Tigerclaws Space

Welcome to my Blog!

This blog is about me and my bike. Yes I know, boring to some. But It's a first attempt just to get the "feel" and use the free space afforded me.

I currently ride a 2004 Kawasaki ZX6r (636) Ninja. I've had the bike a month now (15/7/2004) and looking forward to the summer. Yep you read right, the summer. It's July and it hasn't arrived yet. Well that's England for ya, crap weather, crap roads, and a crap government to go with it.

My first bike was a Kawasaki GPX600r, which I bought 2 years after passing my test. I kept this bike (which cost me £900) for two months. I only bought a cheap bike to get me on the road, and give me something to trade-in for a newer bike.

I traded the GPX in for a Kawasaki ZX6r V reg.. The ZX cost me £4,500, and I got £500 for the GPX. I didn't think this was too bad. It needed a lot of work to make it nice again.

I kept the ZX for about a year, then decided I needed a bigger bike. Hence the Suzuki GSX1400. The GSX cost £6,500 brand new, plus a new helmet, jacket and trousers. At first it was great, but the novelty wore off pretty quickly when I found out it didn't handle like a sports bike. It was heavy, wobbled in the turns, and was generally a bit of a hand full. It had a fuel injected 1400cc engine, which meant lots of power. The power was all bottom end grunt, so it would pull in any gear. No need to change down for overtakes, just open the throttle.

Due to it's weight, and fuel injection, I dropped this bike 2 months after picking it up from the shop.. £2000 worth of damage. Engine casing (r/h side), clocks, handle bars and brake lever, R/H side exhaust pipe, front mudguard, and tank. I repaired most of the damage, but not all. The tank was too expensive to replace (for me anyway). After a year (well 11 months to be exact) I sold the bike back to the shop I bought it from. The bike still needed a tank, and a few scratches needed sorting out. It had 11,000 miles on the clock, and I received £2,200 gutted. Moral? Don't drop your bloody bike. If you do, get it repaired before you sell it.

I was off bikes for a while (a whole month in fact) and desperately needed the buzz of riding again. I bought a "P" reg Suzuki 1200s Bandit. I'd read good reports on the bandit, and people I spoke to said the bandit was a brilliant fun bike. Believe me, it was. If the bike wasn't so old, I would still have it today. I had so much fun on that bike, I too say only good things about a Bandit. But alas it was past it's sell-by date and had to go. But what do I go for next? I know, a Fireblade. "The best sports bike on the market" I kept reading in the magazines.

No chance! The bloody insurance companies wouldn't touch me without a garage. So that then counts out the R1, ZX10r, ZX12r, Busa, Blackbird and the GSXR1000.

Nuts! Well it was back to a 600 for me then, I know I can get insured for those. The latest bike in my list, is a Kawasaki ZX6r (636) Ninja. So that's what I did, traded the Bandit for a brand new Ninja. In green of course. Can't have a Ninja unless it's green. 

Do I regret it? Do I miss the Bandit? 

Yes I miss the bandit, it was fun, comfortable, and went like a rocket. 

No I don't regret it, the Ninja is bloody awesome. It looks fantastic, goes like stink, and handles beautifully. Am I going to enjoy owning a Ninja? Too bloody right I am. If you don't believe me, just ask any Ninja owner and they will tell you the same. My confidence has rocketed since I've owned the Ninja, and that's only a month remember. Because of the handling, I can corner better, ride smoother, and the brakes are brilliant.

It's now October, and I've owned the Ninja for 4 months. The summer didn't turn out too good for riding, but I did have quite a few good days of sun to ride around in. One particular Sunday I was riding with the intention of getting my knee down (no I don't want to be Rossi), and although I was leaning far more than I had ever done before, I still couldn't do it. It wasn't until my holiday in the middle of August that it finally happened. I met up with some friends one day while on holiday, and they took me under their wing, and showed me the way to go. My thanks go out to Markh, PhilipZX6rf3, and Babyblade. Their support and guidance helped me to do what I was beginning to think I couldn't.  A photo and a short video of my fun times this summer.

Do I still love the Ninja? Yep, of course I do. I still think it is awesome, and it's the best bike I've owned to date. I will continue to ride all through the winter, but my knee down fun will have to stop soon (for this year anyway). I still can't compare the Ninja to the Fireblade, but I don't think I want a blade anymore. I'm happy with my choice of bike, and don't think I'll be changing it in a hurry.

 In the latter part of October 05 I had a minor mishap whilst riding back from a nice day out on the bike. The day was a fine sunny day and I had had a new front tyre fitted a few weeks earlier. Coming home from my day out, on the last roundabout of the day, my bike decided to part company with me. Maybe diesel on the round, maybe I was pushing too hard, or maybe the front tyre wasn't scrubbed in enough, who knows? The upshot was a damaged bike (not too badly I'm glad to say), and a few cracked ribs and bruises. The bike was off the road for a few weeks waiting for parts. Kawasaki don't hurry themselves supplying spare parts it seems. New exhaust, foot peg, screen and foot peg hanger was all I needed, oh and new crash bungs. Thank the lord I had the forsight to fit those R&G crash bungs, they saved the bike from a fate worse than death.

It's now 1/6/2006 I didn't ride much during the last winter (as I intended to) mainly because of a job change. The bike was at home, while I was driving all over the country and staying out nights! I'm now looking forward to a nice summer (praying for good weather).  The bike is serviced for the summer, new tyres, and chain, ready to go!  I can't wait to get out there and have some more fun!