few people are crazy about the zx7-r. many will tell you it's too heavy, as you can get an r1 weighing over 10kg less which produces more power. those same people will tell you about the demise of the 750 class, and how all the serious thought is going into litre-and-above machines. i'm not going to argue with them, but this is my perspective:

when i was a nipper (all right, eighteen) my greatest ambition was to own a zxr750. in terms of styling, manoevrability, and braking, it was the absolute pinnacle of its age. to my eye, nothing has changed, and the zxr's successor is still leading the field in these 3 areas.

it's not just about power - the zx7 puts out a pretty hefty 120bhp (according to kawasaki; other reports place it around 112bhp), but this is dwarfed by some of the supersports around these days. the biking experience to me is a dance. you're in an arena with various obstacles and guides, and the name of the game is to flow gracefully, ergonomically, and smoothly through all the chaos and anger without even breaking a sweat. this means you have to have a machine that will corner on a penny, and the zx7 fits this bill nicely. the front end is so planted you'll never worry whether you can lean it over that little bit more, and the power delivery is so smooth it feels like a lift in a city skyscraper.

the additional weight of the vehicle really puts control at your fingertips when it comes to braking. the brakes are absolutely top-notch, and i've found it possible to come to a smooth, controlled stop in a hurry on more than one occasion when others around me had their back tyres wobbling around in the air. likewise, opening the throttle quite suddenly is unlikely to dump you on your back, although second gear is the one to be doing most of the work in if you want to get to a ton in a hasty manner.

despite the racing riding position, the bike is surprisingly comfortable, rating well over the zxr for both rider and pillion. i find four or five hundred miles at a stretch is now well within my reach. however, the suspension is extremely hard, and poor quality roads and humps can significantly reduce this figure. softening the suspension, though tempting, introduces an unnerving margin of error while cornering where previously it was flawless.

there are few bad points with this machine. certainly the expense of oem parts and the likelihood of organised thieves appropriating it are pretty horrendous. the positive neutral finder means it's easy to get into neutral, but if you're prone to feathering the clutch in second around town, you may find the power detached from the rear wheel at inappropriate moments. of course the standard kawasaki green is nauseating, but i could live with the red, and the black-and-silver is as smart as you like, as was the black of the p1/2/3 models. the latter also had a few problems with their electrics in the wet, which has been improved with seals in the latest incarnation.

zx7s are supposedly moderately popular, but sometimes i can go for days or weeks without seeing one in central london; presumably the would-be targets all decided to get 'blades or r1s, or possibly zx9s, since zx6s and zx9s seem to be two-a-penny around here. that suits me fine.

i've owned zx7-rs for three years now and never had need to repair anything beyond the usual extremities (wing mirrors, etc). servicing is painless. fuel consumption is very reasonable (for instance, i save more than £2 per 100 miles against an r1100gs). i've never been happier with a bike, even when i had a zxr750. i doubt i'll consider anything else for some time.

Also, dog's thoughts on the current state of the ZX-7R:

kawasaki kawasaki
why can you not
update your racing seven-fifty
in line with the times we live in
i care not a jot
in the meantime i've been thrifty
but i'll keep
the old lady
as a spare.