If you are remotely considering buying a ZX6R, I highly suggest that you find one to ride. I have thought about how I came to own mine every time I push the start button. I found it on craigslist, called the guy up, and drove around the corner to see it. Ever since I have followed sportbikes, I've been a moth to the 636's light. Something about it has just always appealed to me in that special way a man's bike should I bought it on sight and drove it home, and I would have paid twice what I did for it. This bike fits me, period. I'm 5'10" ~115lbs, and I love the seating position. Yes, it's kinda cramped but what SS race bike isn't less comfy than a Katana? Get on the bike, turn the key and watch the rev counter circle the gauge to 15,500 RPM as you hear the whirr of the injectors getting ready. Hit the start button and you immediately realize that you are sitting on a missile. These things are angry, ferocious, downright NASTY. There is something of a higher being, an ethereal feeling in your gut that this thing was spat back out of hell. Oh wait, we aren't even moving yet. Reach for the clutch and grab it, with a pull so light it takes only one finger to fully grasp. Click down into first and you hear the idle smooth out a bit as the monster is ready to come out and play. Slip the clutch out and take off, brimming with anticipation of getting to an open road. As you ride over the small bumps in your neighborhood, you will realize that this bike is set up to grasp traction in every little crevice of the road, yes it hurts your wrists if you have too much weight on them. Shift your weight to your legs, this machine is telling you that you should feel blessed to even look at it. You make it to the light and hit your signal as you sit and wait. The engine is now sitting at a deadlock idle and purring, goading you to even think about touching the razor quick throttle with anything but the utmost care and reserve...you wait for wait seems like hours, but the light turns. Perfect, it's time to play.
Come around the corner in first at about 5k rpms, and the engine is practically foaming at the mouth. It's a full bred rottweiler with its teeth bared, straining against the thickest chain you've ever seen. Hit 7k rpms, slam into second with nothing more than a click and an almost imperceptible clutch pull, grab a handful of throttle and feel the proverbial teeth destroying the pavement beneath. The sensation of raw thrust from a symphony of cylinders singing the most beautiful exhaust note you've ever heard is blown into the puddle in the rear of your skull that was your brain...
You want more...
At 9k rpms in second gear the real work is just getting started. You grab 75% throttle, and as you hit 12k the front end goes weightless. You are now mounted on a SCUD missile, bent on destroying anything in sight. The bike is tugging at the reins, wishing you had installed wings so it could fly with the other raptors circling their prey. You are predatory, you ARE the food chain.
A hard shift into third and you are nowhere near even the mere memory of what the speed limit is on this road. And you have curves coming up...no problem.
You give a slight blip of the throttle and downshift to second on the brakes as the speed absolutely disappears, with no sign of a wiggle or anything that communicates the chassis is anything less than completely composed. You maintain throttle as you practically PLUMMET into the turn, the asphalt shooting towards you as the genius of a 355lb dry motorcycle sinks in. You nail your apex and see the exit of the curve, a smile on your face as you realize your exit line is completely clear. You accelerate out with a vicious guttural howl emanating from under the tank the hounds of hell would bow to.
To me, this bike is my Buddha. This bike is my spirituality. It connects to me in a way that is primal, basic, and instills the fear of god in me at the same time. I know at any point this magnificent silver stallion could buck me forty feet in the air if it so chose, but there is the amazing trust between bike and rider that it won't. That to me, is what riding is all about. The almost religious indescribable bond between man (or woman) and machine that feels powerful enough to rend the heavens.
To me, THAT is what my ZX6R makes me feel EVERY SINGLE TIME I get on it. Absolute prowess.
</gush>
So...if you're still reading, I'll throw some pro's and con's.
Pro's
-amazing engine with 600 stomping midrange
-incredibly light, 354lbs dry and trust me, it feels it
-looks that blow any other SS away (imo, yeah yeah)
Con's
-when the rear tire starts to get to the end of its life, it will let you know on a hard launch straight from a light
-yes, it's a bit cramped, but you find ways to make it comfortable for you, although hardcore commuting pretty much rules this beast out
-runs a bit hot in stop and go (I've seen 235 degrees in 60 degree weather)
-underseat storage fits the stock toolkit, a baseball hat, and two gauntlet gloves, thats it.
Come around the corner in first at about 5k rpms, and the engine is practically foaming at the mouth. It's a full bred rottweiler with its teeth bared, straining against the thickest chain you've ever seen. Hit 7k rpms, slam into second with nothing more than a click and an almost imperceptible clutch pull, grab a handful of throttle and feel the proverbial teeth destroying the pavement beneath. The sensation of raw thrust from a symphony of cylinders singing the most beautiful exhaust note you've ever heard is blown into the puddle in the rear of your skull that was your brain...
You want more...
At 9k rpms in second gear the real work is just getting started. You grab 75% throttle, and as you hit 12k the front end goes weightless. You are now mounted on a SCUD missile, bent on destroying anything in sight. The bike is tugging at the reins, wishing you had installed wings so it could fly with the other raptors circling their prey. You are predatory, you ARE the food chain.
A hard shift into third and you are nowhere near even the mere memory of what the speed limit is on this road. And you have curves coming up...no problem.
You give a slight blip of the throttle and downshift to second on the brakes as the speed absolutely disappears, with no sign of a wiggle or anything that communicates the chassis is anything less than completely composed. You maintain throttle as you practically PLUMMET into the turn, the asphalt shooting towards you as the genius of a 355lb dry motorcycle sinks in. You nail your apex and see the exit of the curve, a smile on your face as you realize your exit line is completely clear. You accelerate out with a vicious guttural howl emanating from under the tank the hounds of hell would bow to.
To me, this bike is my Buddha. This bike is my spirituality. It connects to me in a way that is primal, basic, and instills the fear of god in me at the same time. I know at any point this magnificent silver stallion could buck me forty feet in the air if it so chose, but there is the amazing trust between bike and rider that it won't. That to me, is what riding is all about. The almost religious indescribable bond between man (or woman) and machine that feels powerful enough to rend the heavens.
To me, THAT is what my ZX6R makes me feel EVERY SINGLE TIME I get on it. Absolute prowess.
</gush>
So...if you're still reading, I'll throw some pro's and con's.
Pro's
-amazing engine with 600 stomping midrange
-incredibly light, 354lbs dry and trust me, it feels it
-looks that blow any other SS away (imo, yeah yeah)
Con's
-when the rear tire starts to get to the end of its life, it will let you know on a hard launch straight from a light
-yes, it's a bit cramped, but you find ways to make it comfortable for you, although hardcore commuting pretty much rules this beast out
-runs a bit hot in stop and go (I've seen 235 degrees in 60 degree weather)
-underseat storage fits the stock toolkit, a baseball hat, and two gauntlet gloves, thats it.
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