I bought a ZX-12 on January 20, 2003 and coming off a hopped up ZX-11 the difference was day and night. I purchased the bike from a dealership in Texas and it had 4,256 miles on it and a 78 year old man was the previous owner, he traded it for a 2003 ZX-12. As far as top end goes, I weight 315 lbs and it hit the governor with no problem. As far performance I was really pleased, before I went back to college I raced one bike the gsxr-1000, I won but it was a good good race. I love the ZX-12. Keep truckin!!