I'm 6'4" tall and this is the most naturally comfortable bike I have ridden. I've only done a few runs over the recommended run in revs of 4000km but it gets to 260km/h very quickly (controlled conditions ). Very ridable around town because the ECU controls the power under 5000rpm. However..... It would be nice to be able to turn this feature off because after 5500rpm it wants to rip your arms from their sockets and lift the front wheel. It would be so nice for the power to be more linear through the whole rev range so that it wasn't such a shock when the power actually does come on.
Me being the hefty lad that I am (more than one reason as to why people refer to me as big Rob) I still managed to get the front wheel skipping off the ground under power in third gear. God knows how I'm going to control this thing down at the drags , Although there is no harm in trying
The brakes are nicely bedded in now and are lethal. Pillion comfort is pretty good according to my wife, not tourer quality but certainly not two rabbit fucking style either. The seating position is a little more sport orientated compared to my ZZR 1100 but over the ZX-14 has a taller seat, less reach to the bars, it's narrower, the mirrors are better and it has a shorter wheel base, combine that with better suspension and better stering rake it handles reaaly well. I could quite comfortably ride this bike for long periods of time and not feel crippled when I got off to re-fuel. I haven't been able to do that since a very nasty accident I had in the early 90's after crashing my GPZ 1000RX.
The 215kg (dry) weight is kept very low making this bike feel extremely light, well to me anyway, I can't say for the rest of the puny types on this forum (j/k), and I have no troubles flicking it around some of the local twisty bits. One thing I don't have complete faith in is the BT 014s that are OEM supplied, I've never been a Bridgestone person and I am looking forward to wearing the things out so I can put on some tyres that I am comfortable with.
The fittings and fasteners are all good quality and well made (aren't they all when they are all new and shiny). It will be interesting to see how they wear, although this is a fair weather bike for me so the only water it will see will be from a hose while I wash it. Speaking fo which, I've washed her twice now (couldn't hit the town on a Friday night with a bug encrusted bike now could I). I was the one to detail the bike after it came out of the crate, washed the dust and factory grime off of it and gave it a good paint clean and polish/wax using the Gold Class range of products from Meguires. two coats of wax and she GLEAMS! Not a single swirl mark to be seen.
Instrumentation is easily read and incorporates a Clutch engage light and shift light for those leave the lights in a hurry time. These lights can be set to dim or bright as well as being able to be set to pulse or stay on at the given rev range, cool feature but not really usable yet because of the run in period that I'm trying so damn hard not to break while accelerating.
In top gear at 4000rpm the bike sits at 130km/h, at 80km/h in the same gear it cruises along at just under 2000rpm and will still accelerate. *Warning* it is really REALLY easy to speed on this bike, the bike travels so smoothly with very little vibration and wind noise that you feel as if you are going much slower than you actually are 130km/h feels like 100km/h. I'm sure if you were to sit bolt upright travelling at 200km/h you could light a cigarette, or pass your pillion some biscuits and dip.
The lighting is, in a word, phenominal. There is no mistaking that there is a bike comming up behind you in traffic, as an experiment I sat in the right lane going down the freeway traveling just over the limit with my high beam on, slower cars actually moved over to the left (OMG OMG!). Was it to get away from the high beam or did they think a UFO was behind them? I don't know but it worked.
Ok stuff the good points here are the bad.........
1) The 1000km run in period is KILLING me. I want to go play some more
2) When you leave your glorious black bike out of sight for more than 5 minutes you come back to find at least 4 different sets of fingerprints on it.
3) This is not a cool running bike. It heats up quick in stop-start traffic. Maybe it's because the engine is still being run in so things are still a bit tight causing more friction and thus more heat, or the tolerances are so close that it's on the edge all the time. Nice at night though.
4) The more I think about it, the ECU controlling the power and torque below 5000rpm, it's not a good thing. If I let someone ride this without telling them about it, after a few mellow corners "Thinking" they are used to the power and then they suddenly let rip and go WOT in first or second they will loop the bike bigtime, and then there would be a falling out of friends a punch up, no more beers drunk late at night....and it would be all bad. I have let one very close mate ride it, I trust him with my wife so why not trust him with my baby(the guy who drove down to help me pick it up, Arwon) and he was gentle with it because it only had 150ish km on the clock. He came back smiling. At that point I was pretty sure I didn't buy a lemon.
5) Getting to the suspension adjusters on the rear shock is a pain in the butt, not to mention the knees as well. The screw driver in the tool kit for on the fly suspension changes is no where near long enough to comfortably get to the compression dampening, rebound is a little better and the preload........ I know I will have to adjust it but I am not looking forward to it.
6) Fuel consumption. 22lt tank 250kms approx is the best so far, although admittedly thats with alot of gear changes so as not to keep the engine at the same revs for too long. I suspect that this will get better after the 1000km oil change. But really a bike capable of doing 299km/h right out of the box who gives a flying fig about fuel economy.
7) The swing arm is ugly, I think they should have used a modified version of the one from a ZX-10. ( I have issues with swing arms, ask my mates, actually I just have issues, ask them, they will tell you....)
I'll be cross posting this to other forums, because I'm an unoriginal bastard who knows how to use cut and paste technology.
All in all I can without a Shadow of a doubt state that I am relieved that I waited for the release of this bike. Top speed and acceleration aren't why I bought this bike, basically I did it to upgrade what I thought was an already terrific platform that suited my style of riding that I do the majority of the time. I wanted the latest technology without compromising the comfort levels I have found with my other Kawasakis of the same type, starting with my first Kawasaki the GPZ 1000RX, then to my two ZZR1100's and now this. I was never tempted to buy a ZZR1200 because other than a cosmetic change and an upgrade in engine size it was the same as my ZZR 1100 except it was less comfortable to me..
This has it all for me two trip meters, fuel gauge, temp gauge,average fuel consumption reading, instant fuel consumption reading, distance until empty, Radial brakes, more adjustable and much better quality suspension, wave rotors, Radial mounted hydraulic clutch, awsome lighting, Fuel injection (no more choke!). It looks modern and is not something that hasn't changed it's look for the past 15 or so years.
I don't go in for the Hayabusa/ZX-14 flame wars, I got on a Hayabusa once and it just didn't appeal to me, I am sure they are a great bike and they look purpose built (which they have more than proved in my eyes) but they are not for me. I don't fit on them very well, and don't find them very comfy. I like to travel by bike and I like to be relativlely comfortable when I do it.
Ok enough harping on from me, I need sleep so I can go for a ride tomorrow.
Shadow Keeper
2006 ZX-14
2000 ZZR1100
