Do you agree? Bike manufacturers...

[legalspeed]

Kawasaki- Good durability, pretty darn fast, suffered engineering problems when company went to fuel injection in the late 90's, great ergonomics.

Yamaha- poor durability, hard to work on (no room for human hands), very fast; fastest in the late 90's.

Honda- indestructable, great initial build quality, good ergonomics, not as fast.

Suzuki- bad initial build quality~fragile, fastest of jap bikes in 2000(+), starteling handling in curves, worst ergonomics.

_Just opinions please..

[Honclfibr]

Originally posted by legalspeed
suffered engineering problems when company went to fuel injection in the late 90's

What was this? Is this why the 6R/9R/7R remained carbureted for so long? Because they couldn't get the fuel injection down?

[Karaya One]

Kawasaki has been fuel injecting since the early '80's with success. And turboing at the same time.

Carbs are easy, simple and a known quantity compared to designing an effective EFI.

And EFI doesn't always mean more power, but in the electronic age it does make tuning and EPA issues simpler now. Just plug it in and tune.

[stoinkythepig]

My 2001 9R has carbs as do the 2002 and 2003 models. The 12R has always been injected but I know of no problems with it.

Agree otherwise, based on experience and heresay...

[jsven007]

Kawasaki- Good durability, pretty darn fast, suffered engineering problems when company went to fuel injection in the late 90's, great ergonomics.

Yamaha- poor durability, hard to work on (no room for human hands), very fast; fastest in the late 90's.

Honda- indestructable, great initial build quality, good ergonomics, not as fast.

Suzuki- bad initial build quality~fragile, fastest of jap bikes in 2000(+), starteling handling in curves, worst ergonomics.

_Just opinions please..

I'd sum it up:

Kawasaki- Great durability, Great ergonomics. Some are outdated/overweight/slow and others are cutting-edge/lightweight/fast. Inexpensive motorcycles and a great value.

Verdict: Slightly behind the times, but a great value...

Yamaha- Good durability, Decent ergonomics. The R1 revolutionized liter bikes. Current line of bikes are all lightweight/fast, cutting edge machines. R1, R6, FZ1, who hasn't heard great things about them?

Verdict: Award Winners, just read Cycleworld and Motorcyclist!

Honda- Possibly Best durability, Good ergonomics. Bikes are usually cutting-edge/lightweight, but slow compared to competition. And like a BMW, usually more expensive than the competition. Some models, like the 919 and Superhawk are bland, vanilla.

Verdict: Hondog, slow and steady will win the race!

Suzuki- Good durability, Poor build quality, Horrible ergonomics. Bikes usually the fastest, lightest, most track-orientated of the bunch. In terms of performance, they normally offer the best bang-for-the-buck. Just don't try to ride to California on one...

Verdict: Rice-rocket, race-bike replica at it's finest!

[legalspeed]

Originally posted by stoinkythepig

Agree otherwise, based on experience and heresay...

Exactly. This is not to stir up manuf. loyalty, more to see if my heresay opinion is like others.

I own a Suzuki GSX1000-R, Katana 750, and a Honda F4.

Someone (quite recently) asked which brand I ride, being a racer I told them, "...dosen't matter. I'll ride anything they let me on the track with."

This led me to think which brand I liked the most, conclusion: they all offer something.

[benVFR]

I think you have to add:

Honda - Will make it complicated just to prove they can. (e.x. trying to race 4-strokes against 2-strokes for so long, oval pistons, etc.. )

(But at the same time I think they show a certain attention to detail that is nice)

Ben

[Karaya One]

I think that Honda is willing to take risks, and is not afraid of putting its technological head down to solve a problem - like getting oval piston rings to seal on the NR500.

The later RVF750 Endurance racers were very successful and proved that oval pistons could work and be reliable.

It also doesn't hurt to have the $$$ to back up such expenditures. There is no way Kawasaki or Suzuki could afford to do such things on a consistant basis. Honda looks at such technolgy as advertsing, but also a means to advance its product line. Much of that tech does trickle down.

And Honda does have the best fit / finish in the business.

And I think the Rune is just incredible - this machine just plain rocks!

[RandyO]

I think Suzuki has best value, worse ergonomics?? why, a gixxer is a race replica and it's suppose to have race ergonomics, they also manufacture the SV & Bandit & Katana.. reliable, strong motors

Kawasaki has good value, good ergonomics.. well that depends on which model, maybe the race replica has to be more aggressive to have good "race" ergonomics

Honda? value? I don't think they are any more reliable than a suzuki or kawasaki, why pay more for one?

Yamaha, I think they are becoming behind the times

[gixx6man]

The R1 revolutionized liter bikes.

I think the Honda 900rr revolutionized liter bikes. Any one agree or disagree?? Before this all liter bikes were heavy. The 900rr gave the engine power with the weight of a 600. No doubt that the R1 was a radical change for the late 90's.

[Degsy]

I would agree Dan, except that I think you give Kawasaki a bad rap. I would compare Kwak to suzuki. Bad ass fast bikes that handle well (suzuki better than Kwak admittedly) but I don't think the Kwaks suffer from FI problems. Actually, Kawasaki pioneer many of the innovative things in sportbikes (ram air, fuel injection, brake advancements etc etc).

I would rate Kwak motors as even more reliable than Honda actually.

In terms of reliablilty
Kawasaki
Honda
Suzuki
Yamaha


One note to add, Yamaha build quality matches that of Honda. Since 2000 Yamaha have really pushed out some awesome quality bikes and I am VERY impressed with the fit and finish of them. Hard to work on, yes, but very nice quality of product.

degs

[jsven007]

I would rate Kwak motors as even more reliable than Honda actually. In terms of reliablilty:

Kawasaki
Honda

Lately that seems to be true.

I think the New Goldwings are still overheating and the New VFR Interceptor had a recharging problem that caused dead batteries. Not to mention the CBR954 steering head bearings and...

Suzuki has the oil-burning bandits.

I haven't heard anything bad about Yamaha or Kawasaki in a long while.

[RandyO]

Originally posted by jsven007
Suzuki has the oil-burning bandits.
anything bad about Yamaha or Kawasaki in a long while.

my SV burns a bit of oil too, but I kinda expect it with 86k nothing serious, ½-1 qt between oil changes every 3,750

[SWEET_Z]

They are all the same for the most part. Just depends on who has the latest model out.

Kwak: Good, reliable motors but fuel tap is annoying on carb bikes when everyone else has FI. Lost touch with the market until 03 6R and 04 10R.

Susuki: Racer reps. For wannabees and the real thing. Worst ergos.

Yamis: Best poser bikes (see: flamed R1). Nice overal package.

Honda: Superior build quality and attention to detail.

Triumph: Making some quality bikes but ussually doesn't get the recognition. Catching up.

Ducati: Overpriced and unreliable. I still want one though.

Aprillia: Quirky designs but excellent bikes. 04 may be a big year.