The 2nd fastest production bike ZZR1400
Discussion
Well I have been posting on this forum for a little while, so finally I have got round to posting some pics and a review of my bike.
I have had a range of Kawasaki's over the years and this one really comes out on top, it does everything very well and exudes an air of quality and solidity, that I have yet to experience on any other bikes I have rode. I have done 5000 miles on her, and use it everyday, mostly commuting and the odd weekend blast.
Good Points
It depends on which camp you are in as to if this is a good point, but I like the power delivery on this bike. The ZZR has secondary throttle butterflies which gives it a rather Jeckle and Hyde personality, below 6k rpm the power delivery is quite tame, which means that the bike won't spin up the rear on a greasy road in the middle of winter at the meerest twitch of the throttle, but it comes on gradually. After 6k rpm all hell brakes loose and it can pile on speed in a most incredible way. It may sound strange but I did not buy this bike because of it's performance, it was mostly to do with the way it does it, effortless is how I would describe it. It feels solid on the road and has a great pillion (which I use alot), the weight is low down (224kgs)and is lost when on the move, although this bike is no lightweight supersports!
The riding position is not too extreme and there are lots of bar riser kits on the market (I will invest in these for longer journeys), the tank range takes you up to around 180 miles maximum (43mpg) which is about where the seat tells you to take a rest (in my case anyway). The loom system on the bike (CAN) allows the rider a multifunction display which can read everything from trip (x2), temp, range, mpg, battery charge, but to be honest I only ever read the trip (old habits I suppose).
The handling in superb for a bike of this size, it does move things on significantly from the old ZZR's, probably due to the new aluminium monoqoque frame. The track is quite long on the bike, which does improve stability (under acceleration) but will of course cause the bike to run slightly wider on the turns, this did not bother me too much and I came from a ZX6R.
Bad Points
As with everything there is always room for improvement but these are only niggles which in most cases can be overcome.
The bike only came in 2 colours in 2007 (silver added in 2008) which was black and ocean blue (mine), this colours can pickup scratches quite easily if you are not careful, the main point is around the sides of the tank where you knees are, I would recommend tank protectors in this location, my solution was for a Basgstar tank bra and bag...which is superb! On the subject of luggage there is not masses of kit out there but Givi do side bags and Kappa a top box, although I am led to believe the rear rack from Kawasaki has been withdrawn (don't quote me). I the future I will be looking into the sidecases for longer journeys, but want to change the cans so I need to ensure a they still fit.
The looks are slightly in contention, on the whole I like the bike apart from the enourmous exhausts which I will remedy soon (£400-800 for aftermarket solutions). The bodywork offers a decent level of wind protection and I think makes the bike look more sports orientated than tourer, I also think it look far better than a Busa or Blackbird.
As with most Kawasaki's there is hardly any underseat storage! I am hoping there is enough room for an autocom at some point. On the plus side there is the ability to lock to helmets to the bike.
This bike runs pretty hot, it is after all a 1400. The fans come on for me nearly everytime I am in stationary traffic, we have not had hot enough weather yet to test if the bike will overheat but I doubt it due to the large fans. The only issue with this is that at a standstill the heat gets kicked up at the rider...phew! I am told that ditching the CATS will let the bike run cooler, we shall see.
Conclusion
It's fast, but safe, handles well and offers great value at the moment (deals on 2007 bikes for around £8k). The test of a good bike for me is that I can't think of anything I would like to change it for (and I do change regularly), but there are of course other bikes I would like to supplement it with ;-)
Just so you know I test rode a BMW 1200GS and a Triumph Sprint ST as part of my search, so the ZZR is an odd winner but it shows it has other talents than just headline speed, don't be put of by the hype as underneath there is a good ride.
I have had a range of Kawasaki's over the years and this one really comes out on top, it does everything very well and exudes an air of quality and solidity, that I have yet to experience on any other bikes I have rode. I have done 5000 miles on her, and use it everyday, mostly commuting and the odd weekend blast.
Good Points
It depends on which camp you are in as to if this is a good point, but I like the power delivery on this bike. The ZZR has secondary throttle butterflies which gives it a rather Jeckle and Hyde personality, below 6k rpm the power delivery is quite tame, which means that the bike won't spin up the rear on a greasy road in the middle of winter at the meerest twitch of the throttle, but it comes on gradually. After 6k rpm all hell brakes loose and it can pile on speed in a most incredible way. It may sound strange but I did not buy this bike because of it's performance, it was mostly to do with the way it does it, effortless is how I would describe it. It feels solid on the road and has a great pillion (which I use alot), the weight is low down (224kgs)and is lost when on the move, although this bike is no lightweight supersports!
The riding position is not too extreme and there are lots of bar riser kits on the market (I will invest in these for longer journeys), the tank range takes you up to around 180 miles maximum (43mpg) which is about where the seat tells you to take a rest (in my case anyway). The loom system on the bike (CAN) allows the rider a multifunction display which can read everything from trip (x2), temp, range, mpg, battery charge, but to be honest I only ever read the trip (old habits I suppose).
The handling in superb for a bike of this size, it does move things on significantly from the old ZZR's, probably due to the new aluminium monoqoque frame. The track is quite long on the bike, which does improve stability (under acceleration) but will of course cause the bike to run slightly wider on the turns, this did not bother me too much and I came from a ZX6R.
Bad Points
As with everything there is always room for improvement but these are only niggles which in most cases can be overcome.
The bike only came in 2 colours in 2007 (silver added in 2008) which was black and ocean blue (mine), this colours can pickup scratches quite easily if you are not careful, the main point is around the sides of the tank where you knees are, I would recommend tank protectors in this location, my solution was for a Basgstar tank bra and bag...which is superb! On the subject of luggage there is not masses of kit out there but Givi do side bags and Kappa a top box, although I am led to believe the rear rack from Kawasaki has been withdrawn (don't quote me). I the future I will be looking into the sidecases for longer journeys, but want to change the cans so I need to ensure a they still fit.
The looks are slightly in contention, on the whole I like the bike apart from the enourmous exhausts which I will remedy soon (£400-800 for aftermarket solutions). The bodywork offers a decent level of wind protection and I think makes the bike look more sports orientated than tourer, I also think it look far better than a Busa or Blackbird.
As with most Kawasaki's there is hardly any underseat storage! I am hoping there is enough room for an autocom at some point. On the plus side there is the ability to lock to helmets to the bike.
This bike runs pretty hot, it is after all a 1400. The fans come on for me nearly everytime I am in stationary traffic, we have not had hot enough weather yet to test if the bike will overheat but I doubt it due to the large fans. The only issue with this is that at a standstill the heat gets kicked up at the rider...phew! I am told that ditching the CATS will let the bike run cooler, we shall see.
Conclusion
It's fast, but safe, handles well and offers great value at the moment (deals on 2007 bikes for around £8k). The test of a good bike for me is that I can't think of anything I would like to change it for (and I do change regularly), but there are of course other bikes I would like to supplement it with ;-)
Just so you know I test rode a BMW 1200GS and a Triumph Sprint ST as part of my search, so the ZZR is an odd winner but it shows it has other talents than just headline speed, don't be put of by the hype as underneath there is a good ride.
Edited by jdwoodbury on Saturday 3rd November 14:58
Thanks for the review.
I'd love to try one of these most definitely outside of London where I live... I'd imagine some euro touring on it would be awesome. Put it this way I'm sure I'd be using the warp speed where possible.
For me I'd like to try the Busa and ZZR back to back and choose between them.
I'd seriously have one of these if I didn't live in London and had a garage where it would live with all the others! :-) Sadly I'm not likely to be leaving London in the near future so I'll prob get something like a street triple for my London commuting next year.
I'd love to try one of these most definitely outside of London where I live... I'd imagine some euro touring on it would be awesome. Put it this way I'm sure I'd be using the warp speed where possible.
For me I'd like to try the Busa and ZZR back to back and choose between them.
I'd seriously have one of these if I didn't live in London and had a garage where it would live with all the others! :-) Sadly I'm not likely to be leaving London in the near future so I'll prob get something like a street triple for my London commuting next year.
Gassing Station | Biker Banter | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff