I am tempted to go to the dark side...do I need help? :)

[greeny]

Ride it.

If you like how it feels then go for it.
If you get off it and it was only ok then stick with what you have.

I cannot understand the brand loyalty some people have.
At the end of the day who gives a shit what is written on the side of the tank.
To me its all about what feels good for me.
So what if there some wankers out there that seam to ride more of this bike that another bike.

When will people realise that yes Kawasaki do make some nice bikes. But they don't always make the best bike in every class or the best bike for every person.

[greenmeanie]

ZZR11 is a classic !

The ZZR12 is one fucking ugly bike(just my opinion).

The flame job R1 of that year(03) i really liked ! .....yes i know it's a wank factor R1 yamaha but they looked pretty sweet .

I'd go the trade myself but yeah test ride it 1st and if you are still keen go 4 it. Besides if you decide to sell you can get rid of it pretty easy as opposed to the ZZR12.

[mrmina]

hmmmmmm......

i'm with rossi, u live once so dont waste ur time riding anything else.

isnt that what rossi said

[I-K]

The 2005-2006 R1 is the best one they made,

If you like your litre sporsbikes rangy and compliant, sure. With the earlier, long-stroke bikes, the motor completely dominates the chassis; more so than a ZX-10R. The later bikes are the other way around; it's virtually impossible to get the motor to break out of the straitjacket of the chassis, and this makes them something of a dull ride. Unless you're going so fast that the blurred scenery and the onrushing corners are giving you palpitations, they don't get the juices flowing.

The earlier bikes are much rawer and harder to ride. The carbed ones (I put 25,000km on a 2000 model) need some work to get them to handle properly; the choice is between light, but worryingly loose or solid, but heavy steering. The next model, the 02-03 fixed the handling but kept the punchy motor. On the negative side, it has less baseline stability than the earlier bikes, which you could dial into a stable setup; the 02-03's seem to be frisky no matter what.

The unfinished business I still have with R1's is owning an '02-'03. The later bike doesn't interest me whatsoever.

[QLDZX6R]

One Question:why is your mate keen to swap?

[Gosling1]

....I cannot understand the brand loyalty some people have....

well, having ridden motorcycles longer than you have been breathing, I *can* understand brand loyalty.......its something that cannot be bought or sold like some piece of shit Honda or Suzie, you either have green blood or you don't......

Frank - take it for some good rides over your normal roads, 2-up and solo, and then make your decision. If your mate is dinkum about the swap, then there should not be any problem in organising a weekend ride..........and as far as

...it would eat his ZX12r

, well what can I say , every R1 pilot thinks this........I am still waiting for an R1 to hose my 12........

[RG]

The Dark Side of the Force is a pathway to many abilities some consider to be 'unnatural'

[aardvark]

The Dark Side of the Force is a pathway to many abilities some consider to be 'unnatural'

What happened to him?

[aardvark]

But they don't make the best bike for every person.

That's true. Wankers don't deserve to ride Kwakka's. That's why Yamaha, Honda, Suzuki and HD make bikes.

[mike-s]

Gee thanks Ardy, btw what make is your workbike again?

[aardvark]

Gee thanks Ardy, btw what make is your workbike again?

As long as you own one Kwakka, then all of the other bikes you happen to ride are cancelled out. Everyone knows that.

[greeny]

Gee thanks Ardy, btw what make is your workbike again?

As long as you own one Kwakka, then all of the other bikes you happen to ride are cancelled out. Everyone knows that.

Sounds like a crock of shit if you ask me.

Blind brand loyalty just is not smart. You are limiting yourself to such a small portion of whats available, and thats not just for bikes it for everything in life. If you don't try new things then how do you experience all life has to offer.

I just can't understand how this brand loyalty to the death is anything but poor common sense.

[HemiDuty]

...Yadda Yadda stuf about being old and still breathing yadda yadda..........and as far as

...it would eat his ZX12r

, well what can I say , every R1 pilot thinks this........I am still waiting for an R1 to hose my 12........

Meet you at EC? I am not allowed to ride mine on the road you see. Or if and when I make it down there, if we can talk a dealer into letting me test ride an R1 for long enough to make it to some twisty roads I will have a shot at it....

As long as you own one Kwakka, then all of the other bikes you happen to ride are cancelled out. Everyone knows that.

Agreed! And I still love my GPX too, as much as I whinge about it.


As far as Brand Loyalty goes, I am a real sucker for it. Within racing Yamaha has been really good to me, and I think they make great racebikes, but I will always love my Kwakas. My ideal roadbike would be a turbo 06 10R. But I will take racing as far as I can with Yamaha, it is just the way things panned out. It doesn't matter where it takes me, I will always love my Kwakas and always feel welcome here.

Like I said before, all the jap bikes are really quite similar and equal. It is not like Kawasakis are SOOOOO much better than anything else, but this not the point. Brand loyalty when applied to a reasonable human being is not about believing your brand to be the 'only' good brand, just more a case of being 'a cut above' the rest.

My brand loyalty to Mopars is very much entrenched. I am happy just to cruize around in a crusty old Valiant, because I just love the things. Of course I would rather have an overpowered rare Mopar Muscle car, but an old Valiant is still showing my taste in cars.

Oh and yeah, Mopar or No Car!

[Gosling1]

.....Blind brand loyalty just is not smart. You are limiting yourself to such a small portion of whats available, and thats not just for bikes it for everything in life. If you don't try new things then how do you experience all life has to offer.

I just can't understand how this brand loyalty to the death is anything but poor common sense.

If we limit brand loyalty to m/cycles, then what is wrong with it ? I have ridden plenty of Honda's, suzies etc, they just don't *ring my bell* mate, never have and never will .......this isn't *blind* brand loyalty, its a loyalty that has been developed over a number of decades of riding bikes, and deciding that, in the end, the only Jap bike worth owning is a big Kawasaki ..... however I am also partial to Yammie 2-strokes, so its not like I *hate* every other brand.......

I am also 100% brand-loyal to WeetBix.........and reckon anyone who eats VitaBrits is fully gay !!! Its been scientifically proven doncha know

.....Brand loyalty when applied to a reasonable human being is not about believing your brand to be the 'only' good brand, just more a case of being 'a cut above' the rest.....

absolutely correct, and well put. We will do a ride-day together sometime mate.....

[aardvark]

If you don't try new things then how do you experience all life has to offer.

You don't need to experience all life has to offer. I have no desire to have my arm bitten off by a shark, I don't intend to ever go to a Kylie Minogue concert and I certainly don't plan on sticking my dick in another blokes arse.

On that last point, I have blind brand loyalty when it comes to one of God's (or evolution's, Allah's, The Flying Spaghetti Monster's or pick the head honcho of any other religion you care to believe in) creations. What about you Tim??

At least I have brand loyalty to something tangible. All these people that just have blind faith in their chosen religion well.... actually, I think we'll save this argument for another forum.