Discussion
Bored of commuting on my Bandit. Bored of the commute frankly but it's unavoidable.
I don't ever ride for fun except maybe very occasionally locally in the summer but it'll be an errand as opposed to going for a ride just because. My riding is pretty much only my commute which is 50 miles a day.
Nothing wrong with the Bandit but after two years i fancy something different and I seem to have developed a curious hankering for a ZZR1400.
Am I mental?
I don't ever ride for fun except maybe very occasionally locally in the summer but it'll be an errand as opposed to going for a ride just because. My riding is pretty much only my commute which is 50 miles a day.
Nothing wrong with the Bandit but after two years i fancy something different and I seem to have developed a curious hankering for a ZZR1400.
Am I mental?
Loyly said:
Get one! A mate of mine traded his in last year after a period of enjoyable ownership (it was a silver one, some of you might have seen it at Ian Bell in Bedlington). Reckons it was one of the best bikes he has owned and very, very fast.
Can't say I noticed it but I am rarely in the showroom. E36GUY said:
Bored of commuting on my Bandit. Bored of the commute frankly but it's unavoidable.
I don't ever ride for fun except maybe very occasionally locally in the summer but it'll be an errand as opposed to going for a ride just because. My riding is pretty much only my commute which is 50 miles a day.
Nothing wrong with the Bandit but after two years i fancy something different and I seem to have developed a curious hankering for a ZZR1400.
Am I mental?
Came across this post when searching for "zzr1400". So did you get a zzr1400?I don't ever ride for fun except maybe very occasionally locally in the summer but it'll be an errand as opposed to going for a ride just because. My riding is pretty much only my commute which is 50 miles a day.
Nothing wrong with the Bandit but after two years i fancy something different and I seem to have developed a curious hankering for a ZZR1400.
Am I mental?
I was in exactly the same sort of situation... the only use the bikes get is commuting to work and back and with a young family in tow I do not take risks on a bike but enjoy the ride and acceleration. I owned a Blackbird and a Bandit. Sold both (at different points in time) and bought a GSXR1000 because I had never owned a full on sports bike before. End result was that i did not get along with the riding position of the gsxr and the engine vibes and ended up selling it. Power was fine but it needed a degree of winding up.
I came to the conclusion that i was looking for a more modern version of a Blackbird and bought a zzr1400. It is an outstanding motorcycle... turbine smooth, loads of grunt and very comfortable with good wind protection. Does everything without a fuss. Get one and you won't be disappointed.
E36GUY said:
Bored of commuting on my Bandit. Bored of the commute frankly but it's unavoidable.
I don't ever ride for fun except maybe very occasionally locally in the summer but it'll be an errand as opposed to going for a ride just because. My riding is pretty much only my commute which is 50 miles a day.
Nothing wrong with the Bandit but after two years i fancy something different and I seem to have developed a curious hankering for a ZZR1400.
Am I mental?
absolutely not mental.I don't ever ride for fun except maybe very occasionally locally in the summer but it'll be an errand as opposed to going for a ride just because. My riding is pretty much only my commute which is 50 miles a day.
Nothing wrong with the Bandit but after two years i fancy something different and I seem to have developed a curious hankering for a ZZR1400.
Am I mental?
I have developed a curious hankering for the Hayabusa. I have nowhere to use it, I would never commute to work on one and for "canyon riding" I have the GSXR1000R...but I feel a strange attraction to the Hayabusa, I love the shape, only huge exhausts spoil the really sweet lines. I need to get a ride on one!
I had a ZZR1100 for a long commute that never saw its maximum velocity of 178mph on the way to work. What it did do was commute exceptionally well with a top box and keep me dry year round. It also saw me round Europe with a pillion and luggage and even nipped round the 'ring.
Day to day, it was a largely motorway commute outside of office hours. It was well suited for me, but it was lardy for town work and hot once the fan kicked in in town. If you're looking to zap down a B road or do lots of filtering on your way to work, then even a modern big Zed probably isn't the one.
Day to day, it was a largely motorway commute outside of office hours. It was well suited for me, but it was lardy for town work and hot once the fan kicked in in town. If you're looking to zap down a B road or do lots of filtering on your way to work, then even a modern big Zed probably isn't the one.
I was a sports bike guy for ever and my mate bought a zzr14 in 2007. At the time i had the original zx10r and i looked down my nose at his s
t choice. And then....i had a shot of it. holy sheet are they good. he was giving up bikes in 2015 so i bought his and it was amazing. I did the NC500 on it on year 1 and whether it was taking some of the long sweepers on that route at ludicrous speed / angles or hitting over 100 on the 'pass of the cattle' towards applecross it was nothing short of astonishing. Its big and heavy and...well...i'm not, but they can be made to dance and they can do it day in, day out without the agony that modern sports bikes bring for an older dude like me.
Got an opportunity to swap for a gen 2 which feels very similar but just...newer.
had sports bikes for over 37 years now and i just dont think i could do without one of these in my life any more.
Pilot Road 4s last an astonishing duration nowadays and are st hot. I have more strips a la chicken on my s1000r than i do on my zzr.
do it!!!
t choice. And then....i had a shot of it. holy sheet are they good. he was giving up bikes in 2015 so i bought his and it was amazing. I did the NC500 on it on year 1 and whether it was taking some of the long sweepers on that route at ludicrous speed / angles or hitting over 100 on the 'pass of the cattle' towards applecross it was nothing short of astonishing. Its big and heavy and...well...i'm not, but they can be made to dance and they can do it day in, day out without the agony that modern sports bikes bring for an older dude like me.Got an opportunity to swap for a gen 2 which feels very similar but just...newer.
had sports bikes for over 37 years now and i just dont think i could do without one of these in my life any more.
Pilot Road 4s last an astonishing duration nowadays and are s
t hot. I have more strips a la chicken on my s1000r than i do on my zzr.do it!!!
TwoStrokeNut said:
There's a good review in this month's Bike magazine, compared to the Z1000SX and H2SX. The H2 barely keeps up with it.
Still a great bike after all these years.
Agreed. The SX is probably the better bike for commuting but man maths and I want usually trump the right bike. Still a great bike after all these years.
Top bike. I'm biased. I have one. Epic engine, beautiful linear throttle response, fab brakes, silky gearchange. Get some bar risers if you think it'll be too canted forward for you. I keep thinking that I should get something else but cannot see a single other bike that gets near in terms of capability and VFM.
I had a 2010, then a 2014 ZZR1400 (that I shared with my dad as he wanted one).
As a contrasting voice, I found they are way too heavy, too long, have suspension that is not up to hard riding, don't stop and don't turn. Unless you get a 2012 on model, all thousand cc bikes post about 2004 beat them in both roll ons and in gear acceleration.
They are also not particularly comfortable. A last generation Fireblade or GSXR1000 can be made into a sports tourer with a rack and tank bag, offer similar levels of comfort, and handle, stop and turn like a dream. They also don't break your back wheeling them around a garage. The only real advantage they offer is a better fairing if cruising above 130mph, and better pillion provisioning.
If you really want a sports tourer, something like a Z1000SX or KTM 1290GT are better in my view and if doing a big tour on something lazy and fast and comfortable, the latest batch of super adventure bikes are better equipped and more appropriate - namely the 1290 Super Adventure and new Multistrada.
ZZR1400s are not bad bikes and I have some great touring memories, but I find they are trying to be too many things and not quite meeting the mark on any of them. The 2012 on is a much better bike and more comfortable, but with a seriously rapid engine, it just arrives at corners even faster and still wants to go straight on rather than stop and turn. If you ride one, just don't go above 8/10ths effort and you'll probably love it... and don't have a driveway on a slope.
My 2010 in Italy on a 3000 mile tour:
The 2014
As a footnote I persuaded my then 70 year old dad to dump the Green ZZR as the weight was tough for him, I hated moving it around in my garage and I had no interest in riding it. He'd had 3 Hayabusas and ZZR1100s before and was pretty blinkered on old school hyper bikes. In late 2016 I got him a discounted GSX-S1000F. It's 60kg lighter, comfier with better bar leverage and similar performance below jailable speeds. He loves it and wishes he'd switched to that sort of bike years before!
Here's the GSXS - the luggage and pillion options are more limited, but he doesn't tour or take pillions.
As a contrasting voice, I found they are way too heavy, too long, have suspension that is not up to hard riding, don't stop and don't turn. Unless you get a 2012 on model, all thousand cc bikes post about 2004 beat them in both roll ons and in gear acceleration.
They are also not particularly comfortable. A last generation Fireblade or GSXR1000 can be made into a sports tourer with a rack and tank bag, offer similar levels of comfort, and handle, stop and turn like a dream. They also don't break your back wheeling them around a garage. The only real advantage they offer is a better fairing if cruising above 130mph, and better pillion provisioning.
If you really want a sports tourer, something like a Z1000SX or KTM 1290GT are better in my view and if doing a big tour on something lazy and fast and comfortable, the latest batch of super adventure bikes are better equipped and more appropriate - namely the 1290 Super Adventure and new Multistrada.
ZZR1400s are not bad bikes and I have some great touring memories, but I find they are trying to be too many things and not quite meeting the mark on any of them. The 2012 on is a much better bike and more comfortable, but with a seriously rapid engine, it just arrives at corners even faster and still wants to go straight on rather than stop and turn. If you ride one, just don't go above 8/10ths effort and you'll probably love it... and don't have a driveway on a slope.
My 2010 in Italy on a 3000 mile tour:
The 2014
As a footnote I persuaded my then 70 year old dad to dump the Green ZZR as the weight was tough for him, I hated moving it around in my garage and I had no interest in riding it. He'd had 3 Hayabusas and ZZR1100s before and was pretty blinkered on old school hyper bikes. In late 2016 I got him a discounted GSX-S1000F. It's 60kg lighter, comfier with better bar leverage and similar performance below jailable speeds. He loves it and wishes he'd switched to that sort of bike years before!
Here's the GSXS - the luggage and pillion options are more limited, but he doesn't tour or take pillions.
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