new toy

[pluto]

Bought this recently for general road riding while the gpz is in bits, hopefully do some trackdays on it too. Runs well and feels quite together, roads have been a bit slippery for a proper test but so far I like it alot.

[Ginger Bear]

That looks very tidy.

[mick znone]

nice looking machine for a bit of fun, but ive often wondered, what are the pipes going into the tank for, cant be venting can it?

[Pigford]

Pal of mine had a red one - L1/2 Handled great

[warren3200gt]

If you bought that from the guy down near hastings it is my old bike. I've been looking for a 1989 H1 for some time to relive the old times. Only managed to find red ones and my old bike so far. The tank pipes are to force feed and increase air pressure into the airbox (allegedly) if it actually works or not is another matter.
Damn quick bikes in their day and still plenty quick enough now. Mine was quick enough to match my mates Fireblade.

[jonhunt]

Those hover pipes are just decoration I think. The ones I have seen just clip onto the tank. There is no feed into the airbox.

[KWACKERZ1]

And its eligible for the Suoerbike class at the Spa bikers Classic.

[warren3200gt]

Those hover pipes are just decoration I think. The ones I have seen just clip onto the tank. There is no feed into the airbox.

They definitely had a air passageway through the tank that they clipped onto and under the tank they continued to the air box on mine. The "allegedly" part was if they worked or not.

[Tonto]

Very nice - looks a tidy example
I had a H2 back in the day, loved that bike.

[jonhunt]

Mate of mine had one of these. there were no holes through the tank. Later models had a single ram air.

Ride Magazine Review

BECAUSE Kawasaki got most of it right first time. By modern standards a ZXR's 205kg and 92 back-wheel horsepower are more road than race but that's fine by us. Or it would be if you could still buy a new one. By this age (nine) most sports bikes are knackered. Worn bearings, suspension and neglected brakes turn once taut sports weapons into plodders.

The ZXR750 has always been a hairy motorbike. Launched in 1989 as a poor-man's H**** RC30, its claimed 107bhp, alloy beam frame and endurance racer styling put it top of most riders' Christmas list. Who cared if the 'Hoover tubing' air intakes didn't go anywhere or improve performance, or the



EXHAUST

suspension threw you out of the seat when you ran over a small leaf? The ZXR looked the business and had all the right gizmos for a late-80s sports bike.

Kawasaki sold boatloads. You don't see many in showrooms but there are plenty still around - normally in the hands of devoted owners. Actually, ZXR owners are fanatics and those with early H-models are the worst. The colour-matched seat, wheels and master cylinder covers on this one aren't the work of a one-off loony, there are dozens like this.

Kar rode it back from the dealer. "It wasn't as uncomfortable as expected," he said, "for the first few hundred yards at least. Then I hit a bump, then another, and another. I don't

remember the journey there being rough."

Unlike most biker legends, the ZXR suspension horrors are true. On smooth roads you never think about it, but on bumpy stuff it's always on your mind. Following Tom on the GSX-R, the Kawasaki's back wheel spent more time airborne than on the ground. Meanwhile my battered knackers retreated upstairs in a desperate act of self-preservation.

Tom normally likes bikes that put up a fight, but not this one. "On decent roads it steers better than the Suzuki, dropping into corners with a nudge on the bars. Thing is, where I live the roads are bumpy and I want to have children one day. A ZXR would finish me off."

[z1bman]

Those hover pipes are just decoration I think. The ones I have seen just clip onto the tank. There is no feed into the airbox.

They definitely had a air passageway through the tank that they clipped onto and under the tank they continued to the air box on mine. The "allegedly" part was if they worked or not.

they where never connected to the air box on the H1 its purpose was to vent cool air onto the top of the engine the first model to get ram air was from the L1 upwards

[martinz1000r]

Dave, fantastic bikes. I have had lots of them over the years. I used to buy them for £1000 in the spring, ride them for a year and then sell on for exactly the same. Yours is an H2 version. The pipes are for show only.

Something you will need to be careful of is the alternator is driven by a rubber belt. It gives up quite easily and you get no warning. It's worth replacing with a new one as they cost very little. Kawasaki will tell you a special tool is need to get the right tension on the bolt but I always got away with a big screwdriver. You also need a long 10mm allen key and some leverage on it as it will be tight.

If you not worried about originality a Hagon or Maxton rear shock and a good service of the front forks will transform the bike. Great trackday tool as others have said.

If you are interested I have the factory workshop manual with the additional supplement for your model on the shelf. I am sure we can come to some arrangement.....

[warren3200gt]

Cooling the engine sounds reasonable but mine definately conected to the air box. I know because it was a bastard trying to cnnect all the pipes and get the tank back on at the same time.

[scott]

That's a nice bike Pluto, I've got the later P4 model

[jonhunt]

Lovely P4.
Was on my list of to buys

I stand corrected on the holes they do go through. My mates had had the pipes taken off and was resprayed. maybe it had been blanked off. still had the two clamping points, was a cheap hack thou.