Ninja 1000/Z1000SX Owners' Thread (or wanna be's)

[stripple]

Originally Posted by Blakebird

If you want a bike that will scare you.... do what I did a few years ago and buy a ZX-14. Awesome bikes.

The Ninja 1000 could probably scare you until you got used to it, but it's plenty fast. Doing all those performance modifications (IMO) would miss the point of buying this bike over something that came off the drawing board to impress with speed - not all around capability.

The engine is not a retuned ZX-10R, etc. - it's purpose built for the Ninja 1000 and Z1000, and is a great midrange motor.
It pulls cleanly and firmly from just off idle....you start to feel it gather steam around 3500 rpms, and by 4200 it's got your attention.

It's great on the road too, comfortable and has range. Has the sport touring chops of a VFR, but is much more of a sport bike at heart.

Thanks for the reply! I have looked long and hard at the mighty 14. For me the riding position has to be nearly upright. A broken neck years abo and a very long list of other injuries keep me from leaning anymore. Then there's the C14, I love it, but after a test ride I came away thinking that it's just too darn hefty for what I want right now.

Unless there's a way to sit as upright on a 14 as you would on a Ninja 1k, it won't work for me. I have yet to see a solution that looks right to my eyes for the 14. But damn, it is certainly a lust worthy machine...

[stripple]

To the top. This thread is too good to be so far back.

How are those N1K's working out for you fellas?

[Joey Stalin]

Originally Posted by stripple

Thanks for the reply! I have looked long and hard at the mighty 14. For me the riding position has to be nearly upright. A broken neck years abo and a very long list of other injuries keep me from leaning anymore. Then there's the C14, I love it, but after a test ride I came away thinking that it's just too darn hefty for what I want right now.

Unless there's a way to sit as upright on a 14 as you would on a Ninja 1k, it won't work for me. I have yet to see a solution that looks right to my eyes for the 14. But damn, it is certainly a lust worthy machine...

i wish there was a way to lower the bars on the Ninja 1000, the opposite of you. I like a more leaned forward riding position, but none of the sport bikes are good for touring. BMW probably makes the bike for me, but I'm just not into the K's and the F's.

[Blakebird]

Originally Posted by Joey Stalin

i wish there was a way to lower the bars on the Ninja 1000

buy the top triple clamp from the Z1000, comes with a bar mount for a standard handlebar.

[Joey Stalin]

Originally Posted by Blakebird

buy the top triple clamp from the Z1000, comes with a bar mount for a standard handlebar.

i'm not an owner, just been reading about them. i thought i read somewhere though that the z1000 stuff wouldn't fit for some reason, or any handlebar would hit the plastic when turning the wheel at full lock. and is the z1000 bar even lower to begin with? it still looks pretty upright to me. any links to a thread? would love to see pictures.

[southwade]

Originally Posted by Joey Stalin

i'm not an owner, just been reading about them. i thought i read somewhere though that the z1000 stuff wouldn't fit for some reason, or any handlebar would hit the plastic when turning the wheel at full lock. and is the z1000 bar even lower to begin with? it still looks pretty upright to me. any links to a thread? would love to see pictures.

There's a Z1000 thread in on here.

Sent from my Galaxy S3

[JSharp]

Originally Posted by stripple

To the top. This thread is too good to be so far back.

How are those N1K's working out for you fellas?

13K miles on my 2011 model now and I'm still happy. I've yet to get a seat or windshield that I think are perfect, and I keep puncturing rear tires but other than those things I have no issues.

I was unsure if I was buying the right bike when I got it, but after almost 2 years there's no question I made the right choice.

[Joey Stalin]

Anyone heard of these Apex bars being installed on a N1000? They look great for almost any sport bike, but in particular I'm interested in the possibility of lowering the N1000 bars.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AuJi0HzJgJ8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uGT1BQH6l54

Not as hideously ugly as Convertibars.

[sportmotogear]

Originally Posted by Joey Stalin

Anyone heard of these Apex bars being installed on a N1000? They look great for almost any sport bike, but in particular I'm interested in the possibility of lowering the N1000 bars.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AuJi0HzJgJ8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uGT1BQH6l54

Not as hideously ugly as Convertibars.

Seems like the would do the trick.

[chadhargis]

At the risk of sounding like I've been through a 12 step program (I haven't, but probably should have...do they have one for porn addiction?), I'm a bikeaholic. I love riding. I've tried to give it up for safety reasons...failed. I've tried to give it up for financial reasons...failed. I just love riding.

That said, I've owned quite a few variations of motorcycles. The list can be found here: http://www.chadhargis.com/ChadHargis...torcycles.html

My biggest issue has always been that if I found a motorcycle that was comfortable, it was 600+lbs or short on power. I'm 6'5" and weigh in at 250lbs buck naked. So add on some riding gear and the word "svelte" isn't exactly a word you can use to describe me.

I wandered into the only motorcycle shop in town (that doesn't sell exclusively cruisers or dirt bikes), the typical Hondakawayamazuki shop. A 2012 Ninja 1000 was sitting by the front door. I'd probably have ignored it as yet another bike I'd never be able to fold my 36" inseam up on, but the owner of the dealership asked me if I was familiar with the bike. I admitted that I'd never looked at one, but knew that it was basically a Z1000 with a fairing. He encouraged me to take a squat on it, and I did. "Humm....not bad", I thought to myself. There was a used VFR 800 there, and I tried it on for size...uh...no...I can't fit it. Back to the Ninja. Ah...really nice. I sat on a Concourse 14, and surprisingly, it felt like it had less room.

I did some research on the bike, and it seemed to be one of those rare bikes that nearly everyone likes. So I went back to the shop, negotiated a price (as I don't like joy riding on someone else's bike unless I intend on buying it), and took it out for a "final approval" test ride.

Holy cow! What a motor! Smooth, linear power from just off idle to redline. No need to rev the motor to the sky (and coming off a Versys 650, this is a welcome trait). So I'm riding around waiting for the "ah ha!" moment to hit me. The one where I say, "Damn nice bike...but I can't live with it". That moment never came, and I took possession of my new ride.

The upper body position is somewhere between a VFR and V-Strom....not too bent over and not too bolt upright. Just right. The adjustable windscreen is a delight. I've never met a windshield I liked. At my size, they typically are never big enough to knock the wind blast over my head...instead I just get buffetting that feels like Mike Tyson (the 80's Tyson) hitting me in the head with rapid blows. No so on the N1K. Whatever Kawasaki did, it's a miracle. Even full up, the screen does a great job.

The engine is just fantastic. It's not peaky and scary fast like a superbike 1 liter engine. It's behaves more like a big twin with more top end pull. I've never been a fan of inline fours. Just don't like how they make power. Never been my cup of tea. I'm a twin guy. But this engine has converted me. It feels like the big 1300cc lump in the FJR I owned, only in a much lighter, less expensive package (with a much better suspension!). The fueling is perfect. No power commander or other garbage needed. As a wise man once told me, "If you buy a bike and have to make a bunch of changes to it, you bought the wrong bike". True that.

Speaking of the suspension, I've not set it up for my lard ass yet and it feels really nice. Very compliant, but handles well. I have read some reviews that say the N1K is hard to turn in, needs a 55 series rear tire, needs the forks raised in the triples....I didn't experience that. Maybe it's because I came off a Versys who's suspension was crushed by me basically making it a hard tail.

The only bad thing I can say about the bike is that the seat sucks. This is no surprise. Most stock seats do. Only the Buell Ulysses has a seat I kept from the factory. The rest got Sargents, Corbins, Baldwin's, or the factory "comfort" seats. Even my BMW's had absolutely horrible stock seats (and for $16,000+ you would think they could put on a decent seat). I'm hoping to gather some info on what seat I am going to purchase. I'm typically a fan of firm seats.

The bike has a metal fuel tank (yeah...magnetic tank bag!). There are quality touches all over the bike. The fit and finish is really good. Details abound all the way down to the concentric chain adjusters and little bar end type weights on the back of the rider foot peg brackets.

I've owned a few K-wackers, and all of them have been bulletproof (outside of the "doohickey" on my KLR). If the Ninja follows suit, it's going to be one heck of a good bike.

[Harry Backer]

Nice write up. I am picking up one in the spring its a black 2011 but its brandnew 0 miles.

[Blakebird]

there's already a long established Ninja 1000 thread you might want to add to rather than start another

http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=690296

[N-Id-Jim]

thanks for the write-up.. I'm a viffer rider that likes his viffer fine, but have been ogling the ninja. whatcha gonna do about those godawful lookin pipe things hangin out the back? i still cant deal with those very well..ha ha..

maybe next year.......

[chadhargis]

Originally Posted by N-Id-Jim

thanks for the write-up.. I'm a viffer rider that likes his viffer fine, but have been ogling the ninja. whatcha gonna do about those godawful lookin pipe things hangin out the back? i still cant deal with those very well..ha ha..

maybe next year.......

There are lots of options for ditching the stock cans as well as the cat box.

I guess I'm getting old, but I have no intentions of replacing them. They are quiet, the bike runs great, and the fueling is spot on. Really no reason to have to mess with exhaust, air filter, and mapping.

But the LeoVince pipes look GOOD!

[Blakebird]

I thought they looked fine....worked well, sounded good while being quiet.
I agree the Leos looked excellent too, Akra as well.

The only complaint I had about the big box under the bike....was that it was a gravel trap and with no flap back there to keep crap from being flung up onto it.... it got cluttered quickly.