Kawasaki Ticket to Ride

[Tunertype]

Anyone going to the demo in mansfield ma this weekend? I'm coming in from Western MA to check out some of their new bikes. My number 1 picks would be he Ninja 1000, ZX14 and the Concours 14. I hope to have a chance to ride every bike they have though, even the Ninja 250 and Vulcan 900.

[maxim_X]

I'd like to check it out too. But, in regards to your choices, I can assure you that riding a zx14 in a parking lot, or even on anything less than a race track or salt flat wont do it justice.

[Tunertype]

I'd like to check it out too. But, in regards to your choices, I can assure you that riding a zx14 in a parking lot, or even on anything less than a race track or salt flat wont do it justice.

For the demos they should be taking us on a guided tour around the area. Dunno if they will go on the highway or not though and it's supposed to stay within the rules of the law and the group.

So the ZX14 is no good on the street? They look awesome at least. The Ninja 1000 is the one I'm most excited about and one I'd actually buy if I liked it enough. A powerful sport bike built for the street not the track! I wouldn't lump it with supersports or standards. The kawasaki Standard sports 250R, 650R, and 1000. No other brand really has those. The closest competitors would be a Bandit 1200 or FZ1, but those bikes are heavier and have less power and are only bikini faired.

I'm gonna be going saturday now that the weather forcast has cleared up.

[Not Sure]

So the ZX14 is no good on the street?

The ZX14 is very good on the street. Smooth & docile in low RPMs and in low gears, very easy to ride around town. Despite the power it has, it doesn't jolt you around in first gear under light throttle like a number of euro bikes I've owned. Right out of the box, the bike works. I think what he meant in terms of not doing the bike justice is that until you punch it & get it over 7K RPM under higher speeds you can't appreciate the power plant it is built around.

[bostongixxer]

Where is this being hosted?

[Lxpony]

I heard the ad on the radio and it didnt sound like you would be able to leave the Sports Authority parking lot therefore it sounded very fucking gay....

[Lxpony]

Where is this being hosted?

Sports authority parking lot in mansfield MA

[Tunertype]

I heard the ad on the radio and it didnt sound like you would be able to leave the Sports Authority parking lot therefore it sounded very fucking gay....

I'm sure we'll be able to leave the parking lot. But I'll let you guys know how it goes on saturday and there's still sunday if you anyone decides to go.

[Mike Qube]

I'm going tomorrow. If this is riding around in a parking lot, I'll be leaving as soon as I get there.

[j4eric]

i prolly drop by just to check it out...maybe test the ZX6R...i hope they dont have a sale because i just might.....

[Lxpony]

i prolly drop by just to check it out...maybe test the ZX6R...i hope they dont have a sale because i just might.....

Eric- we are riding both Sat and Sunday out west. Sunday's ride will be a good one. Let me know if you are interested...

[maxim_X]

I didn't mean that riding the zx14 was going to be a bad ride. As far as my experience it's a very comfortable sport bike. But, the motor and acceleration is so smooth that it almost feels slow. Unless you get out of the parking lot you can't really appreciate the center point of the bike, the motor. It's almost like the opposite of a supermoto, When you throw your leg over a supermoto it feels fast and edgy even though on the grand scheme of sport bikes it's relatively slow and underpowered. The ZX14 feels underwhelming but when you really let it out it's stupid powerful.

I might head up there tomorrow. I really wanna see/ ride the new ninja 1000 and the ninja 650. I really hope the whole ride is not in a parking lot.

[Tunertype]

Didn't make it to the ride today.. was up to 3am at the drive in last night then my alarm didn't go off cause my phone died then I was trying to print out mu coupon for a free T shirt and printer ran out of ink. So I'll be headed to the sunday demo.

[venk25]

I went there today (after sleeping at 2 AM last night and waking up 6 AM) - slabbed all the way to Mansfield, MA from Nashua NH.

I rode Ninja 1000, Vulcan 900 Custom, Z1000 and Connie.

Ninja 1000 and Z1000 were real badass - great power, upright seating - I'd have liked a better knee angle, but can't complain. I felt Z1000 had more power than Ninja 1000, though, AFAIK, they use same motor (are they tuned different?). I first rode the Ninja 1000 and came back with a big grin . When I rode the Z1000 after, it was doubled . On both, I checked several times if I was really in 6th gear (both on highway and back roads) because of the immediate and enormous power! Take this with a grain of salt because I ride a 600 and have rode 929RR for sometime (that was a long time ago) .

I however do prefer a windshield when on highways. The headwind on the way back did make me grab on tight on the Z1000

I rode the Vulcan just for the heck of it and since it was available.

Concours was good too - nice, smooth and comfy. But after riding the 1000s, it felt slow !

The ride was approx 30 mins, including back roads and highway (495). Its a group ride with Kawasaki folks leading and running sweep.

I was there at 8 AM and there were about 8-10 ahead of me. I *guess* there should've been approx 30-40 (I'm bad at guesstimating headcounts :-P). They first let you ride on your first choice of bike and once you are done, you can get back in the Q to sign-up for other bikes. When I got back in Q, I booked 3 of my other bikes.

[Mike Qube]

I went yesterday, got there at about 9:30 and it was 2 hours before I could ride anything, I rode the Ninja 1000, it was ok. I didn't like the bars on it, to me it just felt weird. When we got back at noon I tried to sign up for another ride but the next one was at 3 so I went riding instead.

[Tunertype]

Went to the ticket today.. I rode,
Ninja 650R
Ninja 1000
Z1000
Concours 14
ZX6R
Voyager
Vulcan 900 custom

The ride was very nice, 16 miles(reset tripometer when started) and took about 30 minutes, maybe alittle less for the supersport guys. They had the bikes seperated into 3 categorys that went out at stagered intervals. The Cruisers, The sport touring bikes and the supersports.

The supersport group was very spirited, we did some weaving through the highway, hit triple digit speeds and did about 20+ on the limit on the back roads.

The sport touring kept it to 80-90 on the highway and about 10+ on the back roads.

The cruisers kept it to just 5+ on the limits.

Out of the bikes I drove I liked the Z1000 best fallowed closely by the 650R. I also liked the Concours which surprised me because it's a big hulking 700lb sport touring machine.

I dunno if I like the Z1000 better than the Ninja 1000 because when I rode the Ninja I was in the touring group and the Z was in the supersport group so we had a better ride. But I liked it significantly better. The Z is also about 20lbs lighter, but I dunno if that makes a huge difference. The Ninja 1000 felt alittle heavy(it is at 500lbs) and the throttle was a bit touchy. Another reason to get the Z is the speed is not limited. On the Z it's open enough that the wind resistance and the current HP limit top speed to what is needed. The faired Ninja 1000 has a limiter to keep it down, because of it's slippery body work.

The 650R was very light and easy to handle, dropped into corners with just a thought and it had enough power to keep up with the liter bikes. The throttle also seemed to have less return pressure so it was very easy to work it without getting aching wrists. Extremely comfortable and easy. Probably all the bike you could possibly need at legal speeds on the street.

I also liked the Concours alot for a comfy sport touring machine with gadgets like an electronic adjustable windscreen and heated grips, it was fast and handled decently.(looked it up 0-60 is about 2.5 seconds thanks to the zx14 engine). They've also done upgrades to make the handling of the Concours better.

Also didn't like the ZX6R at all. Put me off of trying the ZX10. Very uncomfortable riding position and for street riding the steering dampener hurts you in tight slow manuevers. Also ended up resting my chest on the tank to relieve wrist pressure and get my arms in a good alignment to actually steer the bike, but then my neck hurt from looking so far up. I'm sure it's awesome for 30 minutes on the track, but I can't see why someone would want to commute on one.

They only had 1 ZX14, but they had like 4 Ninja 1000's 3 Concours' and 2 or 3 Z1000's. So I didn't get a chance to ride that because it got all booked up. I sat on it though and it seemed alot more comfortable than the ZX10R and the ZX6R, I would have liked to have tried it.

[Lxpony]

Went to the ticket today.. I rode,
Ninja 650R
Ninja 1000
Z1000
Concours 14
ZX6R
Voyager
Vulcan 900 custom
Also didn't like the ZX6R at all. Put me off of trying the ZX10. Very uncomfortable riding position and for street riding the steering dampener hurts you in tight slow manuevers. Also ended up resting my chest on the tank to relieve wrist pressure and get my arms in a good alignment to actually steer the bike, but then my neck hurt from looking so far up. I'm sure it's awesome for 30 minutes on the track, but I can't see why someone would want to commute on one.

psssttt--your are riding that bike incorrectly......

Sounds like you need to learn to hold yourself up with your stomach and back muscles plus grip the tank with your legs. I assume this was the first time you ever rode a "sportbike"?

You were holding yourself up completely by your arms and putting all your weight on your wrists- a recipe for disaster if you hit a bad pot hole or road imperfection......

I did 425 miles between my zx10r and zx6r this weekend and have zero pain. To each his own.....

[Danz19899]

ya you were doing something wrong with the Zx6r lol mines amazing. definitely need to use your legs and midsection to hold yourself up tho. The steering damper was probably set way to high. Its adjustable and if its set full tight ya it will be tough to use thats what its supposed to do. I have mine set at 50% and love it

Just did 300 miles on mine today and aren't sore at all


wish i got off my ass and did this i really wanted to ride the zx10 and ninja1000