... and I love the ZZR more. I am 6ft 2", and I find the riding position very comfortable, the only thing I have changed has been to add a double bubble screen, as the standard screen is too low for someone of my height. The power of this bike is awesome, and completely effortless, you do not have to rev the t**s off of it to gain triple figure speeds, the 6th gear roll on is mind blowing. I recently rode down to Donnington for the MotoGP, and managed 201 miles from a full tank before I stopped to fill up, and I still hadn't switched to reserve. The finish on this model is lovely mine is a dark metallic green colour with chrome decals. It is very sensitive to tyre pressures, I follows the tyre manufacturers directions and run with 42psi front and rear, I actually rang Bridgestone who confirmed this is correct. The front brakes are not over clever and get worse if your riding hard, they would definately benefit from being upgraded. All in all this bike is great, it does everything I want it to do, cruises effortlessly, and with the right rider will surprise a few sports bikes on the twisties. This is definately a keeper !!

I have owned this bike for three years now, one problem i had 6 months after was the exhaust splitting where the main joined the extensoin exhaust( there's probably a better phrase for it but i dont know what it is lmao....beer goggles and all that) but any way got another off ebay, far cheaper than the dealer, didn't know a metal fabricator until i got the replacement......but since then no prob apart from that time that we got that dodgy fuel which did something to my carbs and god knows what else, so it got a dealer service which sorted everything out, lets face it if you know the spec of your bike and know what it is capable of, look at what is on offer at the dealers new, and there still isn't alot that can touch this bike, personally i like carbs and none catalists maybe i'm old fashioned but i dont care

I have a 2005 ZZR1200 and have had the pleasure of piloting this touring laviathon for some time now. In and around town the bike is pretty agile and the overall size of the bike is very comforting, and running on carbs make low rev control very easy, theres no snatching or lurching of that which a fuel injected bike suffers from. The ZZR1200 comes into its own when out on the open road for which I feel there is two modes of performance, sensible, sure footed and very predictable and then there is the ZZR's somewhat evil streak - Crack open the throttle and rev it hard and you will be reaching break neck speeds in seconds, for a big bike you can make the ZZR handle far above its lardy appearance, The front brakes will wash off masses of speed in seconds and turning the bike in is very easy indeed, and if you have the nerve to get your backside off the seat your knee will touchdown Overall I reckon the ZZR is great bike and would have another one again if they hadn't gone and built the ZZR1400

although these bikes are "old hat" now,they are still bl***y fast. great on fuel reasonably comfy(i am 6ft 4in)easy to work on-not that often! if i had bought one of these when new, i dont think i would be here to tell they tale.service parts are reasonably priced ,spares still easy to get.its just agood all round bike-so many testers over the years cant be wrong.the only thing i can pick out as a fault is that its a tad heavy around any slow traffic,but in a low enough gear and good throttle/clutch work it is easy to get used to. i remember the write ups it got when new- i have to say i agree,its awesome,even by Blade/R1 standards set today. cant wait to test a 1400!

My ZZR1200 experience is pretty good, If your looking for a machine that can lay some seriously balastic pace in comfort the ZZR1200 fits the bill, there's bonuses too! for a big bike the ZZR turns in very quickly and ridden well can raise sport biker eyebrows, the wind protection offered by the fairing is ompressive even at 130mph + theres no drama to mention, overall a damb fine bike

I'll start by saying my time with the ZZR was NOT the best biking experience I've ever had. I like sporty nimble bikes and the ZZR isn't that. I had 2 engines go due to poor manufacturing tolerences on internal oilways to the bottom end. Have heard of at least 14 other ZZR11 engines that had this problem. Mine was fitted with a 4-1 exhaust. Not sure if that was the cause but there was a massive dip in power from 3700-4500rpm that the bike struggled to pull out of. Rode other stock ZZR's and they to had this flat spot but not quite as bad. Carbs DO go out of synch fairly quickly and need resetting around every 3000miles. Chassis was long, low and heavy which meant hussling it round corners was limited by wheelbase and ground clearance. On open sweeping roads it can keep up but tighter stuff then don't bother trying to keep a good pace as it can't handle it. Gear linkage was positioned so that you either had to break your ankle or sit at the back of the seat to use. The girlfriend refered to it as a grand dad bike and that pretty much sums up my thoughts about it.

Goes like a rocket and good in town aswell. Great tourer,stable with hard luggage and a big tank.i'm 6'4" and don't get leg cramps. A bit of a handful under heavy breaking. Strengths: Power, comfort, tank range. Weaknesses: Finish, brakes.

I purchased my bike brand new in May this year. I think I got one of the last available. Absolutely love it. Have had three Honda VFR's culminating in the VTEC version, but always wanted something with a little more "grunt" for two up touring. The big ZED gives me that in bucketfuls. 2,000 mile trip in August this year fully loaded, 3 hard cases and the missus on board, warp factor speeds all the way (picked up a speeding fine on the way back to Calais!Ooops!!) Have done 5,500 miles on her so far this year and every single one has been accompanied by a massive "ear to ear" grin. Fitted a pair of Staintune end cans which really make the bike sound the way it should. Strengths: Acceleration, cruising abilty, fuel economy isn't too bad bearing in mind the performance capabilities. Weaknesses: Brakes could be a little better but braided hoses and better pads should see them right. Gearing quite close, takes a bit of getting used to, but other than that...none.

I just love this bike, its so much fun, so fast and so friendly. Yes it has its limits and its not as sharp turning in as I'd like but this bike does everything with so much ease and it feels extremely well built and gives me so much confidence when I ride it. Just an all round awsome machine which is just right for me.. Strengths: Build quality, the all-round package of useable power, comfort and looks. Weaknesses: Mmm...not much, tyres maybe but what do you expect...

Purchased this bike 2 years ago with 14K miles. Since then I have had no trouble with the bike. It is still amazingly quick and great fun. Have had GSXR 6 pot calipers put on and had the bike derestricted. Strengths: Performance, reliability, comfort, paintwork and general finish (I ride throughout the year but use ACF50 etc). Weaknesses: Handling when pushed on the twisties.

Top speed only beaten by a small handful of creditable machines. Comfort beyond motorcycling unless you want a sofa on wheels and it's a Kawasaki what more do you want. In black it looks slightly menacing. Strengths: Grunt, top speed mega comfortable and isn't too bad when it gets twisty. Weaknesses: Weight & brakes.

Superfast in a straight line, feels a little vague when pushed around corners, though tyres are not the best; will try ZE04 or BT020 next. Carbs seem to go out of balance quickly. Oil pressure sensor replaced twice; crap position & no protection on sump. Also oil cooler connection has intermittent leak. Rear wheel and suspension bearings replaced for last MOT. Front brake has a lot of travel before any effect, but will lock front before reaching the bars. Original exhaust is on its last legs. Service annually myself, parts cost around £100 to service & get through MOT. Comfortable, but doesn't cover huge distances as easily as my previous FJ, but then again that scraped its c-stand before 45 deg lean angle.