I’m a few thousand miles into life with the ZX6 and wanted to share my ramblings with you. Initially I wasn’t so keen to live with a sportsbike in our nation's capital. In fact, I couldn’t think of a more unsuitable environment for a screaming 100-plus horsepower bike with a riding position that’s more suited to kinky sex games than staying alive commuting. I got stuck in none the less and over the course of the last few months have generally been proved wrong on both counts.
The bike does have its failings though, the biggest of which is getting off the line. Like most 600’s you have to rev the Kawasaki like a madman to prevent it from bogging down off the line, not good when you have an errant Vespa on one side and an angry cyclist on the other. If you don’t rev it enough, it bogs down while the power fills the airbox. Once full, it spits the power through to the back wheel and your away. I’ve followed a few other ZX6-R’s on my commute and regardless of which version they all seem to have a similar problem. I don’t have a problem riding like a plum through town though, quite the opposite. All that rubbish about scooters being the quickest way across town is complete toss, sure they do OK, but I bet they don’t have half as much fun as I do.
I gave up trying to wheelie Blackfriars bridge (mostly because I’m crap at wheelies), but if you keep your head screwed on relatively tightly you can get have some fun on a sportsbike regardless of traffic and crappy road conditions. I would like to try the bike with a set of Renthal bars on it though, only because I think it would help thread it through the traffic.
I’m glad I’ve been proved wrong. Riding through town is as good a way to have fun on a sportsbike as any if you don’t have the keys to Brands Hatch in your top pocket. Let me know your thoughts on riding in London.
