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Completing the set (Travels with Guido 368, Mar 2023) ![]()
Adding number three to the lunatic
end of the shed It was time to revive the fly-ride
program. The catalyst was re-reading our
2020 profile on Kawasaki's mighty ZX-12R and
noticing there so far wasn't one in the shed. And there
needed to be.
Was there also a Yamaha that
qualified, to complete the 'big four' Japanese group?
No, not really. I've owned a couple of FZR1000s, but
they are from an earlier era, while an R1 (lovely as it
is) also belongs to a different set, namely pure sports
bikes.
Anyway, as a serial obsessive, I kind of started searching the online world for a good ZX-12R. Some of the ones on offer are rubbish, as they've been mistreated. That's the fate of many performance motorcycles – each rider down the ownership trail is less and less well-funded, and the owner often less and less informed. What once started as someone's pride and joy becomes yet another second-hand bike that's kind of kept going.
What I'm looking for is a motorcycle
that has a reasonable history, with some explanation of
its mods. Preferably with the original parts as part of
the package. And I found one. At Au$8000 (US$5300,
GB£4400), it was one of the more expensive examples on
the market and it had a claimed odo reading of 62,000km
(38,500 miles).
What really got my attention was I was
dealing with the first owner, who had all the books,
keys, and original muffler – it's now wearing a Muzzy
unit. A little chat on the speaking trumpet
convinced me the bike was genuine, though I wasn't
entirely up to speed on a couple of his recollections of
its mechanical history. No matter, as a whole it stacked
up and we agreed I'd pick it up some weeks later.
Okay, another little note here: Who on
earth started this thing where vehicles should be
photographed on grass? Unless it's a lawnmower, you've
cocked up! Find a goddamn bit of bitumen or concrete. Anyway, moving on, the plan is to fly
to Brisbane and ride it back Melbourne, a mere 1800km
(1100 miles) or so. This is part of muggins' ongoing
fly-ride program, will be the sixth bike I've done this
with in recent years and I can recommend the experience.
Or not – it may depend on how the latest acquisition
goes.
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