Kawasaki ZX12R 1200

I have owned 2 of these bikes both A1 full power models.

Not once have I ever had a problem with clutch baskets or oil running up the stator wires.

Simply chipping the connector box and soldering the wires directly will stop this in its tracks.You can fit a 2002 onwards stator with modified loom which also stops any problems,but like I said,I never had these problems.

The bike is exellent to ride fast or slow.miles fly by without effort.

Against the suzuki hayabusa which I owned for 3 months the zx12r wins everytime.

Nice ride height for taller riders,sharper steering angle,short wheel Base, ram air surge that reels the suzuki in then passes everytime and that is with 100cc less.

Both bikes are good all rounders but the zx12r has the edge on styling handling and outright delivery.

For a 6ft plus rider it the zx.

If you ride hard then yes the zx will eat tyres and fuel but no more then the bulky suzuki.

Remember this is a sports tourer with unmatched power.

All those that slate the big cat,need to learn to ride a bike of this character or go and buy a zx10r also kawasaki.

Zx10r track going bike,zx12r sports tourer,a lot of difference.

Hi owned my 12r for 5 years & lov it.perfomance, handling,looks all excelent.being a little guy i dont feel intimidated by the machine.hav covered over 30k with no isuses.only gripe is services.access to throtle bodies as good body balance is essencial for good throttle response.hav kept mecanics standard, only slight cosmetic changes.always had an endureing affection for big kwaks having owned two zzr11.on the rosd, they eat 1000s in the right hands..do your selfs all a favour and buy 1 as theyll only go up in price.

I have owned my ZX12R for 2 years now, I bought it off Ebay for £1500 from somewhere near Perth in Scotland and I LOVE IT.

I previously had a tuned Thunderace (approx. 140bhp at rear wheel, normal is 125bhp at rear wheel) and I thought that was fast but my ZX12R would have blown that bike away without even thinking about it.

I was going down this "private" road ;-) following my mate on his Sprint 995 or whatever it is, he doesnt do slow and was off, after my brain got into gear and saw him going I thought I'll have some of this and set off after him, he was a good 100mtrs in front which doesnt sound a lot but when the bike in front is accelerating faster than your expensive sport cars and you are that distance behind I had my doubts.

These where his words "I saw these headlights getting closer and closer and then you went passed like I was stood still, I couldnt turn the throttle any more, it was on full" but guess what - I still had 1 more gear to go, LOL

We also went on another "private" road full of twists and ups and downs, I set off and he was nehind me, I overtook this camper van on a small straight just before a bend and I was off, I caned it down the 10 mile twisty "private" road and ended up outside a pub, turned of my engine and waited and waited and then eventually (probably about 2-3 mins) heard this bike screaming down the road, he said "you were off and I chased you, I didnt know where you had gone"

So, I have had my knee down, gone fast, gone slow, toured etc. My only gripe is that when riding in town it tends to get hot, the fans seem to be constantly on, other than that I will keep this bike forever.

It's the unrestricted A1 model built in 2000 with 220mph on the clocks

THE KAWASAKI ZX12 IS FAST AND WILL DESTROY YOUR BANK BALANCE FASTER THAN THIS MISSILE GETS TO 100MPH WITH THE COST OF FUEL AND TYRES . THERE IS NO DOUBT THIS BIKE WASTES THE BUSA AND THERE IS EVEN BEEN CASES WHERE IT BATTERS ITS BIGGER BROTHER THE ZZR14 .

THIS BIKE WILL BECOME AN ICON AND WITH ITS SHORT LIFE SPAN WILL BE SOUGHT AFTER , SO IF YOU HAVE ONE "KEEP IT" AS IN YEARS TO COME YOU WONT BE ABLE TO AFFORD ONE .

THIS BIG IS A HANDFUL BUT IN THE RIGHT HANDS VERY LITTLE WILL COME CLOSE , THE POWER IS ADDICTIVE AND DANGEROUS WHEN ITS IN THE HANDS OF A NOVICE . IT WONT HANDLE LIKE A GIXXER , BUT IT WILL GET TO THE CORNER FIRST AND IT WILL PASS IT ON THE WAY OUT , ITS INCREDABLE THIS BIKE STARTED LIFE IN 2000 AND VERY LITTLE WAS SAID ABOUT HOW THIS BIKE TEARS THE BUSA UP FOR A## PAPER .

IM GLAD I HAVE EXPERIANCED HOW THIS BIKE ROCKETS UP TO INCREDABLE SPEEDS WHICH MAKE RUN OF THE MILL PORSCHE 911`S LOOK LIKE AN OLD RUSSIAN LADA

It was a powerful smooth liner til you hit 7,ooo rpm then it takes you to warp drive kinda like a kh750 triple and much more and by the time you look down at the speedo expecting to see a ton, (JEEZ)160mph it read! I hit the brakes hard back down to 70mph almost splattering my eyeballs to the visor...No joke!I'd be lucky to get a thousand miles out of the rear tyre as the front would last 3,000 miles and that was taking it easy most of the time as it was my sole transport for 6 years and yes life is a gas as I found it saved on petrol when cruizin at 90mph then 60 mph...Strange!

The not so good Bits; The front brakes 6 pots tend to seize 4 out the 6 pots almost every year and twice the choke cable seized up in one year.

One time with 18.500 miles on it the rear wheel bearing suddenly gave out at 60mph,Scary! throttle position sensor gave out giving it a gradual 13 mpg before a third garage figured it out! As the first two tried to sell me a new £ 1,800 EFI unit, only resulting in £180 fix..BEAWARE!!!

one week later the crank shaft position sensor went resulting a no start, The Clutch was problematic and finnaly a Hung over white van driver pulled out resulting the death of my ninja RIP.. The ins pay out was a joke!!!!

I have been riding for 20 years, owned many bikes from off road dirt bikes, track bikes and most of the modern Litre sports bikes (GSXR 1000 K3 & K4 , Fireblade, Aprilia factory r, ZX10-R and many more. I bought my ZX12R a month ago for a bargain. £3000 paid on a private sale with 5000 miles on the clock. Anyway The bike has the most useable power out of any bike I have owned. Low revs, roundabouts, slow traffic all no problem. Some of the other sports bikes I have owned become snatchy and really just want all out thrash top end speed without giving you the luxury of a smooth ride when needed. The ZX12R A1 model is as I understand the last of the truly powerful hypersports bikes before Euro laws restricted the B models and so on. The bike is so easy to ride and much more comfortable riding position than other bikes I have owned. This bike is no pussycat though don't get me wrong. It would also eat almost anything out there on the road, I have friends with other bikes that can not keep up when I hit the throttle.... On trackdays of course. The ZX12r Is definately a beast to be respected and also a beast that can be tamed when you need to. Probably the best money I have ever spent on a bike. Very pleased and definately worth getting one if you have a spare £3500 ish to spend. Value for money is definately there. Cash to smiles ratio of 10+.

Done 30,000+ on mine and love it to bits.

My zx12r Eats petrol, brake pads, discs, calipers, chain+ sprokets + i get between 800 and 2500 miles out of a set of tyres. The comfort suffers and i need a rest after 80mile or so, the handling is ok when set up right but not a good point of the bike, you can afford to back off on the bends because as soon as your on the next straight you can unleash the beast and nothing has a chance.

if you want to out drag anything on the road then this is the bike.

The acceleration from 100 to 200 is shocking, 120mph wheelies !

No plans to get rid, ever.

Had mine after a 2001 Yamaha R1, the ZX12r was my dream bike I've owned a lot of bikes in the past 20 years and I wanted to do some touring as the R1 was not very comfy over a distance. I picked my bike from yorkshire and rode it back to Brum it was raining(typical) I used the motorway and some country lanes the handling wet or dry is great, stability the power is very smooth and forgiving there is not as much power at low revs as you would expect but over 7'000rpm it goes mental. The week after I was going to do Lands end to John O groats with a friend on his Honda Blackbird so I had the bike serviced and set up on the rolling road and new tyres. First problem was charging the battery the tank is not the tank it's a cover the battery is inside the frame best to extend the leads for charging. The day we set out I filled the tank and set off to lands end using the motorway mostly there is quite a lot of room to move about but the pegs are quite high. The Zx12 is supposed to have a 20 litre tank but it seemed to empty it really quick even cruising at around the 85mph mark 130 miles is about the lot you could get more but you would have to work at it. The bike got really uncomfortable. After stopping at every petrol station along the way I was starting to lose interest so I swapped to the Blackbird and then realised what I should have brought. The ZX12 is a better sports bike or trackday bike but the Blackbird is not far behind the comfort and fuel range is loads better. The Hayabusa is faster if thats all you are after and more tuneable more comfy and better fuel range make your own choice about the looks. Problem was the R1 was not much more uncomfortable and better on fuel. I sold it and brought a Blackbird.

The ZX12R is the best bike I have owned and I dont intend getting rid of it anytime soon! Mine has 182 bhp at the tyre with 100ft/lb's of torque, Hindle race system fitted with PC3 and K&N filters. Its a sportsbike for big people as in tall people, I am 6'3" and it fits me so much better than any of the 1000cc bikes I have owned alongside it over the years. The performance is still breathtaking after 7 years and the finish is holding up well too.Try one before its too late!

THE ZX12R 2000 A1 MODEL

Hmm read some reports on the zx12r . First thing is the A1 is un restricted with 185bhp and the quickest one of them all , even quicker than the B model zx12,as well as the zzr1400 yip thats restricted .

The A2 model is the same bike as the A1 but again is restricted .But a bonny box sold by muzzy cures that (£62 ) oh the G PAC or NIKKON devices are rubbish, they dont work .

Ok the problems , well there are a couple, one being the on/off throttle which is a pain in the bum at low speed . Power commander doesnt cure it as its due to the cams . The other is fuel lol, it guzzels it like a drunk in a vat of beer .

As for living with the zx12. Well its fantastic, anything that ventures on to its turf it`s more than capable of destroying it , yes its not a 600 and lets face it what dum eejit would compare it to a 600 anyway . as for a track weapon lol well lets see, well yeh you could, but it was never designed for the track .

Again the A1 is the unrestricted ZX12R the A2 is the A1 with a top speed restrictor fitted and an easy fix with a bonny box . The B model is a diffrent story it is restricted through a sensor on the gearbox which is far more difficult to unrestrict and is down on BHP compared with the A models. A model`s 185BHP B model 165 BHP.

One other thing is when you ride into a car park with other bikes its a great feeling knowing there are nothing that can touch it, other than another zx12 and on that alone it is worth owning one