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Hiya Jeff. I spotted your post and thought I'd shoot off a reply, despite the fact that it's now it's more than 12 years since you placed it here. Twelve years is a long time, so you've probably gravitated to something a bit newer, but ah well, here goes.
I understand your expressed sentiment, given that these days people tend to have fleeting and transient affinities for their 'fixation' of the moment'. Let me affirm the fact that those who 'upgrade' to a newer (perhaps sexier) bike do not, as a rule, possess a greater understanding of the aesthetics underlying expressions of the art (like 'motorcycle technolophy'). Many are simply hooked on the adrenaline rush that speed and hyper-performance confer upon the owner of a Sierra Hotel (military slang for 'sh*t-hot') sportsbike and the minute a newer bike with slightly more spectacularspecs is introduced they're onto it like a Jihadist on an AK-47.
The frank truth is that speed and performance are overrated. Speaking personally, I've bored holes in the sky with Mach 2.4 hunks of polished aircraft aluminum and been higher than most people (60K feet high in the atmosphere), so speed and 'extreme' anything are relatively boring concepts to me (and characteristic, generally, of puerile folks who need to grow out of their metabolism's hormonal storm a bit). Myself? I enjoy stopping to smell the roses (or Nasturtiums, or Rhododenrons or whatever) every now and then. It's all mostly a matter of perspective, and the longer you live (so the theory has it), the more expansive your perspective tends to become.
I've had a great many bikes in my lifetime, all of them equally enjoyable and satisfying. My last several included a 1991 Yamaha FZR1000 and a 2000 Honda VFR800R Interceptor. Recently, I sold the Fizzer and Viffer and bought a lovely 2000 green Kwikas****i ZX900E-1. The Kawa has a slightly smaller displacement (900cc vs. 1000cc) than the Fizzer, but I find it absolutely wonderful (and even potentially more suicidal than the Yammy). It's not just the joy I derive from riding it but the pleasure working on it that it provides me, since for my money, appreciation for the machine and its technology are equally complementary halves of the fun. Nothing soothes the ragged soul (when wifie is on the rag again) like puttering around with it, maintaining it, working on it (or, in my case, writing about it and other motor-driven two-wheelers) when I am stressed out. I find the Kawa's whole conceptual approach and the solid engineering behind it to be immensely enjoyable. It is fully part of what author Robert Persig was focused on in his classic book 'Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance'. Like good sex, the pleasures conferred during motorcycle maintenance are highly fulfilling and, believe me, I know what I'm talking about...we used to describe flying F-104s and F-106s back in the day as 'the most fun you could have with your clothes on!' Riding motorcycles and taking care of them is (for me) the 2nd most fun you can have with your clothes on.
Given all of the foregoing observations, my present Kawa ZX9R is as adequate for maintaining my present need for manual psychomotor fulfillment as a highly skilled Thai girlfriend (LoL), and I seriously doubt if I'll ever need to trade this hoss in for another one. The ZX9R is a classic-to-be (just like the FZR1000 Yammy, which I'd still have were it not for my 'better half's' complaints about keep two bikes around).
There are others like you out here, who still maintain a high level of regard for the classic ZX9R machine! Here's an image two of my own ZXer to boost your (12-years-in-the-past) spirits! (PS: It's name is 'Fugu', as in Japanese Puffer Fish served as sushi...able to kill you in a single heart beat, if you don't treat it with respect).
09-16-2019 | 06:50 PM
Definitely NOT the last of the ZX9R Mohicans!
