Kawasaki GPZ 600R Ninja

could cope with the roads over there, so although the GPZ did its best the editorial bottom was either being clouted by the saddle or was soaring skyward. GPZs land well after bumps. What was really impressive was the nimbleness of it, the way it would whip down lanes, pirouetting round obstacles mobile or stationary, brake, change gear, direction and pace and be off again. Mid-range go is not wonderful but is adequate so long as you're not about to be crushed between a donk and a drunk driver. In such situations a quick flap with the left foot a couple of times will get you out of the trouble you got yourself into.

Back on the relatively wonderful roads of countryside Britain, the GPZ really came into its own. The 37mm forks and firm chassis give a supremely taut ride, while the triple discs work faultlessly with plenty of information fed back to the pilot. The free-rewing, free-breathing engine really is a jewel. You can trundle around quite happily at lowish revs, all day if you are feeling relaxed but, like a TDR or a YPVS, it's hard not to let the revs rise toward the 11 .OOOrprn redline. If you keep the revs up you can make really rapid progress and have an absolute hoot of a time. The engine is so well balanced and smooth that you don't even get the impression that you are thrashing the nuts off it, as one does on a two-stroke.

It always feels as if it has a balance shaft, but rubber-mounting at the front takes care of any vibration that comes out, so you are left with an engine that at most revs has no vibes at all, none whatsoever. You want  more? How about comfort good enough for

at least 150 miles since you sort of wedge yourself in and get on with it, although taller riders can find it a bit cramped. And here is the clincher: fuel consumption that can easily be in the high 50s to the gallon. On a fast motorway bash I got 200 miles between stops without any discomfort and returned 56mpg.

However, all good things must come to an end, and in this case it's the end for all the good things. Now the bad things. The clutch feels horrible, jerky and feeble, and the six-speed box gets clunky and notchy when hot. And the bike runs hot a lot of the time, with the fan cutting in often after only a few miles on average (cold) British days. If you were built along, shall we say, generous and accommodating lines, then you might have a problem with the dinky dimensions, but then you shouldn't gorge on so much disgusting fatty food and sugary beer but should exercise more, since heart disease kills thousands a year more than biking accidents.

The bad news pretty much ends there. On the electrical side they get a clean bill of health, and Kawasaki have had very few problems reported to them - although the GPX version and the '89 GPZ both get the carb heaters. Early models had problems with steering head bearings wearing fast but that was easily remedied by new seals stopping water getting in; a few others had brake judder problems caused by distorted discs and later models have the clutch cable re-routed to try and take some of the kinks out of it - partly successful, but it is still not one of the bike's better points.

The excellent Tony Galea of Galea Camchains (01 -885 5861) - who is now so famous that even the police recognise him when they stop him for alleged speeding -owned a GPZ600R for a while and grew to like it a lot, while discovering a rather idiosyncratic problem which has come up with other bikes he has seen. The symptoms are that the bike won't idle, tends to cut out on two, and generally behaves in mystifying manner with a hint at the carburation. In fact it is the pulsers (described by him as 'the twiddly bit on the end of the crank') which are heading East. Change them and normality returns.

At the time of its inception, there was something of a camchain debate going on in Japan, with two schools of thought. One was that a light camchain would not be substantial enough to cope with the power it would have to transmit, while the other side felt that a heavy camchain flying around would actually contribute to any problems. Kawasaki, in a land of indefatigable gamblers, seem to have covered themselves here since the 900 Ninja had a whacking great camchain and the 600 has a petite, seven-plate morse chain. Result? The 900 runs, albeit belatedly, into a load of camchain problems and the 600 runs on for at least 30,000 miles with no problems at all. If you have a high-miler with a problem Galea Camchains will put in a new, slightly heavier chain, re-do the tappets and so on for £90, which includes parts, labour and VAT.

Although the bike runs hot, it doesn't seem to cause too many problems or to affect longevity although Tony Galea recommends changing to 9-grade from the 8-grade plugs. A dodge is to change the early model's paper air filter for the later washable filter since it is interchangeable not just with early 600s but with the 550s as well. Since they are about the same price this could represent a useful saving - part number 110131157. Other points to watch are obviously the Uni-Trak linkages, so get the bike up on the centre stand and check for lateral play. With a secondhand bike there is bound to be some, but too much can prove expensive to rectify. If the exhaust is shot, a Motad Datum system comes well recommended, improving the mid-range, where the original bike is weakest.

The final point to watch is that the bikes don't like a lot of slow or town riding. Despatch riders have had problems with just riding round London all day. The 16 valves are really rather tiddly and are prone to carboning up, eventually holding the valves off their seats. A decoke or regular fast rides in the country seem to solve that, which sounds like a pretty pleasant way to keep your bike fit.

When the GPZ600R A1 came out in June 1985 it cost a fairly reasonable £2949, which has now risen to £3749, which is pretty fair for four years of rising costs and escalating Yen values. The only real differences in that time are for this year, when the GPZ, now ■ selling alongside the GPX600, got the latter's cylinder head, pistons and conrods. The GPX, at £3899, has seven more horsepower at 82hp and a bit more torque, but basically there has obviously not been a lot that the Kawasaki engineers have managed to come up with to improve an already fine design.

In 1986 the GPZ600 was the best selling middleweight in Britain, and only really lost that slot when Honda paid them the sincerest form of flattery and dropped their V4 middleweights to produce an across the frame four, the CBR600, which now holds top slot for middleweight sales. But the GPZ600R is more than just a major influence on this year's top seller, it is still a fine bike in its own right, still selling well and heading remorselessly toward sainthood. A scan through the weekly comic shows that a 1985 GPZ, which would have cost around £3000, is still worth at least £2000, perhaps £2500, four years later. A Kawasaki classic.