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I am fed up with Kawasaki

61K views 376 replies 70 participants last post by  lewisrassel 
#1 · (Edited)
Are you friggin serious Kawi? It's been the same friggin bike for years. The H2 is a big hunk of shit and the new ZX-10r SE is overpriced and so yesterday. Can we get something exciting? I don't care if the latest Gen is the most winning bike in WSBK. :thefinger_red: All the bikes are getting choked down by electronics and emissions standards. There is nothing out there that I am excited for. BMW needs a new platform, the R1 is ugly as fuck, I can't even look at the front without a cringe, a fish on wheels. The Aprilia is overweight, reliability is like gambling, been the same model for years. The Gixxer is way overpriced, comes with a gameboy dashboard and tractor flashers and looks really gixxer alike!:dontknow: Ducati is for the Starbuck queers with Dainese super thigh leathers that put 500 KMs a year on the rear tire, The Fireblade has no character at all, just another pile of shit Honda with no soul, way underpowered with nice welds lol. There is nothing out there that just trigger me, that get me pumped to go buy it. The sportbike scene is bland as fuck.:frown2:


The 2004-2005 was the almighty unicorn from Kawasaki. It just went downhill from there. :lol:
 
#59 ·
^^^^^^^^^ That i can fap to!!!

Think at this point id ride about nearly anything KTM just to try it.

Honestly, performance wise im just glad about the current situation on bikes because i know they'll be available one day as thats the only way i can afford a bike is a used one, its a weird way to get excited about new bikes lol. Hopefully they'll be available for me down the road when/if my paycheck improves!
 
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#64 · (Edited)
I didn't buy a Gen5 because I had a Gen4. The improvement wasn't there. I did buy 2017 GSXR1000R and love that bike.

The KTM sure does look like something I would enjoy. I just have concerns on reliability.
Awesome! More mid range power? What about turning? feels "lighter on it's feet"? Seems to be a small narrow bike for a liter bike and sounds wicked too with the Variable Valve Timing and 14500 redline. Did you get the thing reflash and all? I feel the same about the reliability with the KTM. They had issues with the RC8 in the past.

Micheal Dunlop seems to have a blast on it!



starts @ 18:55:badteeth:
 
#69 ·
My biggest beef with KTM: :headshake:

No More Superbikes for KTM - CEO Says They're Too Dangerous For Public RoadsTheRideAdvice.com

Again bad...how long in the tooth is the bimmer? iirc the prototype for the s1000rr goes back to what 2008 and the s1000rr hit the streets as a 2010 right? So it's older than the 4th gen. You said the 10R hasn't been updated since 2011 (yet it has) which is a reason to knock it yet the bimmer is even older but that's ok? Why? BNG? Tweeks just like the 10R? Hand warmers that you make fun of?

Help me out here...you seem so inconsistent.
 
#70 · (Edited)
I was waiting for their new S1KRR for 2018 but seems they will wait another year? :dontknow: Their first one came out in 2008 but got major updates since then. I know it is getting old but the finish product is still better. It is a bike that's gnarly to ride and way more fun than the ZX-10r and better looking. :hello: I don't ride for laptimes, I ride for pure enjoyment! >:)



That CEO is full of shit. Poor excuses for lack of sales for the RC8.
 
#75 ·
My only experience is with a Ktm 2001 dirt bike. It was the only dirt bike that leaked at the counter shaft sprocket. That is BS. I have 35 year old Hondas that are solid, no leaks etc. And to boot, the part was hard to come by. I sold it and moved on the Yamaha and it has been time tested, proven to perform and not break or leak.
 
#77 ·
#81 ·
I do understand that quite a few new bikes are coming out with Brembo,Ohlins all the so called "big names"on their bikes of the show room floor!but just remember all these high end named parts on the bikes are cheaper very entre level parts built to a manufacturers price!not the high end parts offered for thousands of $!I read a article once on the Triumph offered with Brembo's in it took a shitload to get these Ohlins working to a decent spec!honestly look at the Ducati Panigale S,R Superbulshitter don't they all run Brembo M50 front calipers!fook me if I paid $90K on a Superleggara I would want Rossi,s Carbon discs and Titanium piston calipers for that cash!all the big names on off the floor models are not near the quality or functionality as a set of $1500+fgrt or ttx rear!if you buy something that gives you a little twitch down below!buy it!mod it,make it go hard,make it light!and the most important make it yours!how can you be competitive with newer models every year!
Be real about things.........
 
#82 ·
I disagree with OP. I came from a fully top shelf parts bolt on modded 2005 R1 that I loved to bits, put 50,000 miles on in 3 seasons of 5 months each season. I've ridden a decent number of other superbikes and while some had obvious huge advantages nothing really, really gave me an awe factor until this latest generation. Before this generation the only stopping my 05 R1 from having anything "current" was a bit of cash such as a quick shifter, more power or better suspension but really it wasn't that far off. For me to make my 05 compete with the new ZX10, I'm not sure how much money id need to put in but way more than the cost of a new ZX10 and that wasn't the case for previous generations of bikes.

This current generation though, not even a built engine on my R1 is going to put out 200hp at the wheels unless its totally built for racing and unreliable. The traction control of the current top bikes is something I couldn't get, WAY better bike geometry is another thing that is unbuyable (realistically speaking). That is not counting the fact I can actually tune the ECU with a damn laptop now to do a bunch of cool stuff, the factory suspension is pretty fucking good for the road, I've got a quick shifter that goes both ways, a digital dash, brakes that are just as good as upgraded brakes on the R1. The front end on the new Kawi's are something id make love to.
 
#83 ·
The stuff that got us excited about the launch of a new bike used to be weight savings, incremental HP gains, new styling and the handful of features they'd offer every couple years.
Between 2005 and 2011 sportbike performance came a LONG way, and we were pretty spoiled. Between 2011 and 2017 so far, not so much other than electronic aids, and improved suspension and chassis making their way to street bikes, and prices have gone through the roof.

Things have just about run their course. Millennials are not picking up the sport, emissions regulations have limited performance possibilities for internal combustion engines, and lawyers have done what lawyers do, so we will never see another widow maker. Interest is waning, and therefore manufacturers aren't going to put a whole lot more into evolving these machines anytime soon.

For the guys here with Gen 1's and 2's- it's not a bad idea to hold on to them if that's what still moves your soul. There's a ton of refinement on newer gens that make them lighter with more top end and easier to ride, but none quite with the character. Gen 4's and 5's will smoke you at the track or on Scout's loop maybe, but on the street most of that shit doesn't matter.
 
#85 ·
I usually get a bike every generation...but my generation 4 has had a LOT of mods and there isn't a justifiable reason to upgrade (maybe an R1M). I have Ohlins front, Elka rear, 185 smooth RWHP, ECU reflash, removed secondaries, regreared, quick shifter and a bunch of other stuff....and my bike is the easier I have ever had to ride. I agree that there isn't that much of an improvement since 2011 to justify a new bike.
 
#91 · (Edited)
I think this is the most realistic and critical review out there. It addresses many of the same things I see wrong and would like to see corrected, but none of them are a deal breaker or give me regrets. The biggest complaint vibration seems to be worse at the rpm and speed the bike cruises at, as I said earlier a speed or gear change can usually alleviate most of this. I have tried nothing to lessen the vibration because it is not something over the top to me. Over my Gen4 though it is noticeable.

 
#92 ·
I still rep the Gen 1 for street and track... What I really want to see is KAWASAKI make a street version of the ZXRR looking bike.. I would so jump on that.
 
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#94 ·
I agree with you. I have not really seen anything new from anyone that really screams at me to ride it. I have just been riding my same Gen1 since it was new. With all the electronics on these new bikes it is not even riding anymore. Soon you'll be able ride your bike from an xbox controller.

The bikes I actually want are older bikes from the 80's, 90's and early 2000's. LOL
 
#95 ·
I agree with you. I have not really seen anything new from anyone that really screams at me to ride it. I have just been riding my same Gen1 since it was new. With all the electronics on these new bikes it is not even riding anymore. Soon you'll be able ride your bike from an xbox controller.

The bikes I actually want are older bikes from the 80's, 90's and early 2000's. LOL



I really want another 1996 ZX7RR.... I wished I'd never crash and trash it..:frown:
 
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#96 ·
I'd like to restomod an old air/oil gsxr 1100 or a larger cc gpz or a tiller or a KZ or maybe a viffer or maybe a RC-51 or superhawk or even an old cb 750 or maybe a z-rex. I guess I am all over the place :badteeth:
 

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#101 ·
Can't say that I disagree with you there with Kawi's, but I personally haven't had a single major issue with any of the Kawasaki's I've owned. I guess in my case I saw the '84 900 Ninja, fell in love with the look, and had to have one. After that it was extremely reliable and loved riding it. Then went to the '89 ZX7, '96 ZX7, and then the '05 ZX10R. (To this day though I regret selling my '84...:crying:) But loyalty can be a weird thing, ask any Ducati owner. I've owned those too and will say I loved owning them as well, even though they are the most unreliable vehicles I have ever had the pleasure of riding. The saying goes that Ducati's will make a mechanic out of every rider is basically true, at least to my experiences with my own and others that I rode with. But I loved them just the same. Maybe it was the sounds it made when it ran, the look it had. It had tons of quirks but I still loved it.

But if I absolutely, positively had to have a bike that runs period I would hands down ride my Kawasaki's. :ayyy:
 
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