Kawaski 636 Race Bike

abs · 07-30-2003, 5:43 AM

I have got an offer to buy the trickest '03 Kawa ZX-6R there is in Norway. *The bike was ridden by the current European SuperSport champion in a round of the Norwegian championship this year and was leading the Superbike class (with 180+ hp Gixxer 1000s and R1s) at track-record speed before he high-sided a couple of laps before the finnish.

The bike have all the world supersport stuff (K-Tech fork internals, White Power shock, Laser factory full exhaust, steering damper, Kawasaki kit ECU, rearsets, wide clip-ons, Kawasaki kit electrical system, etc, etc) and is turning out an unbelivable 130+ hp at the back wheel.

Kawasaki ZX-6R race bike

Any thoughts about running this bike as a club racer on the national B-level?

abs · 07-30-2003, 5:46 AM

Oups, should have been Kawasaki 636

abs · 07-30-2003, 9:43 AM

Some action pictures of the bike:
Picture 1
Picture 2
Picture 3

lfg929 · 07-30-2003, 11:22 AM

I would find out what all has been done to the motor. If it has been seriously beefed up then I would leave it alone. If it is a largely stock motor (pipe, remap fuel and ignition, and cams only) and it is in decent shape (the frame, swingarm, forks aren't bent) then go for it.

If you are only looking to do some club racing here and there then you really don't want a built motor with all of the hassles that come with it (read: refreshing it every 4-8 races). I had dinner with one of the superbike racers after Mid-Ohio (AMA) last Sunday and he was telling us how he had to rebuild is motors after every 4 races. He has decked the head and done a bunch of other stuff. The bike will no longer run on pump gas (compression ratio is 15:1) and after 4 races the piston skirts are starting to crack. He chases contingency money from Yamaha for a living so he needs to have a fast bike. I am in it for the fun and would rather have a reliable motor that will get me through all season than have to rebuild the thing all of the time.

ccwilli3 · 07-30-2003, 11:33 AM

if its halfway affordable, jump all over it! I've been intrigued by that bike since I first saw it! 130, wow... That f@cker will move and dominate!

tnarinen · 07-30-2003, 12:47 PM

What class(es) are you planning to run with? Looks like a sweet ride but I understand you'll need to ride superbike/free-for-all class with it since it is over 600 cc if you have same rules as in Scandinavian Open. Like lfg said sounds like a pretty high-maintenance (over 130 rwhp from 636 means the engine is quite highly tuned) ride when compared to Euro Superstock tuned gixxer 1000s with 30 rwhp more that you'd be competing against. I'm as far from expert as one can be, so this is just my very few cents...

luvtolean · 07-30-2003, 1:09 PM

It would be an awesome bike, but be prepared to spend the money for maintainance. Find out what cams and springs are in it, and how often it all needs to be replaced. All these parts will have a maintainance schedule, and you'll need to follow it.

Also, if you buy it, will you be able to buy kit parts to replace any you break or wear out?

I'd love to have the bike, but I'd make sure I could afford it, because it's gonna take some money to keep it in top form.

abtech · 07-30-2003, 10:18 PM

After reviewing several of the photographs, I saw a couple where the rear tire still had a sticker on it, even though it was obvious it had been ridden. *Obviously this is the reason the rider high sided and he should probably look into suing the tire manufacturer, dealer, trackside vendor, racetrack, series promoters and anyone else who may or may not have been present at the time.

At least he should logon to every motorcycle forum in the world and plead his case . . .

stegen · 07-30-2003, 10:19 PM

Quote:

abtech : After reviewing several of the photographs, I saw a couple where the rear tire still had a sticker on it, even though it was obvious it had been ridden. *Obviously this is the reason the rider high sided and he should probably look into suing the tire manufacturer, dealer, trackside vendor, racetrack, series promoters and anyone else who may or may not have been present at the time. *

At least he should logon to every motorcycle forum in the world and plead his case . . .

Oh yeah, maybe its him on the bike. good one ab.

abs · 07-31-2003, 8:03 AM

Thanks for the input.

The motor is seriously beefed up. *It has new cams, ported head, reduced weight and balanced crankshaft. *It has to be to turn out 131 hp at a static dyno (no ram-air). *The sound this bike is making is just unbelievable. *I think it's the best sounding inline-4 I have ever heard.

The reason the bike was built was because the reigning European Supersport champion thought he could win some races in the Norwegian Superbike championship with it. *He really humiliated the rest of the field before ha crashed. *Quite stupid of him as he was leading with several seconds, but he wanted the track record…

The fact that the bike only can be run in two classes up here (Superbike and the Rookie class) means that the price is quite reasonable, much lower than the cost of building it (even without labour cost). *If I buy it, it would be just to ride it at club level and some track days, with some occational entry in the Rookie class.

Nothing is bent on the bike, just some minor scratches from the crash. *A riding buddy of mine got to ride it as his very first race in the Rookie class (actually called Super-B) two weeks ago and got a respectable 4th place.

Hopefully I will get to test-ride it in a week or two, as I will go on vacation next week.

P.S. *I really didn’t get the point in abtech’s comment.

ibAdam · 07-31-2003, 8:20 AM

Quote:

abs : P.S. *I really didn’t get the point in abtech’s comment.

Abtech was referring to a guy who joined the forum about 4 or 5 months back and was talking about suing his local shop for not removing a sticker off his tire when they mounted some new rubber for him. Abtech had stated that many racers don't even bother to remove the sticker because it is quickly and easily worn off. Most everyone here told the guy it was his fault for using a heavy fist to apply the throttle on a new tire. The guy blew up and start calling every F***ing jerks and on and on and on....

abs · 07-31-2003, 8:22 AM

OK, got it!

abtech · 07-31-2003, 8:27 AM

Sorry, I should have explained my sarcastic (not to you) post a little better. I just thought it was interesting to show how racers routinely leave the stickers on the tires and immediately go out and use them without losing control from the 'slippery sticker'.

tnarinen · 07-31-2003, 9:45 AM

abs,

If you choose to buy it you must come to Scandinavian Open Superbike-B event to Alastaro next year. Last year's 250 cc SO champ was running about 2,5 seconds slower than track record in 'Standard 600' ZX-6RR (for non-scandinavians, this class uses engine/suspension-wize stock 600 cc bikes, slip-ons only) this year and is propably perfect track to kill 1000 cc bikes on a 636. I'll even volunteer to be in your pit crew (I'm highly qualified; I can lube/tighten chain and clean bugs from your screen/wizor )

Sounds like amazing ride if you have $$ to maintain it. I'll keep on dreaming about my 600rr with track plastics...

abs · 07-31-2003, 10:14 AM

I really don’t know if I’m going to buy it or not.

It got parts in it (like the fork internals and exhaust), that normal people can’t buy. Kai Børre Andersen got hold of the parts because he was riding for a World Supersport Kawasaki team at the time they built the bike. (He later quit and is now competing in the German supersport championship, but that’s another story…)

Also the engine will have to be stripped at least once a year. I will probably get support from the tuner that built the engine, but it might still be costly.

I’ll guess I will have to sleep on it…

BigDawg · 07-31-2003, 12:06 PM

My buddy has a 636 with full arata and running Dan's custom map and that bike rips. Flat out rips. Like 114hp and 51ft/lbs. Nice power for a 600 (well sort of). I have some pretty good seat time on it and the thing runs right with my 929 albiet, you need to be turning 8K or better. Very well balanced, handles very well and makes pretty good, useable power for a 600. Pretty impressive little ride.

Watch out for the ZX10. I think it's going to surprise a few people.

abs · 08-01-2003, 7:14 AM

tnarinen,

if I make it to Alastaro next year I'll let you be in charge of hiring the umbrella girls! *

But you better get some nice ones! I was thinking about something like:
http://home.broadpark.no/~askaleva/81261.jpg

oldgoat · 08-01-2003, 6:41 PM

Wow!!!!!!!! The hell with the bike.

abs · 08-11-2003, 6:55 AM

Finally got a test ride yesterday. All I can say is WOW!

The Supersport Kit suspension is what impressed me most. The engine was very powerfull, but peeky. Things started happening when the shift-light started glowing around 12-13.000 RPM. It would take me some time to get used to the bike going form the Blade, but I lapped less than 2 seconds off my personal best lap-time even with a lot of safety margin after just a couple of laps.

The real downer is that another prospective buyer crashed the bike a week ago (after 1 lap and a half). A lot of damage (forks, tripple clamp, exhaust, ++), so some serius re-build is needed before I would even consider buying it...