After lots of looking and seeing some pretty poorly upkept bikes I found a bike I like! Bought myself a 2000 ZX-6R in Green and Black. I sold the GS500 to a guy from this board and hope he gets good use out of it like I did!

Thanks for the help with the GS!

nice nice

do you have any pics? i see your avatar but it's small

Thats pretty sweet. The GS is cool, but isnt it nice getting on something with some real go-nads? I sure think so!

I dont have any up on the web to link to and no way to attach images here so not really a way.

But here is a link on the Kawi Forums where I uploaded the pics of the bike.


And yes getting a bike with power is very nice compared to the GS! Highway time will be much nicer.

http://kawiforums.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=15193

wow dude.. that is one greeeeen bike!

Looks nice  

Plus now you can get all that dirt cheep "green stuff" gear from New Enough to go with it  :mrgreen:

looks like it just came from the showroom

my buddy has a new zx6r and it's nice...but i'm not a big fan of a green color

If your getting a Kawi, its gotta be green to be unique! The black and white breaks up all the green. I will be doing something about the green wheels, prob polish the lips to lower some of the green on there.

Its a very nice bike 4k miles and not abused!

Awesome bike man.  The 2000-2001 have just about my favorite paint/decal job of all the 600's.  Plus that ram air looks downright mean.  If I were going to get an ss 600, that would be it  

How's it sound? Whats it like coming off the GS?  :mrgreen:

Other than the test ride this weekend I havent had time to go to the DMV and all that to get tags and title done. So I havent gotten to really ride it. Also the weather here in MI isnt the nicest yet. It's raining and about 50 now.

But it sounds very very nice! Even with the stock exhaust. Nothing like the sound of an I4 engine on a sportbike!

Its lighter than the GS and feels like the weight is all at the bottom of the bike as its easy to move around and get off the sidestand. Seat is a nice wide seat that gets wider the farther back you sit. Nice ergos but I havent rode it for long periods of time yet so I just know what the mags say about it being the best seating and wind protection of the 600's at the time. But I will be getting a touring windscreen for it anyway.

I'll give a much more detailed report this weekend more than likely, once I've gotten to put some miles on it.

Just be careful the torque on the Kawi's are something else!  You can't hammer on the throttle like a GS and go weeeee!  It's more like a series of blipping the throttle! (I know I'm using technical terms here, lol)  = )

Heh yep, tho I've heard you still have to clutch in for a wheelie but I'm not a stunter or looking to be one so I wont be doing WOT runs thru first and 2nd until I get a real good feel for how the bike is going to act.

The zx6 can easily wheelie without the clutch.  Evrn with lowering links like on Anne's bike it still can be wheelied by whacking open the throttle.  It is a very nice bike.  You'll be very happy...but my gsxr was more race focused, your zx6r is more sport tour focused.  Not a bad thing at all.

I got to ride it for about 60 miles today so I got a decent feel of the bike but nowhere near mastering it by far!

Yes the front end will get light in 1st and 2nd gear at the top of the revs. And once when I thought I shifted to 3rd and was still in the upper revs of 2nd and let the clutch back out I got to feel it come up and wasnt expecting that! So gotta make sure you actually changed gears before you wack the throttle back open.

Clutch feel is kinda notchy but I think thats cause the bike revs so fast that I was getting too high in the revs and slipping the clutch at the same time. I got better and that graby feeling went away. The actual clutch lever pull is so much easier than the GS that even resting a few fingers over it to get ready for the next change, you wouldnt notice that you were pulling it in. Be a great bike to ride around in stop and go traffic because your left hand would never get tired of clutching to shift.

Shifter was about like the GS except on downshifts, you have to lift your foot up higher before you shift down again. So when coming to like a stop and your going down the gears you cant rest your foot on it and kinda notch it down, you have to raise your foot off almost to no tension to get it to go down the next gear. Might also be the boots I have now that I am getting used to.

Power on the bike is awesome and nothing like the GS. There isnt a lot of engine braking below 10k unlike the GS also so you use less engine brake and more actual brake to slow down. You cant lay down the power in the lower gears like the GS also as the back tire got squirly on me once when taking and left turn in first (from stop sign). Tire was also cold but still it grabs your attention when the back end is sliding a bit..and of course a cop just happens to come down the other way but I didnt get squidy and he didnt turn around. I think I am glad I had a long period of riding (couple times in the winter on the GS) before I got on the ZX because if I had gotten this after riding the GS for a few months I would be way overdoing the throttle and the brakes on the bike. 6th gear at 45mph and about 4k and you roll on the throttle has more power than the GS at 11k! And it only gains in power for another 10k.

I cant compare handling yet as the roads here are flat and straight and I need some new tires on the ZX. But it feels like a lighter more flickable bike.

All in all its a big change but boy is it a fun and powerfull bike! And I like the touring aspect of the bike, nicer seat than the GS or others I rode/sat on. Great ergos, just need a bit taller windscreen to get the wind off my chest. And of course getting rid of those big ole turn signals!

Hope that helps others out, I am real glad I started on the GS and learned how to ride without power rather than having a point and shoot attitude on biking.

lol. I want my R6 back now...do you have any tracks by you? some race plastics, leathers, a little bit of lean and the fun you'll have will make you punch drunk giddy!

A bit more on my new ride, updates from the warmer weather where I got to ride it longer. 60 degrees is like heaven here after the long cold winter!

Wind protection from the fairings is great, not saying the windscreen but the actual fairings. The sides come out enough and block most of the wind from your legs so wearing just jeans on cooler days is possible. Also the upper fairing directs wind away from your hands so on this cooler morning ride into work at about 40 degrees I wore my summerish perf gloves and my hands werent freezing cold like on the GS even with my windscreen. Going down the interstate at 75mph in 40 degree weather wasnt bad at all, I did have my leather jacket and pants on and a neck muffler but still! Go into a little tuck and all the wind is gone from your chest and neck. And the power is great at speed, no struggles to keep up with the 18wheeler buffets or downshifting to pass.

I'm really enjoying my new bike if you cant tell but I am still gratefull for my beginning on a GS! And as a post on here said about the article on starting on sportbikes, its not a wise choice! I'm going to have to go to a trackday training day to get a handle on the bike better and in a safe enviroment.

The total lack of engine braking is a unique phenomona with the zx6R.  My GSXR wasn't like it, nor was an R6 -those bikes had plenty of engine braking.  I rode the zx6 today and I am still surprised at roll off braking.

You'll get used to it.

Consider a zero gravity double bubble screen in dark smoke for better wind protection and a scorpion bolt on.  Info here: http://www.gstwins.com/zx6r/

I like the exhaust as is right now, not too loud unless I want it to be.

The windscreen I cant decide in the double bubble type or the touring type with the lip up at the top. Parts411 has the touring one onsale for $35 from LP.