Ridefast July 2021

READERS RIDE
MUZZY KAWASAKI
Ok, so what now? Well, first things first, somebody is going to have to do
this race prep thing for me, I’m about as deft with a spanner as Charlie
Chaplin is, playing defence for the Dallas Cowboys.
I know a guy who knows bikes well, he grew up in a two wheel culture,
both parents riding, still riding up until today. He gained his invaluable bike
skills from a young age doing short circuit racing, mechanically stretching
50cc bikes to the max and riding the absolute nuts off them.
It wasn’t too long and the main circuit racing at Killarney Raceway lured
him in. It didn’t take long after that he was the 2003 Powersport 400cc
champ on a timeless VFR NC30. This victory was followed by 2 seasons
in the National Championship Series, first year on an aged, and out of
date CBR600F2, rubbing fairings and making a nuisance of himself in the
company of money-powered Yamaha R6’s and Suzuki GSXR’s!
After that, it was a short stint on a gutsy GSXR750 before he reached the
foothills of the motorcycle nirvana, National Superbikes. An opportunity of
note, to ride a decent CBR1000, finally materialised.
Life is a funny thing, the experience paralleled the Titanic saga, the promises
outran the performance and that was that.
This guy can take 20 minutes to describe one lap around anywhere -
knowledge and feel combining, leading to a logical, practical result. Put
your hands together for Gareth Agnew.
Gareth did stints with local bike shops, including Ducati Cape Town,
before heading to England where he worked at a Suzuki dealership, and
ending up running the whole place before he returned to S.A. and continued
in the motorcycle game.
Gareth of 888 Motorcycles was clearly the individual that was nominated
to perform the ROAD TO RACE metamorphosis on the 23 year old Kawasaki
ZX7 from Mamre.
Readers Ride:
Classic Road to race…
A Muzzy Kawasaki
ZX7 from Mamre…
By Hilton Redelinghuys
Pics by Colin Brown.
It all started with a Honda NSR250 two stroke.
I wanted one. I contacted a technician mate who is connected
in the two stroke underworld, and put in my request, which is
the equivalent of finding the proverbial needle in a hay warehouse.
After a month or two my contact asked whether I’ll
consider a four stroke?
My first response was ‘a 250cc 4 stroke, you mad bru?’, he
laughed and said “Nah man, a ZX7R”.
Two forces instantly warmed up a connection, like an old Isuzu
KB diesel glow plug, in my brain, followed immediately by a
clunk as the penny dropped... Yes, I’m going to get it, and
I’m going to race it! Long story short, I got the sellers contact
details and organised a test ride. My wife and I arrived in the
lower West Coast town of Mamre, to behold the green, purple
and white 23 year old legend of the 90’s.
The 750cc, four cylinder mill turned, spat and hiccupped a
few times and eventually, decided to settle into a rough idle. I
fastened my helmet for the test ride and with half flat and worn
tyres, and a lazy throttle, I wobbled off down a rooikrans-lined
tar road, questioning this whole ‘buy a relic with 60000kms on
the clock and-race-it’ thing!
It didn’t rev past 8000rpm, the tyres made the bike handle like
brie cheese on a soggy cream cracker.
Eventually I Got it up to 140kmh, (I don’t think I’ve had anything
so long at full throttle), and then, splutter, surge and everything
just stopped! Silence, on a road to nowhere and surrounded by
nothing but bush. Not cool. The lights were on, but no one was
home in the tank. No gas.
I called my wife to bring petrol and 15 minutes later I was shaking
the hand of the previous owner… I’d just bought a Kawasaki
ZX7R! On a balmy Cape spring day in late August, from a
guy in Mamre!
We hauled it in to the workshop and begun stripping off the road kit and
compiling at decent, to-do list. The foundation of this whole deal was
always going to be to replicate an iconic time in motorcycle racing, where
the standard road version was very close to the race bike, and the racers
still used their own hands, predominately the right one, to transfer their
talent through to the tar, becoming legends on track, riding on legendary
bikes .
A legendary replica of a ZX7... but who’s though?
Well, who else but Rob Muzzy’s Kawasaki Superbike team, the bike, The
Go Shows’, Anthony Gobert’s 1996 world superbike ZX7.
But first things first, let’s leave it standard and see how it goes around a
track.
We did an oil change, slapped on a new filter and some road brake pads,
bled the brakes, fitted some plenty-laps-old Bridgestone R11’s (shot
Chris), uttered a short prayer and loaded the ZX for its first track day at
Killarney.
The fact, that a 23 year old machine, standard motorcycle with zero race
setup could allow me to have so much fun, is bordering on insanity. I
remember waiting in pit lane before a session, and all the bikes round me
had digital dashes and cost around 10 times more.
After some very positive track time, I headed back to 888 Motorcycles to
undress the standard ZX7R attire.
58 RIDEFAST MAGAZINE JUNE 2021
RIDEFAST MAGAZINE JUNE 2021 59