What's fastest? Lets see how long..

WALTSTAR

WALTSTAR

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OK, I'VE GOT WHAT I BELIEVE TO BE A PRETTY FAST ZL1 AND A NEAR BONE STOCK 900 THAT CANT TOUCH IT (I'VE DONE SOME TINKERING ON THE 1K). BUT WHICH IS FASTEST OF THEM ALL AND DO POST YOUR TIMESLIPS FELLAS!
A VMAX,
A ZL,
A MAGNA,
AND WHY??:mblah05:
 
Boy you are going to get some heated debate on this, but without any time slips it is all just so much hanger talk.

One thing I think though is you are comparing apples to oranges.

I've always felt that the 900ZL was intended, in stock form anyway, to be more of a 1/8th mile drag bike.

More stoplight to stoplight if you want to think of it that way, where the 1000ZL was defiantly intended to take on bikes like the V-Max in a quarter mile.

The other thing is just try and find one that is a totally stock bike.

You may find one close to stock, like mine, but even a different tire size than stock can make a difference in gearing and therefore a difference in strip times and I believe that is what you are trying to determine of the two “stock” bikes which one is faster.

Still I'd like to see the time slips for comparison, it would be fun.

Mike
 
texas-ss-tornado said:
VMAX
V65
ZL900
ZL1000

in that order.........all bone stock. Why? Because I have one of each and I told you so.
Click to expand...

I think you got them a bit confused!!:roll:

I wont argue the V-max as with the right rider it SHOULD come out on top but warn you I have beaten some of them with my first zl9.
The v-65 comes in dead last, because when I raced they could not even run as close to me as the zl1's could.
 
Walt

Did you do a side by side run with your two bikes yet?
Or are you still judging by seat of the pants tests?
 
Bone stock zl1000, 240# rider, and here's the time slip(12.09 ET). You aren't gonna see a faster timeslip for a stock zl1000 in this thread and the vmaxes and v65's aren't gonna come through with them either, why? dunno,, all bench talk? :laughing7: (Learned this from all the smack talk from bacchus)

I by far am no expert drag racer, but for my first season, and my weight I feel i'm launching the bike close to it's full potential as the timeslip will show. Even the new V-max is launching in the 1.7x 60' times with professional riders.

At the track I have yet to see a V-Max and only 1 V65. The V65 was running mid 12's with a lighter rider. He left before I could stage up beside him.:dontknow:

As a zl900 owner I feel it would run probably close to the zl1000 in the 1/4 mi but won't know until I do a tranny swap. It would be worth it to me to convert it back to stock, fix the tranny, and test both bikes the same day at the same track. :thumbsup:
 

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I watch my tach to see how fast it runs up and the 1000 is the one. I do believe the stock exhaust is made restrictive by the factory for the purpose of limiting liability to a degree. With a opened exhaust, the bike lights up like a "switch'
 
I'm sure if I looked hard enough I could find a V65 time slip in the low 11's or even high 10's, most of you guys who are defending the ZL's have never even ridden a V65, or a VMAX, or any other 80's muscle bike for that matter. I have owned MOST of them at one time or another, with the Madura being the only notable exception, so I think my opinions can be substantiated by actual seat time!!! Also, back in the 80's, during the muscle bike wars, the cycle magazines did all the testing that they could do on these bikes, and like I said, I have yet to see a stock big ZL time slip in the upper 10's. I have seen V65 and VMAX times in the upper 10's, I know that for certain, I posted the numbers from the article in the RWL thread! Seriously, these are ALL great bikes, and I'm 100% positive with a few tweaks, you could upgrade a ZL9 or ZL1 enough to beat a stock V65, but in general terms, and by my seat of the pants findings, a good running V65 is faster than a ZL900 in the quarter mile. Somebody show me an article from back in the day with a ZL9 quarter mile time in the 10's and I'll eat crow............factory stock, and not modified.
 
If Jay Gleason would have tested any of the big ZL's then you would have seen a 10 second ET. The only ZL he tested was the turbo zl in "Taking it to the nines"
 
zlMark said:
If Jay Gleason would have tested any of the big ZL's then you would have seen a 10 second ET. The only ZL he tested was the turbo zl in "Taking it to the nines"
Click to expand...

That's pure conjecture. He's not the only person capable of running great times back in the 80's, you don't think the Kawasaki big wigs didn't want to have their prized ZL into the 10's also? What stopped it from happening? All the magazines did their tests with the same riders, and they all came back with similar times, putting the ZL's in the low 11 second range. If ANY of them could have gotten it into the 10's, somebody would have printed it.
 
Conjecture you say? The closest I could come without asking him myself. This girl is a friend of Jay Gleason and sells DVD's of his testing.

Hi Mark,
Jay only rode one Eliminator, for Cycle World as a superbike shootout. It had a wheelie bar & a turbo on it. No video footage. Only video footage we have is on all 3 sizes of Ninjas. The DVD has the Honda V65 Magna Commercial, a few Ninjas, Vmax, Suzuki GSXR1100, i think that's it.

--- On Sat, 12/6/08, Mark Terranova <[email protected]>wrote:
From: Mark Terranova <[email protected]>
Subject: Jay Gleason
To: [email protected].
Date: Saturday, December 6, 2008, 9:18 AM

Wendy,

Hello! I was browsing over at the VMOA (VMax Owners association) and I seen a post where you have DVD's of Jay Gleason doing test runs. What I wanna know is if you have any of Jay testing the '85-'87 Kawasaki Eliminator ZL900/ZL1000's? I would be very, very interested in those!!

Sincerely,

Mark Terranova
Owner/Administrator
WWW.ZL-OA.COM
​
Click to expand...
 
zlMark said:
Sorry I must have misunderstood your point.


Whats the deal with this one?
http://www.lk3000.com/madura/press/cycle_0186_8.jpg
Click to expand...


It has the ZL900 in the low 11's, which is the best I've seen in all of the magazine articles. I have not seen ONE with a time for the ZL in the high 10's..........I know I have seen V65 times in the high 10's in other articles, including this one. These guys were doing EVERYTHING they could do to get the fastest times out of these bikes, and depending on track conditions and riders, the numbers were all a little different, but in general, the V65's had better quarter mile times than the ZL9 did, that's a fact. 1/8 mile no, 1/4 mile yes!!!!!

What about this one?

http://www.magnaownersoftexas.com/v65/v65article.htm

From Cycle Guide June '84 "Quickest, Fastest Shootout"
<TABLE style="WIDTH: 338.25pt; mso-cellspacing: .7pt" class=MsoNormalTable border=1 cellSpacing=1 cellPadding=0 width=451><TBODY><TR style="mso-yfti-irow: 0"><TD style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0.75pt; PADDING-LEFT: 0.75pt; WIDTH: 44%; PADDING-RIGHT: 0.75pt; PADDING-TOP: 0.75pt" width="44%">Bike

</TD><TD style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0.75pt; PADDING-LEFT: 0.75pt; WIDTH: 32%; PADDING-RIGHT: 0.75pt; PADDING-TOP: 0.75pt" width="32%">1/4 mile time @ speed

</TD><TD style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0.75pt; PADDING-LEFT: 0.75pt; WIDTH: 24%; PADDING-RIGHT: 0.75pt; PADDING-TOP: 0.75pt" width="24%">Top speed

</TD></TR><TR style="mso-yfti-irow: 1"><TD style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0.75pt; PADDING-LEFT: 0.75pt; WIDTH: 44%; PADDING-RIGHT: 0.75pt; PADDING-TOP: 0.75pt" width="44%">Yamaha FJ1100

</TD><TD style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0.75pt; PADDING-LEFT: 0.75pt; WIDTH: 32%; PADDING-RIGHT: 0.75pt; PADDING-TOP: 0.75pt" width="32%">10.681 @ 125.34

</TD><TD style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0.75pt; PADDING-LEFT: 0.75pt; WIDTH: 24%; PADDING-RIGHT: 0.75pt; PADDING-TOP: 0.75pt" width="24%">145.9550

</TD></TR><TR style="mso-yfti-irow: 2"><TD style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0.75pt; PADDING-LEFT: 0.75pt; WIDTH: 44%; PADDING-RIGHT: 0.75pt; PADDING-TOP: 0.75pt" width="44%">Suzuki GS1150ES

</TD><TD style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0.75pt; PADDING-LEFT: 0.75pt; WIDTH: 32%; PADDING-RIGHT: 0.75pt; PADDING-TOP: 0.75pt" width="32%">10.742 @ 124.13

</TD><TD style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0.75pt; PADDING-LEFT: 0.75pt; WIDTH: 24%; PADDING-RIGHT: 0.75pt; PADDING-TOP: 0.75pt" width="24%">142.6200

</TD></TR><TR style="mso-yfti-irow: 3"><TD style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0.75pt; PADDING-LEFT: 0.75pt; WIDTH: 44%; PADDING-RIGHT: 0.75pt; PADDING-TOP: 0.75pt" width="44%">ffice:smarttags" /><?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com
TD><TD style=
10.831 @ 124.65

</TD><TD style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0.75pt; PADDING-LEFT: 0.75pt; WIDTH: 24%; PADDING-RIGHT: 0.75pt; PADDING-TOP: 0.75pt" width="24%">145.3710

</TD></TR><TR style="mso-yfti-irow: 4"><TD style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0.75pt; PADDING-LEFT: 0.75pt; WIDTH: 44%; PADDING-RIGHT: 0.75pt; PADDING-TOP: 0.75pt" width="44%">Honda VF1000F

</TD><TD style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0.75pt; PADDING-LEFT: 0.75pt; WIDTH: 32%; PADDING-RIGHT: 0.75pt; PADDING-TOP: 0.75pt" width="32%">10.834 @ 125.69

</TD><TD style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0.75pt; PADDING-LEFT: 0.75pt; WIDTH: 24%; PADDING-RIGHT: 0.75pt; PADDING-TOP: 0.75pt" width="24%">146.8187

</TD></TR><TR style="mso-yfti-irow: 5"><TD style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0.75pt; PADDING-LEFT: 0.75pt; WIDTH: 44%; PADDING-RIGHT: 0.75pt; PADDING-TOP: 0.75pt" width="44%">Honda V65 Sabre

</TD><TD style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0.75pt; PADDING-LEFT: 0.75pt; WIDTH: 32%; PADDING-RIGHT: 0.75pt; PADDING-TOP: 0.75pt" width="32%">10.857 @ 125.00

</TD><TD style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0.75pt; PADDING-LEFT: 0.75pt; WIDTH: 24%; PADDING-RIGHT: 0.75pt; PADDING-TOP: 0.75pt" width="24%">140.6250

</TD></TR><TR style="mso-yfti-irow: 6"><TD style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0.75pt; PADDING-LEFT: 0.75pt; WIDTH: 44%; PADDING-RIGHT: 0.75pt; PADDING-TOP: 0.75pt" width="44%"><st1:City><st1:place>Kawasaki</st1:place></st1:City> 750 Turbo

</TD><TD style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0.75pt; PADDING-LEFT: 0.75pt; WIDTH: 32%; PADDING-RIGHT: 0.75pt; PADDING-TOP: 0.75pt" width="32%">10.944 @ 122.11

</TD><TD style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0.75pt; PADDING-LEFT: 0.75pt; WIDTH: 24%; PADDING-RIGHT: 0.75pt; PADDING-TOP: 0.75pt" width="24%">143.3121

</TD></TR><TR style="mso-yfti-irow: 7; mso-yfti-lastrow: yes"><TD style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0.75pt; PADDING-LEFT: 0.75pt; WIDTH: 44%; PADDING-RIGHT: 0.75pt; PADDING-TOP: 0.75pt" width="44%"><st1:City><st1:place>Kawasaki</st1:place></st1:City> GPZ1100

</TD><TD style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0.75pt; PADDING-LEFT: 0.75pt; WIDTH: 32%; PADDING-RIGHT: 0.75pt; PADDING-TOP: 0.75pt" width="32%">11.016 @ 120.80

</TD><TD style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0.75pt; PADDING-LEFT: 0.75pt; WIDTH: 24%; PADDING-RIGHT: 0.75pt; PADDING-TOP: 0.75pt" width="24%">138.4615

</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
From Cycle May '85 "Horsepower Shootout" (dyno measured)
<TABLE style="WIDTH: 444pt; mso-cellspacing: .7pt" class=MsoNormalTable border=1 cellSpacing=1 cellPadding=0 width=592><TBODY><TR style="mso-yfti-irow: 0"><TD style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0.75pt; PADDING-LEFT: 0.75pt; WIDTH: 25%; PADDING-RIGHT: 0.75pt; PADDING-TOP: 0.75pt" width="25%">Bike

</TD><TD style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0.75pt; PADDING-LEFT: 0.75pt; WIDTH: 25%; PADDING-RIGHT: 0.75pt; PADDING-TOP: 0.75pt" width="25%">1/4 mile time @ mph

</TD><TD style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0.75pt; PADDING-LEFT: 0.75pt; WIDTH: 25%; PADDING-RIGHT: 0.75pt; PADDING-TOP: 0.75pt" width="25%">Bhp @ rpm

</TD><TD style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0.75pt; PADDING-LEFT: 0.75pt; WIDTH: 25%; PADDING-RIGHT: 0.75pt; PADDING-TOP: 0.75pt" width="25%">Torque @ rpm

</TD></TR><TR style="mso-yfti-irow: 1"><TD style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0.75pt; PADDING-LEFT: 0.75pt; WIDTH: 25%; PADDING-RIGHT: 0.75pt; PADDING-TOP: 0.75pt" width="25%">Suzuki GS1100EF

</TD><TD style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0.75pt; PADDING-LEFT: 0.75pt; WIDTH: 25%; PADDING-RIGHT: 0.75pt; PADDING-TOP: 0.75pt" width="25%">10.81 @ 124.44

</TD><TD style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0.75pt; PADDING-LEFT: 0.75pt; WIDTH: 25%; PADDING-RIGHT: 0.75pt; PADDING-TOP: 0.75pt" width="25%">101.00 @ 9000

</TD><TD style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0.75pt; PADDING-LEFT: 0.75pt; WIDTH: 25%; PADDING-RIGHT: 0.75pt; PADDING-TOP: 0.75pt" width="25%">65.11 @ 7500

</TD></TR><TR style="mso-yfti-irow: 2"><TD style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0.75pt; PADDING-LEFT: 0.75pt; WIDTH: 25%; PADDING-RIGHT: 0.75pt; PADDING-TOP: 0.75pt" width="25%">Yamaha V-Max

</TD><TD style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0.75pt; PADDING-LEFT: 0.75pt; WIDTH: 25%; PADDING-RIGHT: 0.75pt; PADDING-TOP: 0.75pt" width="25%">10.99 @ 124.04

</TD><TD style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0.75pt; PADDING-LEFT: 0.75pt; WIDTH: 25%; PADDING-RIGHT: 0.75pt; PADDING-TOP: 0.75pt" width="25%">119.08 @ 9000

</TD><TD style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0.75pt; PADDING-LEFT: 0.75pt; WIDTH: 25%; PADDING-RIGHT: 0.75pt; PADDING-TOP: 0.75pt" width="25%">77.54 @ 6000

</TD></TR><TR style="mso-yfti-irow: 3"><TD style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0.75pt; PADDING-LEFT: 0.75pt; WIDTH: 25%; PADDING-RIGHT: 0.75pt; PADDING-TOP: 0.75pt" width="25%">Yamaha FJ1100

</TD><TD style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0.75pt; PADDING-LEFT: 0.75pt; WIDTH: 25%; PADDING-RIGHT: 0.75pt; PADDING-TOP: 0.75pt" width="25%">10.99 @ 122.34

</TD><TD style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0.75pt; PADDING-LEFT: 0.75pt; WIDTH: 25%; PADDING-RIGHT: 0.75pt; PADDING-TOP: 0.75pt" width="25%">98.24 @ 9000

</TD><TD style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0.75pt; PADDING-LEFT: 0.75pt; WIDTH: 25%; PADDING-RIGHT: 0.75pt; PADDING-TOP: 0.75pt" width="25%">61.41 @ 7500

</TD></TR><TR style="mso-yfti-irow: 4"><TD style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0.75pt; PADDING-LEFT: 0.75pt; WIDTH: 25%; PADDING-RIGHT: 0.75pt; PADDING-TOP: 0.75pt" width="25%"><st1:City><st1:place>Kawasaki</st1:place></st1:City> ZL900

</TD><TD style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0.75pt; PADDING-LEFT: 0.75pt; WIDTH: 25%; PADDING-RIGHT: 0.75pt; PADDING-TOP: 0.75pt" width="25%">11.07 @ 123.25

</TD><TD style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0.75pt; PADDING-LEFT: 0.75pt; WIDTH: 25%; PADDING-RIGHT: 0.75pt; PADDING-TOP: 0.75pt" width="25%">90.50 @ 9000

</TD><TD style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0.75pt; PADDING-LEFT: 0.75pt; WIDTH: 25%; PADDING-RIGHT: 0.75pt; PADDING-TOP: 0.75pt" width="25%">56.64 @ 8000

</TD></TR><TR style="mso-yfti-irow: 5"><TD style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0.75pt; PADDING-LEFT: 0.75pt; WIDTH: 25%; PADDING-RIGHT: 0.75pt; PADDING-TOP: 0.75pt" width="25%"><st1:City><st1:place>Kawasaki</st1:place></st1:City> ZX900R

</TD><TD style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0.75pt; PADDING-LEFT: 0.75pt; WIDTH: 25%; PADDING-RIGHT: 0.75pt; PADDING-TOP: 0.75pt" width="25%">11.08 @ 125.17

</TD><TD style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0.75pt; PADDING-LEFT: 0.75pt; WIDTH: 25%; PADDING-RIGHT: 0.75pt; PADDING-TOP: 0.75pt" width="25%">94.16 @ 10500

</TD><TD style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0.75pt; PADDING-LEFT: 0.75pt; WIDTH: 25%; PADDING-RIGHT: 0.75pt; PADDING-TOP: 0.75pt" width="25%">55.33 @ 8500

</TD></TR><TR style="mso-yfti-irow: 6"><TD style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0.75pt; PADDING-LEFT: 0.75pt; WIDTH: 25%; PADDING-RIGHT: 0.75pt; PADDING-TOP: 0.75pt" width="25%">Kawasaki ZX750 turbo

</TD><TD style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0.75pt; PADDING-LEFT: 0.75pt; WIDTH: 25%; PADDING-RIGHT: 0.75pt; PADDING-TOP: 0.75pt" width="25%">11.13 @ 120.32

</TD><TD style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0.75pt; PADDING-LEFT: 0.75pt; WIDTH: 25%; PADDING-RIGHT: 0.75pt; PADDING-TOP: 0.75pt" width="25%">90.02 @ 9500

</TD><TD style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0.75pt; PADDING-LEFT: 0.75pt; WIDTH: 25%; PADDING-RIGHT: 0.75pt; PADDING-TOP: 0.75pt" width="25%">65.1 @ 5000

</TD></TR><TR style="mso-yfti-irow: 7; mso-yfti-lastrow: yes"><TD style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0.75pt; PADDING-LEFT: 0.75pt; WIDTH: 25%; PADDING-RIGHT: 0.75pt; PADDING-TOP: 0.75pt" width="25%">Honda VF1100S

</TD><TD style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0.75pt; PADDING-LEFT: 0.75pt; WIDTH: 25%; PADDING-RIGHT: 0.75pt; PADDING-TOP: 0.75pt" width="25%">11.23 @ 122.61

</TD><TD style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0.75pt; PADDING-LEFT: 0.75pt; WIDTH: 25%; PADDING-RIGHT: 0.75pt; PADDING-TOP: 0.75pt" width="25%">93.70 @ 9000

</TD><TD style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0.75pt; PADDING-LEFT: 0.75pt; WIDTH: 25%; PADDING-RIGHT: 0.75pt; PADDING-TOP: 0.75pt" width="25%">62.60 @ 7000

</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
 
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Problem there texas is that I have found the magazine tests to be very be wrong when compared to the actual times run at the strip right in front of me and alongside. Very few could actually live up to the times they posted in the mags consistantly or even semi consistantly (meaning bike to bike of the same make)(not the same bike different runs).
Also if you remember the 80's well and were into the bike sceene you will remember. That there was a lot of people accusing the mags of overrating the hondas due to the excessive amount of advertising money, they supposedly gave/paid them compared to the other manufacturers. This I remember well as it seemed to come up everytime a honda of one type or an other would show up at the track and not get anyplace near the ET that was in the last edition. Now I dont know much else about it and cant say it was more than rumor but when you saw the difference in ET it did make one wonder.

My experiance is based on actual racing time in the late 80's when these bikes were still the hot ticket on the street and in the magazines.

Yes I have ridden them all at one time or an other, no I cant say that I ran them all threw the paces or had the opertunity to do a full pass on everything I rode back then but the facts are the facts and the mags are not as accurate as you want to belive.

Yes you probably could find a time slip to prove your point, BUT unless its from your own bike you could not prove it to be based on a stock bike.

If I could track down the paperwork that went with the sale of my first zl. I would be able to show you time slips with the make and model of competitors bikes right alongside the zl's time and promise, you would be supprised at some of the bikes that fell victim to the zl over the years.
 
paulfun said:
Problem there texas is that I have found the magazine tests to be very be wrong when compared to the actual times run at the strip right in front of me and alongside. Very few could actually live up to the times they posted in the mags consistantly or even semi consistantly (meaning bike to bike of the same make)(not the same bike different runs).
Also if you remember the 80's well and were into the bike sceene you will remember. That there was a lot of people accusing the mags of overrating the hondas due to the excessive amount of advertising money, they supposedly gave/paid them compared to the other manufacturers. This I remember well as it seemed to come up everytime a honda of one type or an other would show up at the track and not get anyplace near the ET that was in the last edition. Now I dont know much else about it and cant say it was more than rumor but when you saw the difference in ET it did make one wonder.

My experiance is based on actual racing time in the late 80's when these bikes were still the hot ticket on the street and in the magazines.

Yes I have ridden them all at one time or an other, no I cant say that I ran them all threw the paces or had the opertunity to do a full pass on everything I rode back then but the facts are the facts and the mags are not as accurate as you want to belive.

Yes you probably could find a time slip to prove your point, BUT unless its from your own bike you could not prove it to be based on a stock bike.

If I could track down the paperwork that went with the sale of my first zl. I would be able to show you time slips with the make and model of competitors bikes right alongside the zl's time and promise, you would be supprised at some of the bikes that fell victim to the zl over the years.
Click to expand...
Paul, I'm not doubting that you have PERSONALLY, on YOUR BIKE, beat other riders on V65's, VMAX's or whatever else it was they were running back in the day. This can easily be attributed to you being a better rider, in fact, I would almost bet on it! These magazine articles were done with the same riders in controlled conditions, and like I said, I have yet to see one article claiming a ZL9 or ZL1 time in the high 10's, when I have seen MANY V65 and VMAX times there. Your assertion that the Honda executives were paying off the magazines to get them to post better 1/4 mile times is just plain silly, surely you can come up with something better than that. We'll keep this friendly argument going until next summer in Kansas, then, we'll let the bikes and the riders do the talking!
 
Texas tornado is right. I also believe nobody can get a stock ZL anything into the 10's. Its a matter of breathing and gearing. The ZL's do not have the cams, carbs, valve size, drive configuration or even the cc's to accomplish this. In the Kawasaki tradition, that still holds true today, they were engineered to act bigger than they were. Great stoplight street performers, they are limited in their big end performance by the same features that make them the ultimate holeshot kings.I also have owned a slew of big liter bikes, and like the 86 1000R ninja (who's base engine is very similar to the ZL1000) who could with the larger cams, carbs and chin drive could muster a 10.6 quarter mile, the bigger Vmax and even the V65 could (and has) visited the 10 second zone more than once with the right rider. BTW, I have always been a fan of Jay Gleason, who btw has always weighed 130 lbs. 100 of those pounds are pure balls, I might add. In my 25 year collection of cycle magazines, he also makes mention of the "cheat techiques" of fork strapping, tire shaving and dyno tuning of the bike manufacturers prior to the shoot-out articles. Its all about selling bikes! I've beaten a gsxr600 more than once on my zl900 and once on a friends VR750. Both that on paper should have been 1/2 a second slower than the gixxer. Go figure. Like Paulfun mentioned, its the track timeslips and REAL stoplight acceleration runs that talk the talk. Th-th-thats all folks!
 
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