...it's awesome...
... I'm going riding again... not much sleep for me tonight...
Can't resist gloating ...
-
hotcam
- Help!!! I need a LIFE!!!
- Posts: 1487
- Joined: Fri Sep 22, 2006 6:29 am
- Location: Melbourne, Australia
Can't resist gloating ...
... that I have one of these to test tonight...
...it's awesome...
... I'm going riding again... not much sleep for me tonight...
...it's awesome...
... I'm going riding again... not much sleep for me tonight...
-------
'95 FZR1040 '09 FZ1-S
"And they had a machine, a dream of a machine, with wheels and gears and perfect in every respect, and they lived on it..." -Stanislaw Lem, "Cyberiad"
'95 FZR1040 '09 FZ1-S
"And they had a machine, a dream of a machine, with wheels and gears and perfect in every respect, and they lived on it..." -Stanislaw Lem, "Cyberiad"
-
sweekster
- Regular Poster
- Posts: 65
- Joined: Mon Jul 28, 2008 7:08 pm
- Location: Los Angeles & Lancaster, CA, USA
I occasionally get to ride a ZX14 every now and then (put 150 miles on it two weeks ago). Friend of my father in law's. I can't imagine the concours being any less fun. Enjoy
Duane...
1994 Yamaha FZR 1000 EXUP
Factory Pro Stage 1 Jetting | K&N Filter | Corbin Seat | ProTek Keyless Gas Cap | GSXR Mirrors
My Thread
1994 Yamaha FZR 1000 EXUP
Factory Pro Stage 1 Jetting | K&N Filter | Corbin Seat | ProTek Keyless Gas Cap | GSXR Mirrors
My Thread
-
hotcam
- Help!!! I need a LIFE!!!
- Posts: 1487
- Joined: Fri Sep 22, 2006 6:29 am
- Location: Melbourne, Australia
The worst possible conditions for a ride... tired after work,
a long commute in traffic, the freezing cold of winter (we don't get
snow but we get some ice), and pitch darkness.
But I didn't care...
I was privileged to ride the new Kawasaki touring bike, the
1400GTR (Concours in some places). I've owned two 1000GTR, the
much older design from the 1980's, which was a sportsbike converted
to carry bigger fairings, tall handlebars, comfy seat, and bags.
I liked the sportier approach than the BMW of the time, and the
more comfortable, capable, practical approach than the big sports
bikes of the time like the FJs, GSXs, etc.
I wondered how much carried over from the ZX14 into the new GTR.
In the traffic on the way home, I noticed the general shape has
carried over. The traffic was heavy, slow, and frustrating.
I played with the dashboard buttons, adjusted this and that,
and was glad the bike didn't feel like it weighed a ton.
The first thing I noticed about the bike was the body. It's low, wide,
and long. Low like a Hyabusa, or a ZX14. Definitely not the traditional
sit-up shape of an FJR or ST1300. With the electric windscreen lowered,
the wind hit the middle of my chest (I'm 5'8") like a sports bike.
Air circulated, carried away engine heat, and the bike felt low like
a sportsbike. With the windscreen raised, the coverage is quite good
and yet does not contain too much undue turbulence. A pocket of warm
air, heated by the engine, with no cold blast, circulates in front of the
rider. Great for winter, summer might be another matter?
The difference in effect between low and high positions is very
noticeable, and completely changes the airflow around the bike. It makes
much more difference than the electric windscreen on the FJR.
I stopped for a quick light meal at home, rushed so that I could get
back on the bike. I thoroughly enjoyed the ride, and was looking forward
to more. Enjoyed it so much that I posted a "gloat" email to some friends.
The body is wide, too, and it looks wider than it is because it's so low.
The lowness helps, because when I jumped on, the seat is low, the weight
is low, and the bike is completely lacking in the top-heavy feel most
touring bikes have.
After eating, I headed off into the darkness. There is a great circuit
of roads through the hills not far from my house, starting with a small
amount of heavily-policed highway droning (to test comfort), then some
straight bumpy back roads (to test suspension and engine). Soon a rider
arrives at the start of the curves; open, flowing uphill corners which
are perfect to get a gentle start to the handling tests and a good
feel for the steering. As progress takes the bike further into the
forest, the roads tighten and narrow, with dips as well as curves, to
thrill and inspire any motorcyclist.
The low feel translates to the steering, too. Unlike a touring bike,
this is quick and light and easy to flick from side-to-side, although
in a corner the bike responds best with the throttle on. With the
throttle off or gently slowing, or even using the brakes, the bike tries
to stand up and run wide. It requires a heavy lean on the inside 'bar to
hold it down into the corner. I wondered if it would benefit from some
rear ride height or a narrower rear tyre.
A small town provides an optional coffee break, before the most
difficult test any road bike can face.
The downhill back towards town is cliff-top teetering, tortuously
twisted, totally technical, crumpled and crinkled. On a scale of
one to five stars of complexity, it'd rate full five stars uphill,
and five-and-a-half downhill. Sight lines into the decreasing-radius
corners are blocked by the cliff wall, but the view down into the
valley is not blocked - in the headlights, I could almost see
just how far down I'd go if I left the narrow one-and-a-half-lane
road. A real test of the steering feel of the Kawasaki, which
seemed strange at first.
It's quickly adapted to, though, I just adopted a road-touring style
of cornering (rather than racetrack trail-braking)... braking hard in a
straight line, then gently turning on the throttle as I tipped in, and
powering out of the corners with plenty of gas. When I was using
the throttle this way, the steering is neutral and effortless, with
confidence-inspiring stability and quick response.
This is where the handling of the Kawasaki comes into its own,
there was no visibility around the corner, no opportunity for
trail braking. The bike was comfortable leaning right over in
the slow, tight corners without ever feeling like it was going
to "fall in". A bit of pressure on the inside handlebar to hold
the bike into the corner gave a good sense of the traction
of the surface, great feedback of how the front tyre was coping.
And on the exit, the acceleration under power neutralised
everything and allowed me to launch the beast on a precise line
for the next corner.
Part of that confidence comes from the suspension. It's quite firmly
controlled and strongly sprung, which provides great feedback and
support under braking. It was occasionally a little harsh on bad roads
at speed, letting me know that I was making some serious efforts
to go faster than the road conditions allowed. It augurs well for the
future of the bike, I don't imagine this will be soft and wallowy any
time soon, whereas the suspension on some bikes starts soft and
gets worse quickly.
The suspension was also supportive under brakes
downhill, without any adverse amount of fork dive, in a very
impressive fashion. It reminded me of the Telever system in that
(despite a little more dive than Telelever) the bike remained completely
composed under brakes. ABS works well, it was a little more noticeable
when it activates than the Yamaha or BMW systems, but I liked the
feedback. It helped me get to know the brakes very quickly, to the
point where I could feed on the best amount of brake pressure, and
as I passed over slippery or grippy patches of road, the ABS would
activate and deactivate where necessary. That's called "being right
on the limit". If I tried that without ABS, the bike would be skipping
and sliding, upsetting the suspension and forcing a slower
rate of progress. It's also great for surviving oily puddles in city traffic.
Speaking of sliding, there was a moment where the bike backed into
power oversteer. An off-camber corner, with a nasty ridge lifted
the bike and pulled the road away from under it. The bike however
remained smooth, controllable, and gave great feedback as the
rear tyre started to smoothly waft to one side, then smoothly gripped
up again. Full marks.
Did I just mention "power"?
Holy crap.
Unbelievable.
Friggin' Ridiculous.
I'm not talking about a stratospheric top end, with loads of revs required.
This thing has so much midrange that my vision blurred and the
handlbars yanked my arms so hard I still have sore wrists. Blindingly fast.
Yamaha's FJR is a very smooth, very quick engine with bottomless
wells of acceleration at the twist of the wrist. The Kawasaki isn't as quick at 2000rpm, but matches at 3000 and is even quicker beyond that.
Kawasaki claim around 15% more torque than Yamaha's FJR.
I believe them. It's all completely useable, right there where you
can get to it in the hill twisty roads, or on the freeway without
shifting too many gears.
There's 6 gears, but 6th is called "overdrive" and is nearly useless below
65mph, best above 80mph. I cruised on the freeways in 5th, due to
our lousy 65mph speed limits. Finally, a brilliant hyper-touring bike with
a long-legged gearbox to match. That's important, because the shaft
drive makes changing the gearing impossible (unless you can hand-make
your own gearboxes from scratch).
Fortunately I could see where I was going. The big headlights promise a
lot, and they deliver, too. Once I adjusted them with the dashboard knobs,
the low beam had very good range, and the high even better. The only
downside is the sharp cut-off to low beam, which means that under
heavy brakes, corners, or valleys, the road ahead goes dark.
That's the same as all modern headlights, and it can be a little difficult
because on this bike, I didn't want to stop when the sun went down.
I kept going, comfortable, the windblast kept off me, with miles of
highway and backroads disappearing behind me. You will want to also,
because this doesn't feel like a touring bike.
There are some other good features on this bike. Full dashboard, with
tyre pressures, fuel consumption etc. The speedo was located a bit too
low for easy reading, and the fuel gauge/range remaining was not as
precise as it should be, but I didn't care. That's minor. The KIPASS
remote transponder was handy, no more fumbling to get keys
out of pockets while wearing gloves. The mirrors are clear and
have good view, although they are very wide and at the same height
as car mirrors, which makes lane-splitting difficult.
These good features are nice bonuses to have, but they
wouldn't make it worth choosing a lesser bike over a better one.
That's OK, this is a worthy replacement for the old 1000GTR Concours,
a bike which showed BMW and the world that practical shaft-drive
tourers with bags could also handle and have power; a bike which
showed Yamaha's FJ that big sporty bikes could have windshields
and comfort and luggage. This steps up to a new level, in the same vein.
The latest FJR feels like a sporty, responsive, well-balanced touring
bike that can cut some great corners if you want to. It's refined,
smooth, and leaves me with a quiet admiration for a great touring bike.
If I needed to buy a touring bike, it'd be a good classy and
sensible choice, that would cover miles comfortably and take
corners capably.
...BUT...
The GTR has a different soul. One with teeth.
It rides like a sportsbike, built for corners, and the
only reason for the comfort is so you can do more sports riding miles
than otherwise possible. It powers along like there's a supercharger
in there somewhere. It's FUN. Kawasaki have just added
comfort and features to it, without losing the responsiveness of a
sports bike. It's not quite as smooth, it has a more raw and edgy feel.
The GTR leaves me foaming at the mouth, lathering with sweat, and
ready to get back on board for another few hundred miles of adrenaline.
I _have_ to have one of these, whether I need it, can afford it, or not.
What can I sell... does anyone need a kidney? Does Ebay take kidneys?
a long commute in traffic, the freezing cold of winter (we don't get
snow but we get some ice), and pitch darkness.
But I didn't care...
I was privileged to ride the new Kawasaki touring bike, the
1400GTR (Concours in some places). I've owned two 1000GTR, the
much older design from the 1980's, which was a sportsbike converted
to carry bigger fairings, tall handlebars, comfy seat, and bags.
I liked the sportier approach than the BMW of the time, and the
more comfortable, capable, practical approach than the big sports
bikes of the time like the FJs, GSXs, etc.
I wondered how much carried over from the ZX14 into the new GTR.
In the traffic on the way home, I noticed the general shape has
carried over. The traffic was heavy, slow, and frustrating.
I played with the dashboard buttons, adjusted this and that,
and was glad the bike didn't feel like it weighed a ton.
The first thing I noticed about the bike was the body. It's low, wide,
and long. Low like a Hyabusa, or a ZX14. Definitely not the traditional
sit-up shape of an FJR or ST1300. With the electric windscreen lowered,
the wind hit the middle of my chest (I'm 5'8") like a sports bike.
Air circulated, carried away engine heat, and the bike felt low like
a sportsbike. With the windscreen raised, the coverage is quite good
and yet does not contain too much undue turbulence. A pocket of warm
air, heated by the engine, with no cold blast, circulates in front of the
rider. Great for winter, summer might be another matter?
The difference in effect between low and high positions is very
noticeable, and completely changes the airflow around the bike. It makes
much more difference than the electric windscreen on the FJR.
I stopped for a quick light meal at home, rushed so that I could get
back on the bike. I thoroughly enjoyed the ride, and was looking forward
to more. Enjoyed it so much that I posted a "gloat" email to some friends.
The body is wide, too, and it looks wider than it is because it's so low.
The lowness helps, because when I jumped on, the seat is low, the weight
is low, and the bike is completely lacking in the top-heavy feel most
touring bikes have.
After eating, I headed off into the darkness. There is a great circuit
of roads through the hills not far from my house, starting with a small
amount of heavily-policed highway droning (to test comfort), then some
straight bumpy back roads (to test suspension and engine). Soon a rider
arrives at the start of the curves; open, flowing uphill corners which
are perfect to get a gentle start to the handling tests and a good
feel for the steering. As progress takes the bike further into the
forest, the roads tighten and narrow, with dips as well as curves, to
thrill and inspire any motorcyclist.
The low feel translates to the steering, too. Unlike a touring bike,
this is quick and light and easy to flick from side-to-side, although
in a corner the bike responds best with the throttle on. With the
throttle off or gently slowing, or even using the brakes, the bike tries
to stand up and run wide. It requires a heavy lean on the inside 'bar to
hold it down into the corner. I wondered if it would benefit from some
rear ride height or a narrower rear tyre.
A small town provides an optional coffee break, before the most
difficult test any road bike can face.
The downhill back towards town is cliff-top teetering, tortuously
twisted, totally technical, crumpled and crinkled. On a scale of
one to five stars of complexity, it'd rate full five stars uphill,
and five-and-a-half downhill. Sight lines into the decreasing-radius
corners are blocked by the cliff wall, but the view down into the
valley is not blocked - in the headlights, I could almost see
just how far down I'd go if I left the narrow one-and-a-half-lane
road. A real test of the steering feel of the Kawasaki, which
seemed strange at first.
It's quickly adapted to, though, I just adopted a road-touring style
of cornering (rather than racetrack trail-braking)... braking hard in a
straight line, then gently turning on the throttle as I tipped in, and
powering out of the corners with plenty of gas. When I was using
the throttle this way, the steering is neutral and effortless, with
confidence-inspiring stability and quick response.
This is where the handling of the Kawasaki comes into its own,
there was no visibility around the corner, no opportunity for
trail braking. The bike was comfortable leaning right over in
the slow, tight corners without ever feeling like it was going
to "fall in". A bit of pressure on the inside handlebar to hold
the bike into the corner gave a good sense of the traction
of the surface, great feedback of how the front tyre was coping.
And on the exit, the acceleration under power neutralised
everything and allowed me to launch the beast on a precise line
for the next corner.
Part of that confidence comes from the suspension. It's quite firmly
controlled and strongly sprung, which provides great feedback and
support under braking. It was occasionally a little harsh on bad roads
at speed, letting me know that I was making some serious efforts
to go faster than the road conditions allowed. It augurs well for the
future of the bike, I don't imagine this will be soft and wallowy any
time soon, whereas the suspension on some bikes starts soft and
gets worse quickly.
The suspension was also supportive under brakes
downhill, without any adverse amount of fork dive, in a very
impressive fashion. It reminded me of the Telever system in that
(despite a little more dive than Telelever) the bike remained completely
composed under brakes. ABS works well, it was a little more noticeable
when it activates than the Yamaha or BMW systems, but I liked the
feedback. It helped me get to know the brakes very quickly, to the
point where I could feed on the best amount of brake pressure, and
as I passed over slippery or grippy patches of road, the ABS would
activate and deactivate where necessary. That's called "being right
on the limit". If I tried that without ABS, the bike would be skipping
and sliding, upsetting the suspension and forcing a slower
rate of progress. It's also great for surviving oily puddles in city traffic.
Speaking of sliding, there was a moment where the bike backed into
power oversteer. An off-camber corner, with a nasty ridge lifted
the bike and pulled the road away from under it. The bike however
remained smooth, controllable, and gave great feedback as the
rear tyre started to smoothly waft to one side, then smoothly gripped
up again. Full marks.
Did I just mention "power"?
Holy crap.
Unbelievable.
Friggin' Ridiculous.
I'm not talking about a stratospheric top end, with loads of revs required.
This thing has so much midrange that my vision blurred and the
handlbars yanked my arms so hard I still have sore wrists. Blindingly fast.
Yamaha's FJR is a very smooth, very quick engine with bottomless
wells of acceleration at the twist of the wrist. The Kawasaki isn't as quick at 2000rpm, but matches at 3000 and is even quicker beyond that.
Kawasaki claim around 15% more torque than Yamaha's FJR.
I believe them. It's all completely useable, right there where you
can get to it in the hill twisty roads, or on the freeway without
shifting too many gears.
There's 6 gears, but 6th is called "overdrive" and is nearly useless below
65mph, best above 80mph. I cruised on the freeways in 5th, due to
our lousy 65mph speed limits. Finally, a brilliant hyper-touring bike with
a long-legged gearbox to match. That's important, because the shaft
drive makes changing the gearing impossible (unless you can hand-make
your own gearboxes from scratch).
Fortunately I could see where I was going. The big headlights promise a
lot, and they deliver, too. Once I adjusted them with the dashboard knobs,
the low beam had very good range, and the high even better. The only
downside is the sharp cut-off to low beam, which means that under
heavy brakes, corners, or valleys, the road ahead goes dark.
That's the same as all modern headlights, and it can be a little difficult
because on this bike, I didn't want to stop when the sun went down.
I kept going, comfortable, the windblast kept off me, with miles of
highway and backroads disappearing behind me. You will want to also,
because this doesn't feel like a touring bike.
There are some other good features on this bike. Full dashboard, with
tyre pressures, fuel consumption etc. The speedo was located a bit too
low for easy reading, and the fuel gauge/range remaining was not as
precise as it should be, but I didn't care. That's minor. The KIPASS
remote transponder was handy, no more fumbling to get keys
out of pockets while wearing gloves. The mirrors are clear and
have good view, although they are very wide and at the same height
as car mirrors, which makes lane-splitting difficult.
These good features are nice bonuses to have, but they
wouldn't make it worth choosing a lesser bike over a better one.
That's OK, this is a worthy replacement for the old 1000GTR Concours,
a bike which showed BMW and the world that practical shaft-drive
tourers with bags could also handle and have power; a bike which
showed Yamaha's FJ that big sporty bikes could have windshields
and comfort and luggage. This steps up to a new level, in the same vein.
The latest FJR feels like a sporty, responsive, well-balanced touring
bike that can cut some great corners if you want to. It's refined,
smooth, and leaves me with a quiet admiration for a great touring bike.
If I needed to buy a touring bike, it'd be a good classy and
sensible choice, that would cover miles comfortably and take
corners capably.
...BUT...
The GTR has a different soul. One with teeth.
It rides like a sportsbike, built for corners, and the
only reason for the comfort is so you can do more sports riding miles
than otherwise possible. It powers along like there's a supercharger
in there somewhere. It's FUN. Kawasaki have just added
comfort and features to it, without losing the responsiveness of a
sports bike. It's not quite as smooth, it has a more raw and edgy feel.
The GTR leaves me foaming at the mouth, lathering with sweat, and
ready to get back on board for another few hundred miles of adrenaline.
I _have_ to have one of these, whether I need it, can afford it, or not.
What can I sell... does anyone need a kidney? Does Ebay take kidneys?
-------
'95 FZR1040 '09 FZ1-S
"And they had a machine, a dream of a machine, with wheels and gears and perfect in every respect, and they lived on it..." -Stanislaw Lem, "Cyberiad"
'95 FZR1040 '09 FZ1-S
"And they had a machine, a dream of a machine, with wheels and gears and perfect in every respect, and they lived on it..." -Stanislaw Lem, "Cyberiad"
-
hotcam
- Help!!! I need a LIFE!!!
- Posts: 1487
- Joined: Fri Sep 22, 2006 6:29 am
- Location: Melbourne, Australia
Drunk people version:
hotcam wrote:"power"?
Holy crap.
Unbelievable.
Friggin' Ridiculous...
The GTR leaves me foaming at the mouth, lathering with sweat...
I _have_ to have one of these, whether I need it, can afford it, or not.
What can I sell... does anyone need a kidney? Does Ebay take kidneys?
-------
'95 FZR1040 '09 FZ1-S
"And they had a machine, a dream of a machine, with wheels and gears and perfect in every respect, and they lived on it..." -Stanislaw Lem, "Cyberiad"
'95 FZR1040 '09 FZ1-S
"And they had a machine, a dream of a machine, with wheels and gears and perfect in every respect, and they lived on it..." -Stanislaw Lem, "Cyberiad"
-
FZRDude
- Co-Admin
- Posts: 4807
- Joined: Tue Jan 13, 2004 3:20 am
- Location: North-Left Coast, USA
- Contact:
hotcam wrote:Drunk people version:
hotcam wrote:"power"?
Holy crap.
Unbelievable.
Friggin' Ridiculous...
The GTR leaves me foaming at the mouth, lathering with sweat...
I _have_ to have one of these, whether I need it, can afford it, or not.
What can I sell... does anyone need a kidney? Does Ebay take kidneys?
:ha
There are some who call me........Tim?
In Memory Of John "Silver" Douglas (Dec. 08, 2008) R.I.P. My Friend.
In Memory Of John "Silver" Douglas (Dec. 08, 2008) R.I.P. My Friend.
-
sickle44
- Help!!! I need a LIFE!!!
- Posts: 3519
- Joined: Thu Jan 26, 2006 6:35 pm
- Location: Edmonton, Alberta
MMmmmmmm,
Pickled Kidney??? How much?
Cam,
Love the Concours, the Canadian name of course, always the goofy one.
Might have missed the Yamaha demo rides and missed my chance at riding the new crossplane motor. Sucks to be me.
Pickled Kidney??? How much?
Cam,
Love the Concours, the Canadian name of course, always the goofy one.
Might have missed the Yamaha demo rides and missed my chance at riding the new crossplane motor. Sucks to be me.
Michael
Yes Yes I know, I said, I'm building a project YZF1070
Basement is done now, 850 finished and gone...
Gotta get the new siding up on the house.
Fixing the FZ1 up, cleaning up garage and then I might even begin
Yes Yes I know, I said, I'm building a project YZF1070
Basement is done now, 850 finished and gone...
Gotta get the new siding up on the house.
Fixing the FZ1 up, cleaning up garage and then I might even begin
