zx14 hype

[sutur]

Fellers food for thought...

Kawasaki have been threatening for a long time that they were going to bring something out that was going to knock the Busa off and the one thing I noticed was that there seemed to be a lot more talk in the last few years especially since the GenII was released.

Maybe Suzuki thought that it was better to just do a refinement of the GenI which is when it is all said and done exactly what the GenII is everything is just that little bit better, slightly better brakes, slightly better suspension a little bit more power and so on. So was the GenII done in such way that it has kept it on top for a few more yrs just to keep annoying those manufactures that they haven't been good enough to bring a bike to the table that can really compete at all levels with the Busa..

If you've got something that is at the top of it's game and everyone is trying to knock it off why would you come out and show your hand when you know that the others are coming with something that will eventually knock it off the thrown. It wouldn't surprise me one bit that Suzuki have already got that ACE up their sleeve that we are all hoping for.

I have mentioned in previous threads that Kawasaki or anyone else for that matter would have to come up with something very special to pull people away from the Busa and yes the ZX14 might now be the bike to finally knock the Busa of it's perch but when I looked at it the other day to be it was still only a ZX14 and for me I still wouldn't by it just on looks alone..I was hoping it was going to be a little more stream lined so it looked a little bit like an overweight ZX10 but that hasn't happened so for me the bike can stay where it is..

The Busa is the only Jap bike that I have ever known to have the reputation that it has with all bike riders, when people ask what you ride and you come back and say a Busa nine times out of ten you get Oh and that pretty much sums up the conversation. Even die hard Harley Riders will not bag out the Busa, I asked some guys not so long ago that are very one eyed Harley Riders (even one of them wore a patch) why they don't say anything to people about the Busa being just another jappa and the response I got I didn't expect. All 4 guys basically said that you have to be bloody insane and balls the size of coconuts to ride one so good luck and when you've got a bike like that it deserves respect.. I honestly didn't see that answer coming...

So for me I'm still a Busa Rider through and through there's still nothing that would pull me away from the Busa, that's not to say I wouldn't buy another bike as there's bikes around that if I had some spear coin I would go out tomorrow and buy one eg RC30 or even an RC45 and if I was feeling really rich a NR750 just to list some but these are bike are also something very special. I have ridden an RC45 and those bikes were well before there time and even by today's standards the bike is still very good in a lot of respects.

Anyway Who cares Yes Kawasaki may have brought something to the table but as it stands it appears that it's only just good enough to knock the Busa of it's perch and I don't think Suzuki would have to do too much to put the Busa back on top. Suzuki might even be laughing and saying is that as good as you've got......well lets wait and see what happens in the next couple of years I don't think you will see anything in the next 12mths but maybe something soon after that.

My 2cents worth.. Rev004

Food for thought indeed.
I saw you briefly comment on the zx10, any further thoughts on this little psycho?

[busakid08]

Looks like a good package as a bike but I wont be running out trading the Busa for one any time soon - still think the Bus is a much nicer bike to look at. I do like all the upgrades Kawasaki has done shame they didnt make it prettier.

[Astro]

Many years ago there were three contenders. Honda's Super XX Blackbird held the torch for a few glorious minutes, then Kawasaki took it off them. While Kawasaki was still popping Champagne corks and looking for a spot on the mantle to put the damn thing, the 'busa arrived and didn't just take the torch... it thundered off with it... waved it around... lit a cigar off it and tossed it in the bin.

That was back in 1999. There's been a lot of talk about a new pissing competition 'coming soon' or 'just around the corner' since then. Every other year some bike mag has loudly announced that the next 'busa killer was finally here. Yawn.

So... here we are in 2012... 13 years later. (Lets be conservative and call it 12 years, because the ZX14 was released late 2011). What's been happening?? Well BMW's K13S got way more press than it deserved and then slid off into the 'Also Ran' bin where it belonged (yes, multiple test rides with a view to buying less than 2 months ago... so objective assessment). Honda recently produced the motorcycle equivalent of the Leyland P-76. Yamaha had more sense and stayed out of the race altogether. But... Kawasaki has finally produced the 'busa killer it's been promising for a dozen years. In a world where the leader of the pack measures kingship in weeks or months... we are talking 12 YEARS!

But anyway... back to Kawasaki.... good luck to them and bloody well done Kawasaki I say. You deserve to bask in the glory for as long as it takes for the next contender to steal it away from you. You've obviously worked hard and you've built a winner. You deserve some respect. Dust off that spot on the mantle... pop those corks. Punch the air and do a few Toyota jumps. Enjoy your time at the top. Who knows... you might even get 12 years. Somehow I doubt it tho.

In the meantime, Suzuki will thank you for beginning it's Gen 3 marketing campaign and for millions of $ worth of free advertising. The ZX14 will start a huge, ongoing, relentless and animated conversation - about the Gen 3 Hayabusa and how soon Suzuki will respond to this challenge. And people will wait for it. Even if it takes years. Just like they faithfully waited for the Gen2.

In the meantime... 12 years.... that's legendary!

[FalcoPerigri]

When all is said and done and without any disrespect to Suzuki and I love my Hayabusa, Kawasaki has done the kind of homework and put their money and research in a way that Suzuki has not. (Not yet!)So the latest ZX 1400 has upped the ante and I would even say that some features are nice but I would not dream of buying one because having both the Hayabusa and the ZX1400 in the garage is like saying to the World you got a problem. Being slightly old fashioned, I have a wife and do not need a mistress or two wives. If Yamaha ever got into the game it still won't make any difference because there is only one HAYABUSA! The fact that Kawasaki has tried to outdo the Hayabusa should be taken as a compliment. There can only be one Bridget Bardot, one Bruce Lee and one Hayabusa and they are rightly regarded as IMMORTALS.

[grumpy]

The ZX is $20000.

I sat on one yesterday. Still as ugly as ever, but there are some significant improvements.

Mate test rode one - much improved handling, goes like stink.

In New Zealand its just on $27000 alot of money for a few more horse,s how much H.P. could you get out of a busa for that extra $6500

[Rev004]

Food for thought indeed.
I saw you briefly comment on the zx10, any further thoughts on this little psycho?

Well the ZX10 is a different story so won't start rambling about that one in this thread..but I can say even though both bikes are nice I still wouldn't buy either. Both bikes have some very good points but I'm just not a Kawasaki person but I do give credit where it is due so if you want to start a thread about the ltr bikes I'm sure it will generate some interesting conversation..

---

Many years ago there were three contenders. Honda's Super XX Blackbird held the torch for a few glorious minutes, then Kawasaki took it off them. While Kawasaki was still popping Champagne corks and looking for a spot on the mantle to put the damn thing, the 'busa arrived and didn't just take the torch... it thundered off with it... waved it around... lit a cigar off it and tossed it in the bin.

That was back in 1999. There's been a lot of talk about a new pissing competition 'coming soon' or 'just around the corner' since then. Every other year some bike mag has loudly announced that the next 'busa killer was finally here. Yawn.

So... here we are in 2012... 13 years later. (Lets be conservative and call it 12 years, because the ZX14 was released late 2011). What's been happening?? Well BMW's K13S got way more press than it deserved and then slid off into the 'Also Ran' bin where it belonged (yes, multiple test rides with a view to buying less than 2 months ago... so objective assessment). Honda recently produced the motorcycle equivalent of the Leyland P-76. Yamaha had more sense and stayed out of the race altogether. But... Kawasaki has finally produced the 'busa killer it's been promising for a dozen years. In a world where the leader of the pack measures kingship in weeks or months... we are talking 12 YEARS!

But anyway... back to Kawasaki.... good luck to them and bloody well done Kawasaki I say. You deserve to bask in the glory for as long as it takes for the next contender to steal it away from you. You've obviously worked hard and you've built a winner. You deserve some respect. Dust off that spot on the mantle... pop those corks. Punch the air and do a few Toyota jumps. Enjoy your time at the top. Who knows... you might even get 12 years. Somehow I doubt it tho.

In the meantime, Suzuki will thank you for beginning it's Gen 3 marketing campaign and for millions of $ worth of free advertising. The ZX14 will start a huge, ongoing, relentless and animated conversation - about the Gen 3 Hayabusa and how soon Suzuki will respond to this challenge. And people will wait for it. Even if it takes years. Just like they faithfully waited for the Gen2.

In the meantime... 12 years.... that's legendary!

Well said Astro and you made me laugh when you mentioned the Blackbird because the 1st thing that sprung to mind was the video footage of the Busa passing the Blackbird when it was flat out and did it like it was sitting still and for any bike to come out and set such a high bench mark all those yrs ago was very impressive. It's a bit like what Yamaha did all those yrs ago when it released the R1 it certainly raised the bar for it's class but not quite as good as the Busa.

The Busa / Suzuki will always be remembered for what it did to the Big Bore Bike World and as you mentioned.....that's legendary!

[DAVE01]

Honda recently produced the motorcycle equivalent of the Leyland P-76

[Aussie Steve]

Honda do seem to have lost their way a tad...I mean a factory chopper??...and no matter which way I look at their long awaited flagship, (at the time) it is still uglier than the Kawasaki pretender to the throne

[Ruffy]

An oldie but a goodie - Some of the newer guys may have not seen it.

Originally posted in 2007 from the keyboard of the club wordsmith Astro

POETS Corner....
I had a 'discussion' with a stranger today who is about to buy a ZX14 - or so he tells me. He pointed at my bike (I didn't tell him it was mine) and gave me a sorry account of the aging king. Described all its faults. At one point he even whispered to me "the brakes are so bad, it's a death trap."

I sat there thrilled and enthralled by his all-knowing lecture. He went on to tell me how the ZX14 is the bees knees. Blah blah. I thanked him profusely for giving me the good oil and he seemed very pleased with himself. I didn't rise to the bait. He left before I did so he never worked out the bike was mine. On the way home, I remembered a poem I wrote about how the ZX14 and the Hayabusa might be remembered in 20 years time... so I went looking for it in the old threads.

Then it struck me that there are a lot of members here who are dab hands at the odd bit of poetry, so maybe it should have a thread of its own. C'mon Faster Faster... pitch a couple of yours in and lets get the ball rolling.

All welcome... write something and stick it here. Or, if someone else writes it and you think its great, post it here and give them some recognition.

This poem was originally posted on the old board, in a thread comparing the ZX14 and the Hayabusa.

---- Extract from original post ----

Lets face it... only history will decide if just being the new speed king is enough to make a bike a legend. Personally, I think it takes more than that... and the busa has whatever that 'more' is.

So.... lets look into the crystal ball... into the mists of the future... and see who won....

Ode to the Legend

On a sunny porch many years from now, an old man takes his rest.
His creaking bones and snow white hair to a long, long life attest.
Far off he hears a motorbike, cog swapping fast and loud
Rolling thunder through the rev range as it howls on, strong and proud.

The sound approaches quickly. Pulls right up to his drive
The vision brings back memories of how much he'd felt alive
Back in his days of glory, that now seem so far away
Then he hears his grandsons voice "Hey Pa, you well today ?"

"Mum told me you once rode a bike, so I've brought mine 'round today"
"I only got it yesterday, I'm out to have a play"
"It's the fastest thing upon two wheels. A lot I've had to spend !"
"Its bound to be the next upon the list of bike lore legend !"

The old man says "Got something here I think you'd like to see"
"Not sure it will mean much to you, but it means a lot to me"
He wanders down the well worn path that leads back to the shed
He lifts the roller door and inside, light begins to spread.

At first the young man cannot see, the object of Pa's pride
But through the dim his eyes detect a gleam, a shape inside.
The flowing lines, distinctive hump, a shape that's like no other.
With shock and reverence he cries "YOU RODE A HAYABUSA ?!?!"

"I cannot wait to spread the news among my riding friends !"
"You're riding with the grandson of a Hayabusa legend !"
The boy's in shock ! At bike and man he stares in disbelief.
"Tell me all about it Pa, and don't you make it brief !"

"The busa was undisputed King, 'til the ZX14 stole our fame"
"Technology had moved along, but the busa stayed the same"
The memory of the change of guard made the old man sad and flat
Until the younger asked, "Whats a ZX14, I've never heard of that ?"

Astro

[Madmax]

It was a heavy ship of some kind wasn't it! LOL

Great lines Johnny and Astro!

[-M-]

When all is said and done and without any disrespect to Suzuki and I love my Hayabusa, Kawasaki has done the kind of homework and put their money and research in a way that Suzuki has not.

This would be true if the bikes were released in the same year. People are forgetting the fact there is a 4 year difference between the Gen 2 and new ZX14.

Anyone can improve on a successful formula that already exists, although this is clearly not the case with aesthetics as I think the ZX14 is the ugliest bike ever made.

Whoopdy do with 195+ rwhp.. The S1000RR made 193 in 2009 from 1000cc and 50kg (or whatever it is) less.