Kawasaki has been busy!!!

[Karaya One]

New Concours -

http://www.motorcycle-usa.com/Articl...ID=3746&Page=1

New ZX-6R -

http://www.motorcycle-usa.com/Articl...ID=3739&Page=1

New KLR650 -

http://www.motorcycle-usa.com/Articl...ID=3748&Page=1

[FastJohnny]

Wow they did away with the 636 and went to a 599.

[Punjistick]

I'd like to see the reviews for the ZX-6R after all the bike mags start riding them and comparing them to the other bikes. It should be interesting to see if the geometry really helps to achieve the corner speed to blow the others out of the water.

[akira700]

Man, the 600 cc War is really heating up and we all benefit... If the press releases are valid then it sounds like a nice Louden track bike.

I'd be nice to see the same competition in a 750 sport bike / Sport Tourer class.

Like a more comfortable GSX-R 750 or a more sporty VFR Inteceptor. This is where I would like to head on my next bike.

[benVFR]

hehe.. the Concours has to be the biggest change in a new model update in a LONG time. (Awesome update!) This is the type of bike the VFR cult has been begging Honda to build, nice to see Kawasaki actually listens to riders!

ZX-6R - who knows, we'll have to see... like the other 600s it's sure to be so good it doesn't matter to most of us

KLR - Awesome to see this, but we'll have to see.. sounds like they missed the mark. This is a class I'd like to see receive more attention. (Probably the type of bike most likely to get me to dump my VFR as opposed to keeping another 5-6 years) I wanted to see the KLR (Or XR650L) updated with EFI *without* losing the suspension travel.

[highsider]

"Let the competition compromise performance for rider-friendliness; the new ZX-6R was designed to take home trophies and set the quickest lap times, while being more exciting to ride than anything else in the middleweight sportbike category."

[Honclfibr]

What in god's name is attaching the wheel to the motor in this picture?

[richw]

Looks like a great job

the 4 link must keep the shaft pointed at the pivot point
less trouble from the cv joints

[benVFR]

Honclfibr I think the swingarm is just obscured by the shaft in that picture.

Given the enormous size of the shaft (Heh heh he said shaft) it may be they were able to greatly reduce the size of the swingarm on the shaft side.

This pic shows the other side is pretty substantial:

[Honclfibr]

Shaft drive, right. Forgot about that part

[stoinkythepig]

Take the naked Concours, slap a tractor seatand some lights on it and voila! the next Confederate Hellcat...

'Bout time they updated the poor old Conc. Good to see the kept some 80s styling cues like Testarossa vents too

The die hard Concours folks will surely like the shaft drive. I bet they'll hate the valve adjustment procedure though. Looks like it'll be a real bitch.

[Karaya One]

Two issues that have come up are the 6000 mile valve intervals and the potential 14K price.

[benVFR]

I didn't notice it in this article but I saw another one saying this new Concours has variable valve timing - like some cars.

That's gotta make the adjustment harder.. usually these systems use a stepper motor of some sort to adjust the valve timing, you probably have to set the stepper motor to one or more set positions to check the valves as opposed to just rotating the crankshaft.

[NinjaSwan]

One Sexy Bitch!!!

[stoinkythepig]

Originally posted by Karaya One
Two issues that have come up are the 6000 mile valve intervals and the potential 14K price.

Is it really 6000 miles? That's pretty dumb for an ST bike. Can't see many Iron Butt folks stopping half-way through a rally to adjust valves. Hope it's just a bad rumor. They really ought to aim for 25,000 miles or have a hydraulic system.

[NinjaSwan]

I really liked the gold forks, but Maroon doesnt look bad at all!

[benVFR]

6000 miles does seem low but I think the valve adjust issue is sometimes blown out of proportion IMO.

There are different niches within touring or sport-touring and I don't think a bike needs 20k intervals to be acceptable.

Lots of riders want a bike that's more comfy and accomodating for a weekend 500-1000 mile trip then a pure supersport, but have absolutely NO need to to be able to do 10,000+ miles in a week with no maintenance. 6000 miles between adjustments may be on the short side but it would still be enough to let you ride coast to coast to coast across the continental US AFAIK.

This bike will likely not have exceptional fuel economy nor tank range so it probably won't have huge appeal to Iron Butt riders. Iron Butt riders are also a tiny niche so Kawasaki would be dumb to cater directly to them. People who don't care about ridiculous performance will skip right over to some of the other bikes in the class that offer less power in exchange for something else.

[Kham]

Originally posted by benVFR
6000 miles does seem low but I think the valve adjust issue is sometimes blown out of proportion IMO.

There are different niches within touring or sport-touring and I don't think a bike needs 20k intervals to be acceptable.

the more the better?

[KB]

I like the concours............I like the zx6.............KLR is awful...................but they are all still kawasaki!!!

KB

[benVFR]

Originally posted by Kham
the more the better?

All I'm saying is people are almost definitely willing to put up with more frequent valve adjustments to get 170+ hp to the wheel.

People who think infrequent valve adjustments are more important then earth shattering power will just buy something else.

[Honclfibr]

Originally posted by benVFR
People who think infrequent valve adjustments are more important then earth shattering power

...Are supposed to be the target market for the Concours?

[benVFR]

Seeing as I was less then 10 when the Concours originally came out I'm not real sure.. but.

My understanding is the original concours was at one point a Ninja that just got the touring treatment.. just like the new one. At one point the old bike was quite quick.. they just ignored it.

[Honclfibr]

Huh, never thought about it like that, I suppose that makes it very similar to this model where they dropped the 14 motor in a touring chassis.

[ZX-12R]

Just some food for thought, the motor in the ZX-12R calls for 6000 mile valve checks. As of 21K miles, mine are still in the middle of the tolerance range.

[stoinkythepig]

Originally posted by ZX-12R
Just some food for thought, the motor in the ZX-12R calls for 6000 mile valve checks. As of 21K miles, mine are still in the middle of the tolerance range.

That's good to hear. My 2001 9R needed all 16 adjusted at the first 7500 mile interval. Did not need any adjustments again until I hit more than 30k though.