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trenace

Needs a job
Posts: 3056

posted September 15, 2005 10:05 PM

Edited By: trenace on 15 Sep 2005 23:10

Nobody was all wrong, nobody was 100% right, actually most were mostly right

I am coming to the conclusion that the Editor's source was more accurate then we're giving credit for right now. Not 100% right, but not 100% wrong.

Also, those of us (myself included) that have been calling this "really a ZZR" have not been 100% right, though not 100% wrong either.

Fuck the sidepanels and tailpiece. My God, the character of a sportsbike is based on whether one thinks the style of the sidepanels and tailpiece (or the headlights) is "sports-toury" or "sports-only?"

Actually a number of 12 riders have been bothered by the shitty pillion accomodations. A lot of the change in look in the tail is to accomodate FUNCTION of carrying a second person. Which the 12 already can do you know. It's not a monoposto.

So, the question of "Is it 'really' a ZZR replacement or a uprated ZX?" comes down to POWER and HANDLING as the key factors, or at least what should be.

I was wrong before. I way overestimated the wheelbase of the bike, it seemed to me to be 59 to 60" based on pics that weren't at the same camera angle.

It now appears almost identical to the 12R. Maybe 3/4" longer. Not a big deal.

Ditto for bar height, seat height, just about every dimension.

It's the same basic frame design as the ZX-12R.

It's the same basic motor, apparently, but bigger.

So how is there no truth to saying this is much closer to being an uprated ZX-12R than it is to be an uprate of the tired old ZZR-1200?

Actually there's a lot of truth to that.

Fuck, I dunno... if you wanna believe this bike has feather pillows for suspension and WD-40 for fork oil, go ahead, I have no way of knowing you're wrong... but it appears to me the geometries are almost identical so my bet is the handling is going to be way close. Who knows, maybe the new is better. Can't be ruled out at this point.

I am not agreeing with the WAY that the hints from some source within Kawasaki were communicated or all of what decisions were made based on those communications, but I do now see that a lot of the gist of it is way more true than not. The only reason to think different, is if fooled by side panels and tailpiece, styling (and in the case of the tail, functional) details not the guts and hardware of the beast, IMO.

fish_antlers

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The Truth is Out There
Posts: 21895

posted September 15, 2005 10:46 PM

thank you.

Click here to visit fish_antlers's homepage.

vozizm

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Got Nothing Witty To Say
Posts: 4417

posted September 16, 2005 05:02 AM

your welcome!!
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VOZ

CrotchRocket

Moderator
Bracket Racing with Betsy
Posts: 8038

posted September 16, 2005 06:53 AM

As usual this bike will grow on us...Even more so if the tests say its a beast!!!

But then again, the magazine editors always put the Kawasakis down...So, it maybe a sleeper just as the ZX12 is!!!

I have faith in this new 14 the more I read about it...Thanks to Trenace for posting the overlay of the 12 and 14, it shed new light on the 14...
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Jason Miller StreetBike Seminars

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