Our runs were top speed runs. We went from a dead stop on a couple of runs to a rolling stop, and about 35mph. We had about 1.5 miles of road to work with at about 11:30 last night. I did, however, have a few problems getting my bike to shift to 4th gear on 2 passes because of the new boots that I was wearing. But nevertheless, his 9 is fast. He usually pulls me in the twisties every time we race, but he has been riding for a few more years than I have too.

 

The 9 definitely is not a dog. :no As a matter of fact, in the motorcycle mags, they have it listed with a faster 1/4 mile time than the R1. I find it humorous that people think the 9 is so slow. It might be a little heavier and have a nicer seat, but it ain't slow. Have you ever ridden one? It doesn't handle as quick as the R1 or the GXSR1000, but it ain't slow. With the mods mentioned above, I could see that the 9 might be able to beat a stock R1 in a straight line. The motorycle mags give this impression that there is this HUGE difference between all of these bikes, but I'm willing to bet 75% of the riders out there wouldn't have a clue if they didn't read it in a magazine.

I equate the 9 to the old muscle cars. They didn't have a lot of finesse or handling, but they still had big motors and were fast!

I've owned both bikes, and I love my new R1, but I'm definitely not going to talk smack about a 9.

 

Spin,

You should smoke the zx9! i think a lot of it is the rider, he does have a few more years on you. i had a 99 zx9 and traded it in on a 00 R1 and i could instantly see the difference! The 9 is bigger, bulkier, heavier, and slower on roll ons!:fact Is your bike running properly? Maybe you should put it on a dyno and see what the horsepower curve looks like. Is there a weight difference in you and your friend? That can make a difference if it's significat.
I raced my friend on his 01 zx9 with a Jardine slip-on and jet kit just last week. My 02 is stock. We did a second gear roll on and i instantly started pulling him and continued pulling him by several bike links.
Are you sure that's all the mods he has?
From a dead stop the 9 can be lethal. The R1 is too wheelie happy and can be very hard to get a decent launch!

 

I am about 30 pounds lighter than he is.
I have not yet put my bike on a dyno. I called Ivan
last Friday and talked to him a while, and he said that
I probably wouldn't benefit from it. (He and I were mostly talking about the lack of power below 3800 rpm)
But I still feel like I need to do this. There are no shops within a couple of hours from my home that have a dyno.
I did find a dyno in Birmingham, AL but they want me to take my bike to them and leave it for a few days. They want $350 to "Dyno tune" my bike. This is a flat rate no matter if it takes 30 minutes or 3 days. I just don't know if I want to leave my bike in a shop that I personally know nothing about (just heard about them from other shops) for a few days while they tune it.

 

The 9 has a little more top end horse power than the R1. It also uses a catalyst in the exhaust pipe which would be somewhat restrictive. I think the 9 benefits alot from a exhaust replacement due to the stock restrictions and horse power jumps up considerably. It always had a faster quarter time to begin with.

 

ZX9-R's

ZX9-R's are very quick bikes. They have great motors that make power everywhere. It is also a long bike and stable at high speeds. And most important it has a working ram air set up. Kawasaki makes some of the best ram air set-up's. The big 9 is less prone to wheelie than the R1. it is a great straight line bike.

If you wanna beat him then make sure you are getting the most out of your bike. as soon as you start to race tuck in as tight as possible, and slide all the way back untill your butt is touching the rear seat. When you shift keep the throttle pinned, just pull up on the shift lever a bit (5lbs) and when you are ready to shift just "flick" the clutch with two fingers. You only need to move the lever 1/4-1/2 inch to make it shift. Also a smaller front, or larger rear might help you a bit. Good luck brother.

 

I traded a 98 ZX-9R for an 01 R1 just this spring. I've had 3 years on my 9R, and about 5 weeks of riding on the R1. From a handling standpoint the R1 is definitely a big step up. Noticably lighter, much quicker turn-in, still working on dialing the suspension in. Had the stock suspension on the 9R dialed in pretty good, it was very predictable. Even with unoptimized suspension the R1 still handles better at this point.

With regards to power though, calling the 9R a dog is simply asinine. I haven't lined both bikes up for a shootout, but the differences are no where near expansive enough to even think of calling the 9R a dog. I really don't want to insult anyone here, but that's just... ah screw it.

 

It's all rider skill......or lack of it.