Kawasaki ZX14..Who haz one??

Morning all,

Blake, by "marginal" I meant the stock were not as good as I wanted, when trying to get the bike stopped quickly from near top end ( yes, they are truly governed at 300 kph according to the speedo, which I know is overly generous.

You can get around the speed cap by installing a speedo healer though.

I found the busa to have worse brakes, but really I am being super picky. They are both excellent machines.

Of course there is a reasonable limit as to what they can do stock and keep it affordable. Great thing is that for not a lot of money you can upgrade braking, suspension and engine with off the shelf parts.

Upgrading the brakes to steel lines, Brembo calipers, Galfer rotors and pazzo levers made a really big difference. They are super sharp, and I will not let any friends ride my 14 as it does accelerate and brake much harder than most any production bike ( not counting high end ducatti's or new BMW sport bikes. I am extremely happy with my bike.

Some small upgrades can make a really good bike even better. So yes, the stock brakes were good, but they are even better now.

OP


Its better to travel well than to arrive.
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

mmm..I am going to have to call bullcrap on this one
Fact is if you need a computer to get you stopped on a bike..you might want to move on to 4 wheels. They can keep the abs I wont have it on any of my rides.
I don't give a flip what Europe mandates either. So thanks Kawi for not bending over, and building a mans bike.
Now if I could get the video out of the new D4..I would be all set!
Gary

Wow..I thought for sure this would have 2 pages of ABS thrashing after my little rant :huh
Its possible that I have convinced everybody that they don't really want ABS..or they are ignoring me
Ok fair enough..but I still want my D4 with no video.
Gary

...my point is that you have a brand new bike, with traction control and ABS, but I can't buy the ABS version here in the States. If I'm going to buy a new motorcycle, in this day and age, with the new technology available, I want the bike with ABS.

If I can't get the ABS, I'm not dropping $15,000 on a NEW motorcycle. I'd just buy a used ZX-14 or Hayabusa instead of a NEW machine.

As to the ABS not being a "man's bike"...........Really?

I want ABS for those panic stops in the rain.

I own an RC51, a Ducati Monster, and a V-Strom. The Ducati has carbs. None of them have ABS or traction control.

But, I DO want ABS on my next bike. I really want ABS on any bike that I would ride cross country, in all weather.

I'm done.

Cheers.

I'm with you. In this day and age, on a street bike, my money insists on ABS from here on out. I understand the knocks against it. No skin off my back if others don't like it, but as cool as I think the ZX is, I scratched it off my "consider" list a few years back for that very reason.

That said, the ZX is truly an amazing bike, and IMO, will come standard with ABS soon (as will all bikes intended for street riding, more than likely).

Well done video (except for the dude's head catching fire ):

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/RNlVFNiV1ds" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

And holy crap... 9'05 bone stock? That thing is such a beast... :eek1

You want ABS...buy a car...Honda released LBS 15 years ago...way ahead of the market..no one liked it,

Their "corrected times" for both bikes are bulls shit...Rickey Gadson only ran a 9.31@149... as far as the 9.05at 159 that is some computer generated crap. If it did run 9.05@159 why dont you highlight that in your vid????? Oh, you woke up did ya?

At the last Mfn. Cup. at SGMP. (South Ga. Motor Park ) Cecil Ga. I watched Ricky run 8.99, & sorry, I don't remember the speed. I was talking with him at his Hauler, when the tower called & said they had an opening & he could make a pass with the "New" 14...He didn't have it in the competion, just wanted to get a timeing...

Just ordered my 2012....

I just bought an '08.

Here's mine:

Here's a couple of pics of my 08. It's stock except for bar risers and the C-14 seat. Great bike. I overpaid and bought it right before the dealers started discounting them a lot, but I'm still glad I bought it. My dad has a 2002 Hayabusa, I think I made the right choice going with the Ninja. I prefer this bike, he still can't decide which one he likes better. He rides mine more than his though, so maybe he just won't admit to me which one is his favorite.

I just got the seat and only rode it 4 or 5 miles since then. The verdict is still out on it. It's more comfortable but is a little bit taller, which makes the bars seem lower but gives me a bit more leg room. It's not much, but enough to notice. I may take it off and go back to stock, I'll decide more when I get some miles on it. I sit in the foreword portion of the seat normally, and the comfy part is the back of it. I'll add more once I ride it farther, but it may be for sale soon.

I got used to the seat going to NC, I like it a lot better than the stocker. I want to get a little bit taller windscreen someday, but I'm happy for now.

^^ that is a good looking bike.

Thanks. I was actually looking for an FJR/Councours/Sprint something when I saw this at the dealer, I couldn't resist.

It had a oil leak issue and there was a battery-killing gremlin at first, but all covered under warranty. It's been a great bike since then. My only complaint is the heat coming off the motor, it's like sitting over a furnace if you are in traffic.

There's an '08 just like this at a local dealer, it has after market pipes and some other stuff like grips, windscreen, maybe levers too they don't look stock. They are asking just under 9k for it, and I am highly tempted to buy it. the one issue is my insurance would be close to 1k a year for that and my Buell. I suppose I could trim it down some, I had full coverage on the Buell when I bought it 2 years ago (it's an '08 also).

Somebody talk me out of this...

Seems a bit high to me. I almost traded mine in in 2010 on a leftover VFR, the dealer only offered me $5,000 on it. :huh

I think that the special edition from that year is the best looking, but for that 9K you should be able to buy a different one and still have enough leftover for farkles and gas.

For reasons unknown to me the bikes don't hold their value. That's good news when you are buying a used one, but frustrating for those of us that bought them new. The bike used to be one that I always kept spotless and rode on nice days only, until I realized just how much the value was dropping, regardless of conditions. Now I just ride it whenever I can, and let the miles rack up. It's probably a keeper for me, it's paid off and worth far less than what I'd sell it for.