Discussion
I've had a few Kawasaki's and they do some awesome bikes.
After practiacally redefining what a Superbike was with the GPZ900r of the 80's and their hyper ZZR1100 of 1990 they lost the cutting edge reputation.
The Blade came out and the ZX9 was fast but big and heavy by comparison, then the ZX9 lost loads of weight (C1 model which i had) and Yamaha came out with the R1 which was just that bit more bonkers.
I think the issue is that for about 10 years the other manufacturers were stealing the headlines with the Blade, R1, Gixxer 1000 etc and Kawasaki always had the slightly softer option.
I think the late 90's - mid 2000's 600's were the same with the ZX6 being slightly bigger and comfier but not getting the headlines like the R6 etc.
Thing is, as road bikes Kawasaki during that time, IMO made some of the best. The C1&2 ZX9 is an awesome roadbike being mega fast but slightly more comfy than an R1.
Over the past 5 years or so Kawasaki has had a change of stance and are trying to come out with the most mental of the bunch bikes.. and even maybe go a touch too far the other way. The 04/05 ZX10 is totally bonkers but i love it..
I think the latest ZX10 and ZX6 are gonna be loony machines and great! The Z1000 & Z750's are great street bikes and (as shown on another thread) the ZZR1400 is like the starship enterprise..
I have a major soft-spot for 'Kwaks' and hopefully my next bike will be one.
Keep it Green..
Nick
After practiacally redefining what a Superbike was with the GPZ900r of the 80's and their hyper ZZR1100 of 1990 they lost the cutting edge reputation.
The Blade came out and the ZX9 was fast but big and heavy by comparison, then the ZX9 lost loads of weight (C1 model which i had) and Yamaha came out with the R1 which was just that bit more bonkers.
I think the issue is that for about 10 years the other manufacturers were stealing the headlines with the Blade, R1, Gixxer 1000 etc and Kawasaki always had the slightly softer option.
I think the late 90's - mid 2000's 600's were the same with the ZX6 being slightly bigger and comfier but not getting the headlines like the R6 etc.
Thing is, as road bikes Kawasaki during that time, IMO made some of the best. The C1&2 ZX9 is an awesome roadbike being mega fast but slightly more comfy than an R1.
Over the past 5 years or so Kawasaki has had a change of stance and are trying to come out with the most mental of the bunch bikes.. and even maybe go a touch too far the other way. The 04/05 ZX10 is totally bonkers but i love it..
I think the latest ZX10 and ZX6 are gonna be loony machines and great! The Z1000 & Z750's are great street bikes and (as shown on another thread) the ZZR1400 is like the starship enterprise..
I have a major soft-spot for 'Kwaks' and hopefully my next bike will be one.
Keep it Green..
Nick
I think most new bikes these days are more than just good!
Kawasaki has traditionally put power near the top of their list of priorities and aimed to produce bikes that would appeal to those who appreciate raw power. I don't know how many bikes they sell compared with the other Japanese manufacturers - maybe not as many - but I will certainly vouch for my Z1000 which after over a year of ownership still makes me grin like an idiot every time I ride it!
Kawasaki has traditionally put power near the top of their list of priorities and aimed to produce bikes that would appeal to those who appreciate raw power. I don't know how many bikes they sell compared with the other Japanese manufacturers - maybe not as many - but I will certainly vouch for my Z1000 which after over a year of ownership still makes me grin like an idiot every time I ride it!
You must be looking in the wrong places, i see load of Kawasakis about.
Kawasaki are all about engines, they have power everywhere. Fast as fook, no seriously its mental.
I have no issues with build qaulity of mine, granted its only 6 months old but it still looks like new.
Proably one of the cheapest bikes for servicing.
I went for the extra 2 years K-Care warranty, nothing to worry about for the next 4 years then.
Did i mention its fast.
Kawasaki are all about engines, they have power everywhere. Fast as fook, no seriously its mental.
I have no issues with build qaulity of mine, granted its only 6 months old but it still looks like new.
Proably one of the cheapest bikes for servicing.
I went for the extra 2 years K-Care warranty, nothing to worry about for the next 4 years then.
Did i mention its fast.
Fire99 said:
After practiacally redefining what a Superbike was with the GPZ900r of the 80's and their hyper ZZR1100 of 1990 they lost the cutting edge reputation.
Thing is, as road bikes Kawasaki during that time, IMO made some of the best. The C1&2 ZX9 is an awesome roadbike being mega fast but slightly more comfy than an R1.
Over the past 5 years or so Kawasaki has had a change of stance and are trying to come out with the most mental of the bunch bikes.. and even maybe go a touch too far the other way.
Nick
Nick, I couldn’t agree anymore, I think your post sums Kawasaki up over the last 23 years!Thing is, as road bikes Kawasaki during that time, IMO made some of the best. The C1&2 ZX9 is an awesome roadbike being mega fast but slightly more comfy than an R1.
Over the past 5 years or so Kawasaki has had a change of stance and are trying to come out with the most mental of the bunch bikes.. and even maybe go a touch too far the other way.
Nick
I also had a ZX9 E2 and I loved it…nearly as much as my AR80!
B
baSkey said:
are modern kawasakis any good?
I rode a Kawasaki.....once.In all seriousness, I suspect Kwak make good bikes these days but I hate their build quality (I always use the look and feel of the fuel cap as a indicator - fool proof, that), hate their styling and hate their colour schemes. (Ive made such a big deal out of it down the pub in the past that I now have to avoid them like the plague out of principal. ha)
On the one occasion I took out an '02 ZX9R, it rode bloody well, front felt planted, loads of grunt, nice noise but not much of a riding position and slightly vague when cornering hard at around 130mph.
Personally, I couldnt own one. Im not saying that as a brand or manufacturer, they lack cerdibility. By all accounts, the last 3 models of sports 600 have been mint. But they just dont blow my hair back at all.
The brilliant thing is that these days they seem to have picked up their game to the extent you can actually pick a 1000cc sports bike based purely on your brand loyalties and which you like the look of and still know you will get an awesome bike comparable with any of the others. Whereas before, people on real sports bikes pointed and laughed at ZX9R owners.
ETA Oh yeah, I rode one these once. Everyone who took up biking after 1990 owes it to themselves to ride a good one. Lovely, ahead of its time even.
Edited by 308mate on Friday 21st September 17:04
308mate said:
baSkey said:
are modern kawasakis any good?
I rode a Kawasaki.....once.In all seriousness, I suspect Kwak make good bikes these days but I hate their build quality (I always use the look and feel of the fuel cap as a indicator - fool proof, that), hate their styling and hate their colour schemes. (Ive made such a big deal out of it down the pub in the past that I now have to avoid them like the plague out of principal. ha)
On the one occasion I took out an '02 ZX9R, it rode bloody well, front felt planted, loads of grunt, nice noise but not much of a riding position and slightly vague when cornering hard at around 130mph.
Personally, I couldnt own one. Im not saying that as a brand or manufacturer, they lack cerdibility. By all accounts, the last 3 models of sports 600 have been mint. But they just dont blow my hair back at all.
The brilliant thing is that these days they seem to have picked up their game to the extent you can actually pick a 1000cc sports bike based purely on your brand loyalties and which you like the look of and still know you will get an awesome bike comparable with any of the others. Whereas before, people on real sports bikes pointed and laughed at ZX9R owners.
ETA Oh yeah, I rode one these once. Everyone who took up biking after 1990 owes it to themselves to ride a good one. Lovely, ahead of its time even.
Edited by 308mate on Friday 21st September 17:04
slim_boy_fat said:
308mate said:
baSkey said:
are modern kawasakis any good?
I rode a Kawasaki.....once.
No. Im not. Thats why I made a point of saying "once". And then followed it up with "in all seriousness", in case there were any mental giants who had failed to spot the joke and were going to get on their high horse. Obviously thats something I need to work on.
Still, if everybody wasnt so busy clambering to prove how much they DO know, they might find it easier to spot when someone was being a touch ironic/sarcastic and actually, praising Kwaks up in general, albeit with limited exposure to them.
Edited by 308mate on Monday 24th September 15:27
ninjaboy said:
I don't think anyone pointed and laughed at ZX9's everyone who rode one said it was a great bike.
Ill cut and paste my quote separately. That way, if you bother to remove your iridium-green visored, green helmet with extra green bits, you'll see that
THATS WHAT I SAID TOO!I said:
On the one occasion I took out an '02 ZX9R, it rode bloody well, front felt planted, loads of grunt, nice noise but not much of a riding position and slightly vague when cornering hard at around 130mph.
In case that still upsets you, youll also see other words of praise for Kawasakis in my post that I cant be bothered highlighting for you.And may I just apologise. I didnt know the title should have been "Only post here if you LOVE Kawasakis and only wear kermit-green y-fronts"
...........and to get back to Mr BaSkey's point ..it depends what sort of bike you're looking at. Certainly most posts here are correct-at least in some way-Kwacks have a great history, GpZ being start of Superbike revolution etc, most Kwacks have good rep for "planted" front ends, some have rep. for carb icing, poor weathering of cycle parts etc. In most cases allegedly bullet proof motors, focussed on speed (ZZR1100/ZX12R etc) & being (more than) a bit mental- e.g.early ZX10.
FWIW I rode ZX6R (JI version) & found it a bit uncomfy & a bit too focussed for me whereas something like CBR600R tends to have a better feel, Honda seems to have got the "one size fits all" thing pretty good. My ER6 is a surprising little agile thing that is just...different & great fun.
My thoughts thats all.
FWIW I rode ZX6R (JI version) & found it a bit uncomfy & a bit too focussed for me whereas something like CBR600R tends to have a better feel, Honda seems to have got the "one size fits all" thing pretty good. My ER6 is a surprising little agile thing that is just...different & great fun.
My thoughts thats all.
I had a new zx6r before the blade and the front felt a bit vague which I didn't like much but the thing that put me off kwaks was the cam chain tensioner and the gearbox failing in the first few thousand miles. Wouldn't buy another new one but my old gpz1100e1 and my zxr750 seemed pretty bomb-proof. I think it's best to pretend that they are made by the french and set your expectations accordingly 
Had a ZX12R from new for 7 years. Nothing went wrong at all with the bike, absolutely fantastic. I did 30k miles in that time, and used it to tour Europe each year, Germany, Austria, Italy, Slovenia etc. It got used on the German autobahn regularly (each week across a 6 month period) and cruising at 130mph was just so easy and the bike ran better for it (with a few higher blats of course).
That's the reason I took delivery of a nice black ZZR1400 in June. That has been all around Europe already and it's even better
That's the reason I took delivery of a nice black ZZR1400 in June. That has been all around Europe already and it's even better
308mate said:
ninjaboy said:
I don't think anyone pointed and laughed at ZX9's everyone who rode one said it was a great bike.
Ill cut and paste my quote separately. That way, if you bother to remove your iridium-green visored, green helmet with extra green bits, you'll see that
THATS WHAT I SAID TOO!I said:
On the one occasion I took out an '02 ZX9R, it rode bloody well, front felt planted, loads of grunt, nice noise but not much of a riding position and slightly vague when cornering hard at around 130mph.
In case that still upsets you, youll also see other words of praise for Kawasakis in my post that I cant be bothered highlighting for you.And may I just apologise. I didnt know the title should have been "Only post here if you LOVE Kawasakis and only wear kermit-green y-fronts"
I'm far from biased, i've taken a Buell out and i think thats the way forward for me, But i think kawasaki are just as capable as any of the other manufacurers but have come in for stick as they did'nt follow trends in the same way as others.
Edited by ninjaboy on Monday 24th September 19:00
Edited by ninjaboy on Monday 24th September 19:03
ninjaboy said:
i've taken a Buell out and i think thats the way forward for me.
Someone I know brought one of those round to my house last week. 1200cc short wheelbase one apparently, have to say I couldn't believe how small it was (front to back) when I had a sit on it.It's due in for it's first service at Just Harley's Newcastle, then I'm going to have a go on it. He seems really happy with it.
Wacky Racer said:
I used to have one of the original GP900R's when they first came out around 1984.....
Great Bike, ahead of it's time, like the 900's of the early seventies.....
I was an 18yr old wet behind the ears pup when they came out, I seem to remember someone turning one into a trike, not long after they went on sale.Great Bike, ahead of it's time, like the 900's of the early seventies.....
Biker's Nemesis said:
ninjaboy said:
i've taken a Buell out and i think thats the way forward for me.
Someone I know brought one of those round to my house last week. 1200cc short wheelbase one apparently, have to say I couldn't believe how small it was (front to back) when I had a sit on it.It's due in for it's first service at Just Harley's Newcastle, then I'm going to have a go on it. He seems really happy with it.
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