Had a test ride on a ZZR 1400 today . . . boy, can that accelerate 4th gear goes from 40 odd mph to well on the dark side, it never stops accelerating.
The weight is well disguised, you can hardly tell it’s reasonably heavy, the ride is very smooth and the handling is surprisingly good, I was expecting it to feel like a barge but it’s really quite sprightly, not like my ZX6 but nowhere near as bluff and blunt as I thought it would be.
Not sure I would want it as my only bike but as a touring bike it would be spot on, very comfortable and so quick. I’d get banned within days of getting it I’m sure :w00t:
I don’t think I’m going to get one, it would be great for touring but I’ll only do that a handful of times a year, the rest of the tim the ZX6 would be used.
It’s nice to experience the creamy smooth acceleration though, that is addictive. Makes me wonder what a turbo bike is like to ride. It went from 50ish to three times that so easily, no effort, no drama and no noise, just a constant smooth push of torque.
I do like the power though, I wonder if a ZX10 would give me the handling of the ZX6 with the power of the ZZR ? I guess that’s what Kawasaki were aiming for.
Steve, it was from The Bike Pavilion in Letchworth and I’ve not looked at France/Spain yet, will do later.
True, unless you have a supercharger then you’re only waiting for the bypass valve to close.
I was just interested, wonder if I can find somebody with a turbo bike who will let me ride it, or do you fancy putting my engine in your bike for a couple of weeks
The early eighties saw all the big manufacturers come out with turbo bikes as standard , Kawa GPz750Turbo, Suzuki XN85, Yamaha XJ 650 Turbo and the world famous Honda CX500 “OBRUT”
I heard they weren’t very good. These days though we’ve got electronics which can make even a poor design driveable, no need for carbs and dodgy timing systems. Even fuel injectors have improved over the last few years.
Having said that, still not sure I’d want a turbo bike for every day use, there still has to be a delay whilst the turbo spools up and if it comes on boost mid corner it’s got to be a handfull. Sean at Big C says they are better than you think but he’s not going to let me borrow one to find out :Whistling:
4th gear goes from 40 odd mph to well on the dark side, it never stops accelerating.
