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ZZR 1400

  • Thread starter Nige J
  • Start date
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Nige J

Guest
Had a test ride yesterday, and was quite impressed.

For the apparent length of the bike, it's very nimble. But I was really surprised that there is less weight on the wrists when riding, compared to the Blackbird. Also the bars seem to be set further apart. In fact, very comfortable and easy to ride.

The major surprise was how the power's delivered - under 5K rpm, the engine feels quite "gutless", it's not a patch on the Blackbird when pulling in a low gear. But once you get past 5K, the damn thing launches forwards like somebody's lit the blue touchpaper.

Reports from the pillion (SWMBO) were pretty good, in that she rated the comfort better than the 'bird, but with more vibration through the pegs. She also noticed that the cans were a LOT closer to the pegs than on the 'bird (the melted evidence of a previous pillions' boot could be seen on the demo bikes' LH can).

A problem for me, is that at the moment, Givi don't list a Wingrack fitting kit for the ZZR, and Kawasaki don't list any luggage. So for a "sports/tourer", it doesn't quite tick all the boxes for me.

Would I change my trusty, reliable & still in mint condition Blackbird (it is a Honda, after all) for a Kawasaki ?

A price and trade-in has been agreed, I have the "go ahead" from SWMBO, but I still dunno......................
 
Gforceuk

Gforceuk

Registered User
Nige J said:
A problem for me, is that at the moment, Givi don't list a Wingrack fitting kit for the ZZR, and Kawasaki don't list any luggage. So for a "sports/tourer", it doesn't quite tick all the boxes for me.

Would I change my trusty, reliable & still in mint condition Blackbird (it is a Honda, after all) for a Kawasaki ?

A price and trade-in has been agreed, I have the "go ahead" from SWMBO, but I still dunno......................
Click to expand...


There is a gt version of the bike coming out isnt there? with the luggage attached ....


lovely bike though , if i had any money at all and wasnt struggling to keep the bird on the road then i'd be tempted.
 
J

Jono

Super Sponsor
Read Only
Apart from rot quicker what will it do that the Blackbird won't??? :dunno:
 
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dufus

Guest
Nige I had a zzr 1400 for eights weeks before it's shortfalls saw me sell it.

True it handles better than the bird for one they have used Honda's sportbikes mass centralisation .i.e. weight as low as possible and in the middle making the zz handle in a way a big bike shouldn't dare to handle and yes it is more comfortable/pillion too and a slight cheat by kawasaki in using sportbike tires bt 014's which should see it eat tires quicker than a busa.

The reasons why I sold it were
(1) my current second hand bird cost me ?3,000 and my zz being new cost me ?8,500. the zz isn't a 5 grand better bike,
(2) the lack of luggage at the time (although Givi now do panniers model specific for the zz,(V35N MONOKEY SIDE PANNIERS) they still and have no future plans for a top box. Like the busa, kawasaki realised that the zz is a hyper bike and NOT a sports tourer that can tour thats why they are bringing out the gt 1400.

best bits of the zz?
mirrors are excellent,clocks are brilliant and handling is moist

Worst bit? it isnt worth nearly 5k over the bike I have that takes full luggage and does everything I need it to do
 
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Nige J

Guest
Gforceuk said:
There is a gt version of the bike coming out isnt there? with the luggage attached ....
Click to expand...

Yes, but I reckon it'll be knockin' at the door of at least ?10.5K
 
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dufus

Guest
I think the motech system may include the rear rack too? might be worth giving bykebitz a call?

Something else I forgot too, the main frame in particular by where your feet rest, is coated to colour the frame black,unfortuneatly they have used a cheap thin coating and it is not unknown for this to wear through within a couple of thousand miles and start to show the silver coloured frame underneath, a lot of complaints about the finish.

Re the 5 thousand revs surge, to make this beast useable for everyday slow/town/traffic use kawasaki fitted restrictor plates on the secondary butterflies. the woosh can be changed to 1,500 revs by removing the secondary butterfly plates. A simple job but makes it a little bit more difficult to use around town/walking speed.

Underseat storage, if you get a chance to take the seat off, I jest you not when I say you would have problems putting a mobile phone in let alone a lock etc

Like I said earlier it is a good bike, but I don't think it's a ?5,000 better bike than my bird and as such I cannot really see any reason or any bike to consider changing my bird for.
 
Murt

Murt

Letch
Work colleague of mine took one out on a test ride with his wife.
Half way through the ride it started to rain quite heavily, he said that the way the plastics are shaped made the rain run into his groin area, and almost funnel all the water on the fairing to the back of the tank ( thus into his crotch). also the grab rail got uncomfortable for the pillion after about an hour as they were pushing into her ( not very well padded) buttocks area. I must admit, she has not got much meat on her. And she melted her right boot heel on the pipes ( as mentioned).

Murt.
 
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Nige J

Guest
Decision Made

Received a reply from Givi - they're not going to produce a wingrack fitting kit for that bike.

I'm also concerned about stories of the frame coating rubbing off.

The long and the short of it, is that I'm going to keep the 'bird, and lavish some mechanical (and financial) attention on her.

Starting with some new tyres at the weekend
 
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dufus

Guest
Because the zz hasn't a big following as such here in the uk you may want to try the american site(louder than ours)

zx14.net I think, usefull but they can only ride in straight lines
 
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D.S.

Guest
dufus said:
(1) my current second hand bird cost me ?3,000 and my zz being new cost me ?8,500. the zz isn't a 5 grand better bike,
Click to expand...

er........................why compare the price of a used anything to the price of new anything?
The ZZ may not be a ?5k better bike, but given the price of a new Barge is around ?7k, is it a ?1.5k better bike? :dunno:
 
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dufus

Guest
My comparison dirty was to show that if you are going to spend a shed load more cash then the bike should be a shed load better

I thought I had explained it simply

Barge? are you a sailor?????
 
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