Probably not much help to you as I've never owned one, but I was looking for a nice one after selling my K4 GSX-R 600.
Ended up with a 2002 ZX6-R for £1450 instead!

I've just come from a ZRX1100, had a 6R A1P a few years ago.. fancied a 7R cos I love the looks!

Mine's an A1P, which you'll probably know that as I said 2002. Any owner recommendations?

636

Congrats! Get some pictures up!

I have a pretty tidy '99 P4 that I've restored to as close to as new as I can get. Had it since 2008 - lots of mods, but kept it cosmetically pretty standard. Does under 500 miles a year since the full restore, but I still love it!

Loads of worth while mods to do, but for best feel, refurb brakes and suspension and replace all of the chassis bearings if you have the time.

My mods include off the top of my head:

Float bowl mod.
HM racing needles and springs.
Klean air system blanked.
Full Micron race system.
Twin brakeline setup.
Braided hoses.
HM Racing forks with Hagon progressives.
Nitron rear shock with remote preload adjuster.
4 degree ignition advancer (quite an improvement over stock, but means super unleaded only fuel).
Uprated clutch and stiffer springs.
K&N air filter.

etc etc.

119bhp at rear wheel and lightened to the tune of about 15-20kg.

How did you get 15+kg out of it? That's a massive amount of weight.

First thing I said when I jumped on it.. "This thing is bloody heavy!"

IIRC, float bowl mod is blanking off the reed valves and 2 vacuum hoses (emission control system).

Getting the carbs to fuel properly is number 1 priority! Bloody awful things to set up and well worth a dyno session with someone that knows how to set up carbs, IMHO. Mine had dynojet needles which (depending on how early the needles are) will make the emulsion tubes go out of shape, Dynojet issued a re-call on certain batches, easiest way to tell is if has a matt finish (IIRC). If the tubes have gone oval, then you can pretty much kiss goodbye to the set- they cannot be removed & they won't fuel properly again. Factory Pro is, apparently, the way to go as the dynojet kit needles won't fuel properly until well over 5k (on the main jets) where it pulls quite hard (out-paced a TL1000S with my lardy arse on-board, just). Whether it's the profile of the needle or the specific scavenging from the aftermarket system, I don't know. I don't have any experience of the Factory Pro kit, just from what others have said on redmonkey forum.

Going back to standard carbs yielded a vanilla effect on the power delivery for me; far better around town at low revs, but ultimately lacked a higher up punch.

At the end of the day, it's an old bike; it's never going to be as good as a modern 600, so the worthwile mods should fall into 2 catagories: ones you get enjoyment from & ones for longevity.

If you're into your mods, there is apparently a dodgy bloke on here formerly known as CC. He has a 7R with 10R front & back end.

I've had my ZX7R for nine years. Apart from a few little tweaks it's pretty much standard (Harris exhaust hanger to replace pillion pegs, stainless exhaust system, tail tidy, euro headlight, ZX9R mirrors and a few bits of slightly shameful cosmetic carbon).

Compared to a modern 600 it's slow and heavy, but I love it.

I ride it all year, and as a result the electrics are riddled with corroded connectors. I've had a few electrical issues as a result. Other than that I really enjoy it. I've ridden loads of other bikes and nothing else really does it for me.

ZX9R B motor is a pretty straight forward swap.