In 1991 I bought a second hand well used ZXR 750 H1, green white and blue, F reg, 12000 miles - quite clean, went alright. That got me started as it had a lovely front end. You could feel everything - after the early GSXRs I had had before it was a revelation. Although a bit top heavy, I kept it about a year then went completely bonkers and bought another GSXR, the 750L. Went to the Isle of Man TT on it ... big mistake, it was excruciatingly uncomfortable, had some awful noisy old pipe on it and was generally horrible.

So I sold it as soon I got home (I couldn't stand up for a week, it was so painful to ride!) So back to the ZXRs.

After some searching I found a brand new J2 at the right price in a nice plummy red colour. However, after a couple of rides I came to the conclusion that it was absolutely gutless, so I chopped it in for a K1, a low mileage minter - 1000 miles on the clock and never seen rain, all that crap. But it was a stunning bike, loved it. It took a bit of getting used to (those flat slides), but once mastered it was fun to ride.

The K1 was a homologation special built mainly for superbike racing in 1992. Its dry weight was 187kg, very light in its day. Unfortunately it suffered from the same rock hard rear shock problem as the J. I had my rear shock rebuilt by Maxton Engineering which improved it a lot. The front end is the best for a standard road bike, fully adjustable and with amazing feedback.

The 39mm flatslide carbs can be a pain - too much throttle too quickly and the engine bogs down, but once mastered are brilliant. Kawasaki do a carb kit which makes things better and a K&N air filter is also a good idea.

The rear wheel cush drive rubbers wear very quickly. The engine is good but suffers from cam chain wear. The gearbox, which is a close ratio job, if abused or high mileage, jumps out of gear - normally second - caused by wear on the selector forks. The other weak point is the headstock bearings, which seem to shag out rather quickly.

Like an idiot I sold the K1, I still don't know why. One of those silly things you do. I then brought a ZXR H2, a lot easier to ride than the K but nowhere near as much fun. Kept it for a year and then unloaded it and bought a Yam EXUP, CBR600, Firebucket and various other sheds.

Then the day dawned when I decided I'd better have another ZXR. This time back to the flat slides, although a newer version, the M2. This time a very nice bike in Kawasaki France colours. However, I could not get on with it, lovely bike though it was.

So then the Ducati nightmare began. Although a real nice bike to ride it was forever breaking down and falling apart, especially when I was miles from home on a blat round France or similar.

Eventually I got sick of never knowing when I was actually going to get home and I developed some sense and tried the GSXR50WX. Now that is a piece of kit, a lot of bike for the money. Bought it at the end of July last year, went to the 'Ring, did a few track days and, of course, the Talking Bollocks Sunday breakfast runs. I really liked the Suzook so bought the later Y model. Brilliant bike but never got to do too many miles on it before I was T-boned by some plonker (on a Kawasaki!) and the Y was written off.

So current project is Keith's OWO1, which I'm pulling apart prior to the insertion of a YZF750 motor and prepping for track use. Should be entertaining ....

Mark

The single-seat race version of the J series, the K and M models had the dubious benefit of flatslide carbs to up the top speed - OK when you've mastered the art of opening the throttle at the right speed but a pain in the arse on the road.

Possibly the best looking bike on the road in its day, and still looks the part now. Bloody site better than that Ducati monstrosity anyway. Proper Bol D'Or endurance tool, straight off the race track.

Surprisingly comfy saddle and lovely handling, spesh the front end. Dunno why he sold it. Oh yes, those bloody carbs ...

But then he bought another, the later ZXR750M2 Much the same as the K1 but uprated here and there.

Brilliant track bike and well able to run with all the hot poop bikes of the day. Now quite cheap to buy secondhand and there are some good low mileage ones about.

This one's in Kwacker France colours I think, as used in the endurance series. A very pretty bike in its day and still not a bad looker today, although even the super-trim backend on this one looks a bit of a lardarse by modern standards.

These are the culprits of the fuelling problems - flat slide carbs. No butterflies, you see. They are a right pain in the arse (and the wrist!) on the road. CVs are much better unless you're Chris Walker.

No butterflies in the way means there's nothing obstructing the throats on full chat, so maxo air flow available. But direct actuation of the slides means it's easy to lift too fast and screw the fuel/air mix. Then burrrrr ... and wait for the mix to sort itself before any power turns up.

And this is how not to treat your H1. Tony was playing catchup and forgot that sneaky little bends can be waiting for you the other side of that hill ... luckily Chippy wasn't too damaged but the bike was not too happy.

This was the start of several offs by Chippy. I oft recall his startled expression peering out of a hedge on the Devil's Dyke, or scampering off Cadwell's back straight with his bike finishing it's series of pirouettes. And then there was the Ring of course ...