beansbaxter
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posted December 08, 2005 04:39 PM
The ZX-14 at the Seattle Moto Show
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jimmihaffa
Novice Class
Posts: 47
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posted December 08, 2005 04:57 PM
Beans away
Great pics Beans. I attended the manufacturers show here in Toronto. They didn't actually have a floor model 14 to sit on, just a rotating display. Any comments on how the bike felt, particularly the weight?
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beansbaxter
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posted December 08, 2005 05:04 PM
Hard to determine the weight without truely riding one. I liked it overall. I measured from wheel to wheel out there and it was 2mm longer than the ZX-12R so the elongated feel I think will help for the sport touring aspect of the motorcycle.
The 14 also has a hydrolic clutch, with a shift light preset from the factory that tells you when to drop the clutch in first gear. I was told that theoretically you could drop the clutch in first gear exactly when the light comes on, and you are guaranteed to be getting maximum hp at the rear wheel and your front tire will not come off the ground anymore than six inches. Of course, in drag racing - six inches is ideal for the front tire, so it sounds like this moto is really built for draggin' right from the get go.
You cannot reverse shift the shifter - that sucks!
When the moto turns on, the Kawi logo is on the LCD display, followed by the info. You can cycle through the options, but the info shows you on the LCD display things like your average MPG you are getting, voltage readings from the battery, and enough tripometers to keep you happy no matter what.
I think Turboblew said he didnt like the helmet locks on the side. Those are not for helmets, but rather Kawi is coming out for built-in hard and soft bags in the accessory lineup. They are designed to bolt right in. A number of accessories will be able to use those, in order to secure and lock it to the 14.
The Kawi rep said they wanted you to be able to put a pair of hard bags and still be able to comfortably lane-split in Cali.
Kawi made some better design changes to the battery as well.
Great bike. The two things I dont like about it are the decals and the ram air covers. The inner cowling ram-air covers are more secure on the 12, on the 14 at the spot they meet with the side of the guages, they are loose with no secure point. The decals are weak. The Ninja one is super small, it looks like something that came out of a child's sticker book. The Kawasaki looks dumb on the upper cowling.
Just my thoughts on it though...I still want one (as a second moto to my 06 10R)!
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Road Rage
Expert Class
Posts: 129
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posted December 08, 2005 05:25 PM
Well what can I say except; Man that thing is RAW!! The Black ZX-14 on the stand where you show a picture of the non cut-away side and it's got the rear cowling attached is the heat. Makes me glad I ordered a black one over the other colors. The blue one I noticed in one of the pictures that the colors don't match all that great. I wonder what that's all about since both panels are made of plastic, so what gives? I like the bike with the rear cowling attached vs. without considering it's not the hunch-back Busa look. I think it just looks better that way, especially in BLACK! Also with the cowling installed, it looks more similar to the ZX-12R (race looking) than touring which means you can have a race look for the track / around town; then remove the cowling and have a touring look for the highways. In one of the red pictures, you can clearly see it's not as wide ( fat ) as some thought it would be.
Thanks for taking such great pictures and NOT placing your watermark directly over them.
Black is the way to go.....Black!
Phil
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beansbaxter
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posted December 08, 2005 05:29 PM
I only put the watermark on there after frEEk mentioned that I didnt have one in my first round of pics from the show - the ones showing everyone who were at the show.
The bike is not as big as you might think.
Regarding the different shades of blue, I was taking these pics a few days before the show even opened - so not all the lights overhead were turned on - low lighting compared to the high lighting during the actual show. So it could have been my camera.
Each pic was taken in full 7.2Mp format, so if anyone wants to see bigger pics of anything, let me know.
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MadMike
Moderator
FEAR THE BLACK FLAG!!!!!!!!
Posts: 6579
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posted December 08, 2005 06:15 PM
Thanks Beans...!! Great shots...
can you send me a copy of the motor closeup in a larger photo?
thanks man!!
MM
____________
200-MPH CLUB MEMBER!
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beansbaxter
Needs a life
Posts: 5911
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posted December 08, 2005 09:49 PM
madmike...pm me your email addy and ill send ya some high res versions of them. anything in particular?
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worm~hole
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Miles to go before I sleep....
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posted December 09, 2005 12:34 AM
...no slipper clutch?...too bad about the gages, it looks 'dated' already....Yamaha R1/R6 tach/speedo gages are the best!...why doesn't Kawasaki do something like that?...if this is indeed a speed freak, visual data acquisition so that the rider can slow the faaaak down in time will be very important for the health of his/her license...
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“We sleep safe in our beds because rough men
stand ready in the night to visit violence on those
who would do us harm.”
-George Orwell
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frEEk
Administrator
ummm... yeah
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posted December 09, 2005 01:25 AM
THAT WATERMARK NEEDS TO GO RIGHT OVER THE MIDDLE OF THE PIC!
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Miklos
Expert Class
Posts: 246
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posted December 09, 2005 06:17 AM
Great pics Beans!
It will be tough to get a feel for the weight until one is completely full of fuids. I am 6'2" and when I sat on the bike, it "felt" about 1 to 1 1/2" lower than my '02 12r. It also seemed longer. Again, tough to compare without both bikes side by side.
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The problem with other countries is they are all ran by foreigners.
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psycho1122
Pro
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posted December 09, 2005 06:31 AM
BIG Radiator!
LONG, Narrowing Intake ports!
BIg Power Under Peak
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You say PSYCHO like it's a BAD thing!!
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VPN
Zone Head
Posts: 718
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posted December 09, 2005 07:40 AM
Aaaah!
I'm so in love with this bike (as a Suzuki Bandit 1200/S 2004 owner) that this is must for me late in the summer if budget allows.
Please, please sent me the original huge photos - all of in which there is even a glimpse of that most beautiful bike ever. ZIP and send to vpn at dlc dot fi
Thank you very much!
In return I could send all the photos that I have collected of that new Ninja so far...
Brother-Peter
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tslewisz
Expert Class
Posts: 328
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posted December 09, 2005 10:04 AM
Excellent. Thx, Beans.
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fullzx12r
Zone Head
French Guy
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posted December 09, 2005 11:11 AM
THANKS THANKS THANKS ))
good job man )
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zx-12r 01'
zzr 1400 06'
hayabusa 08'
zzr 1400 12'
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zzr1400
Parking Attendant
Posts: 20
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posted December 09, 2005 11:21 AM
Awesome ! The first real good detailed pics on the net.
Why 2 valves in the intake canal ? Have you seen where the oil-cooler/radiator was hidden ?
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Warchild
Parking Attendant
Rapin' Asphalt
Posts: 16
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posted December 09, 2005 01:11 PM
These really are nice pics, beans, thanks for sharing.
I'm over in the High Desert part of the state (Tri-Cities), and really, Really, REALLY wanted to go to the Seattle show this year, but events conspired against it. Been looking at the ZX-14 as a possible future replancement for my aging Blackbird.
There's a number of Blackbird owners looking hard at this bike since Honda has (appearantly) grown a snatch where their nut-sack used to be, and have abandoned the hyper-bike class altogether here in the states. While they still sell them new overseas, the last year XX's were sold here was '03, and even then, the last significant update was '99!!
The big Kwak looks mighty interesting, and if they indeed put side bigs on the bike (or at least make them an option), then that will be a huge deal for a lot of folks. I'm one of 'em.
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- Warchild
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Rubber Pants
Zone Head
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posted December 09, 2005 03:25 PM
quote: ...no slipper clutch?...too bad about the gages, it looks 'dated' already....Yamaha R1/R6 tach/speedo gages are the best!...why doesn't Kawasaki do something like that?...if this is indeed a speed freak, visual data acquisition so that the rider can slow the faaaak down in time will be very important for the health of his/her license...
Ya just can't please evryone there wormy......I like those gauges, who needs a slipper clutch if yer not roadracing ..........this aint no road racer. NOW it should have a slipper type clutch on the launch side of things as this bike to me looks like it's gonna be a drag racer / hi speed cruiser! Just what an old fart like me needs I guess?!?!
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"Ya Gotta Have Big Ones!"
speeddemons.com
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beansbaxter
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posted December 09, 2005 05:08 PM
I like the guages personally. Two big huge analog dials - wish the 10R had that to be IMHO.
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Road Rage
Expert Class
Posts: 129
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posted December 09, 2005 09:48 PM
I'm with beanbaxter regarding the gauges. I like them, but I don't like the look of the single gauge such with the ZX-10 or whatever. I don't much care for digital gauges in general so maybe that's why I think these look cool. I can't say it enough though; that black bike is really nice looking, reminds me of the first Blackbirds from Honda. I like eveything about that picture (#22 I think from the top down). I also think the RED looks great as well but it might be just a little too much for me, so black seems the safer route to take, besides it's easier to match gear with black. I know there were comments about the NINJA and the KAWASAKI decals, however with the way this fuel tank is designed, there isn't many option left on where to place the company logo. The whole Ninja thing (size of it) I think is because this bike isn't just to replace the ZX-12R but rather also the ZZR1200 as well so, IMHO it's a ZZR1200 replacement with a hint of Ninja in relationship to the size of the decal. Just what I think, could be wrong though.
Phil
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ozzy
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posted December 10, 2005 04:56 AM
quote: I'm with beanbaxter regarding the gauges. I like them, but I don't like the look of the single gauge such with the ZX-10 or whatever. I don't much care for digital gauges in general so maybe that's why I think these look cool. I can't say it enough though; that black bike is really nice looking, reminds me of the first Blackbirds from Honda. I like eveything about that picture (#22 I think from the top down). I also think the RED looks great as well but it might be just a little too much for me, so black seems the safer route to take, besides it's easier to match gear with black. I know there were comments about the NINJA and the KAWASAKI decals, however with the way this fuel tank is designed, there isn't many option left on where to place the company logo. The whole Ninja thing (size of it) I think is because this bike isn't just to replace the ZX-12R but rather also the ZZR1200 as well so, IMHO it's a ZZR1200 replacement with a hint of Ninja in relationship to the size of the decal. Just what I think, could be wrong though.
Phil
I think yhou are close, its a replacement for the ZX 11
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