Hi People, Below was previously posted in Alt.Binaries.Pictures.Sportsbike, but I think it may well suit a re-post here. Last Saturday - Melbourne Nice day for a ride, weather was great. Funny incident happened, I keep laughing, even now about it. The scene is a common one: Approaching an intersection & the lights go red, three lanes. Me in the middle lane. Left lane extends over the intersection and merges into mine, halfway up the next hill. A new model XR6 turbo approaching the red light, changes lanes from behind me and takes the right hand lane. Did not think too much about that car, as there were 3 passengers. The lights are slow, they have the turn right arrows first, then the green. Then, to my left pulls up this Mazda. I did not really pay attention too much, until he did the rev and a couple of creeps forward, with the lights still red. I looked at him, he just kept looking straight ahead. Mmmm, surely not.., I think he's going to try and, naaaa... He was a "Gino", impeccably dressed with his "cool" sunglasses on. Brand new Mazda6 with all the trimmings, side bits and the twin exhaust, I guess at the back. Seen 'em about before. "Pretty" OK, the lights go green (as they eventually do) and he guns it! Hah! I sit alongside him in first, then change into second and listen to him thrashing his gears. This guy is serious! "You have got to be kidding me" I am thinking. As I mentioned, his lane merges into mine, so I do have to do something or he will be pushing into my lane very soon. Not a game to play too long.. Guess you can guess, yep in second gear, I was actually holding the revs in that gear to stay along side and not creep ahead. I gave him a little sideways look then redlined second and about 3 seconds in 3rd, which put well past the 80 kph mark, closer to 170 in fact. Goodbye Mr. Mazda, that's not a knife, this is.. Why is this one so amusing? I guess two things, the first was that he actually thought he had a chance, but secondly was the way that the 1200 lifted the wheel, the moment I opened it up and it stayed up on full acceleration, the lovely wheel lofted in that forward prone style with a clearance in the air of probably a foot or more, it touched down when I changed to third. I wish I was watching from the car! To have heard the ZX with it's "OK IT'S TIME TO GO, no more bullshit" attitude When the engine went straight into serious mode and the response lifts the wheel, just awesome. I wonder if that guy will take note that not all bikes have the performance of scooters that he can pick off? It was clear that this guy had an attitude or ego? My ego won! (Sorry it's true) Sad me. Or does he just attempt drag everyone off in his shiny new car. Just makes me laugh! I have dragged off cars before, sometimes intentionally, right from the start, It's not something I do all the time. The ZX effortlessly leaves most cars for dead, occasionally, I have certainly pushed the bike harder and in fact lifted the wheel in 3rd doing it, not this time, it was more a controlled situation. But when I did open it up, it was so definitive. So this time, point made, I just backed off back to the speed limit and up ahead a K, turned right. Game over. Let's not push the luck too long. I hope you enjoyed sharing in my fun read! - Rocket (.au) JUST CURIOUS DEPT: Mazda6 Maximum power kW 122@6,500 rpm Maximum torque Nm 207@4,000 rpm Kerb weight man kg 1,367 Kawasaki ZX12R Maximum horsepower 131kW(178PS)/10,500rpm Maximum torque 134N·m(13.66kgf-m)/7,500rpm Dry weight (kg) 210 BIKE REVIEW COMMENTS In Rockingham, NC, Team Kawasaki Drag Race Champ Ricky Gadsen rode a stock, pre-production ZX-12R to a quarter-mile time of 9.52 seconds at 146.97 miles per hour 100 km/h in about three seconds - in first gear - and has a top speed of more than 300 km/h. It is so fast that the mirrors had to be designed in a wind tunnel.
