texcollect
Crotchety Old Fart
This morning a buddy and I took a ride up the the "Ticket To Ride" Kawasaki event at Sam Houston Race track here in Houston.Due to the number of people that turned out 1 ride was all that was really available.
I took the Ninja 1000 out. It has a very similar seating position to the FZ6. The adjustable screen was great and on the lowest setting gave me far less buffeting than the FZ6 screen does. The transmission was a dream, silky smooth with a very progressive lever action. the engine was almost lifeless below 4 or 5 K, but then came on like a train, but then I'm used to that. On the road I found the turn in very sluggish and had to really push the bike into the curve. I guess I am used to my FZ6 telepathic ability to know where I want to turn.
Unfortunately I am a big guy (6ft 6 and 245lbs) and the way that the tank is sculpted meant that my knees were up against the ridge in the tank.
From the demo ride we took the long way home and had some fun on the way home. It felt REALLY good to get back on the FZ.
I go through a period every couple of months when I start wondering what I would like to swap my bike for. The FZ6 isn't the fastest bike, best handling bike, prettiest bike, most comfortable bike on the market, but it does everything very well so I guess it's staying in my garage for the foreseeable future.
I took the Ninja 1000 out. It has a very similar seating position to the FZ6. The adjustable screen was great and on the lowest setting gave me far less buffeting than the FZ6 screen does. The transmission was a dream, silky smooth with a very progressive lever action. the engine was almost lifeless below 4 or 5 K, but then came on like a train, but then I'm used to that. On the road I found the turn in very sluggish and had to really push the bike into the curve. I guess I am used to my FZ6 telepathic ability to know where I want to turn.
Unfortunately I am a big guy (6ft 6 and 245lbs) and the way that the tank is sculpted meant that my knees were up against the ridge in the tank.
From the demo ride we took the long way home and had some fun on the way home. It felt REALLY good to get back on the FZ.
I go through a period every couple of months when I start wondering what I would like to swap my bike for. The FZ6 isn't the fastest bike, best handling bike, prettiest bike, most comfortable bike on the market, but it does everything very well so I guess it's staying in my garage for the foreseeable future.