To be fair to the ZX6R, I've never actually ridden one in anger. When I was upgrading from the gixxer, I was lucky enough to have 2 mates - one with a ZX6R and one with an R6 let me do a couple of laps back to back. I did 2 veeeery slow laps on the absolutely pristine, show-bike standard ZX, rode down pit lane and jumped straight onto the R6. They both felt SOOOOOO much better than the gixxer - I was just blown away by both. They both had HEAPS more power! The ZX had much more midrange, but on the R6 I kept bouncing it off the limiter cos it revved SOOOOO FAST that I didn't realise I needed to change gear so quickly!

I was very nervous of the showroom condition bike, so I was really slow, but then on the (still very pretty) R6 I was so comfortable after half a lap that I was knee-down everywhere and pressing on very hard!

I'd be very interested in having a crack at a few hot laps on a Zed, just to compare. Hey, maybe Ed or Little Mick could go swapsies with me for a few laps next time we are out?