Anyone like the Ninja 1000?

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FB400

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Took it for a 30 minute test ride at the Kawasaki Ticket to Ride event this past weekend in Livingston, NJ. I know... :ban:

It got my attention when it first came out in December with favorable press. Then I sat on it at the NYC motorcycle show in January. The bike ergos are perfect.

After riding it, wow I am jonesin big time to trade up but the practical side of me won't do it this fast. Toss in a price $1100 under MSRP plus a $500 Ticket to Ride voucher discount and it has me seriously thinking this one over.

The only minor negative for me is it doesn't come in faster blue!! ;)

Anyone got opinions on this bike?
 
I was looking at this bike before I bought my FZ6. Never did take it out, but I knew it would be too much of a machine for me and felt bulky when I sat on it.

Almost felt like a touring bike disguised as a sport bike.

Can't believe they are knocking that much off of the price tag. Business must be bad! All of the reviews I have read have been more than positive.
 
Every reviewer out there in motorcycle universe seems to love it. Motorcyclist voted it 2011 bike of the year. I've sat on it few times and WAS hoping to ride it at the demo you went to, on Sunday.. got there at 8:45 and first available ride was at 1:30!!! No way I was gonna stick around that long :(

I love that bike on paper; I love how light if felt just lifting it off the sidestand (lighter than FZ6.. must have lower center of gravity?); love the 3-position adjustable windscreen; love the ergonomics.

So.. I'd love one, but I love my FZ6 too and it does everything I need it to do (at least at the moment).

If I DID get to test-ride one, it would probably make it even harder to not want to trade up.
 
Erci said:
Every reviewer out there in motorcycle universe seems to love it. Motorcyclist voted it 2011 bike of the year. I've sat on it few times and WAS hoping to ride it at the demo you went to, on Sunday.. got there at 8:45 and first available ride was at 1:30!!! No way I was gonna stick around that long :(
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What's 5 hours if you get a chance to ride the machine for 30 minutes to get a real feeling for it instead of just looking at specs and dreaming about it. I would have made myself busy and waited out the five hours (iPad, iPod, Kindle, go shopping, have something to eat, etc). Oh, well, opportunity lost.
 
its definetly one of the nicest 1000 to look at at the moment. but my concern is about the passenger seat, it does not seem to bode well for long hours of touring, looks like a sportbike seat to my eyes
 
It has an atypical Kawasaki road experience.

Smooth, predictable, and no nut-shove tank.

Very similar to a Concours 14 with less weight.

The motor is there, ergos too, and the seat is acceptable.

Pricing is up there, but in line with others that represent the market.

Flame me if you dare----

Ninja 1000>FZ1

Ninja 1000>BMW F800 ST
 
Evitzee said:
What's 5 hours if you get a chance to ride the machine for 30 minutes to get a real feeling for it instead of just looking at specs and dreaming about it. I would have made myself busy and waited out the five hours (iPad, iPod, Kindle, go shopping, have something to eat, etc). Oh, well, opportunity lost.
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Keeping busy for 5 hours is easy, but unfortunately I had many other things to do on Sunday. Was hoping to spend no more than 2 hours at the demo.
No big deal.. wasn't at all planning on trading my bike anyway. Just love to try different bikes when I get an opportunity.
 
Erci, we planned on going for a couple months. I regret not telling more people about it in advance. We got there at 7:40a and signed up for 3 rides before I even did my first 1. (then Kawa lady said ok, that's it for you today).

All told I was done at 3pm. I even rode the ZX-6R. Still reeling from that holy S### experience! A really good day. I didn't mind the traffic getting home one bit. I would do it again with no hesitation.

I am shopping for a dealer right now. It seems most of these guys don't respond to internet inquiries which really pisses me off. I stopped by a local dealer for a chat but will make a list of dealers I might buy from. Honestly as someone pointed out, this bike is a no brainer, escpecially after riding it. But who to buy it from requires more due dilligence. We'll see if I can get my wife on board. :confused:

Edit: and BTW, Kawa staff exerts ZERO sales pressure at this event. All they do is give you a voucher for $500 off and tell you what a great deal you get. That's it... ride and enjoy. We even got a t-shirt and I won a Kawasaki Hat for correctly identifying 1984 as the first year they produced the Ninja
 
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I was actually torn between the Ninja 1000 and the ZX-14 for my next bike. But it's still a few years down the road, so it's all just dreaming and drooling at this point. One of these days I'm going to run by the Harley stealership and try the V-Rod, but I don't know about the feet forward position. Although, since most of my riding is in a straight line, unfortuneatly, it might be more comfortable.

I just don't know if I can pay more for a harley when the Ducati Diavel is basically the same price for a better bike, and the Suzuki M109R is $3k cheaper. :D
 
The Ticket to Ride event is coming here in a couple of weeks and I am hoping to try the Z1000, Concours and KLR (always wanted a dirt bike :)). Let's see how many I get to try!
 
Humperdinkel said:
The red one looks great & fast but at the end of the day its a Ka , Kaw , Kawa , Krapasaki :eek: :BLAA: :scared:......... :popcorn:
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i sold my ninja 650r for my current fz6, and this statement above has some truth to it.

i did a review on the two bikes and a comparison, and kawi does certain things right, for instance the rotors were way better on my ninja than the fz, but the mirrors and seat on the ninja were way worse.

the ninja 1k would be cheaper to maintain, because it has a simpler engine (parallel twin)

here is a link to the thread i mentioned comparing the 2 different bikes
downgrade in order to upgrade : KawiForums.com Kawasaki Forums: Kawasaki motorcycle forums
http://www.kawiforums.com/two-wheeled-discussion/177584-first-impressions-ninja650-fz6-pics.html (first impressions are here)
 
turbid said:
my concern is about the passenger seat, it does not seem to bode well for long hours of touring, looks like a sportbike seat to my eyes
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it's very much a one person touring bike, 2 up.

lazerfazer said:
the ninja 1k would be cheaper to maintain, because it has a simpler engine (parallel twin)
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no its an i-4 and would overall be more expensive to maintai than an fz6, especially if ridden hard and including tire costs.
 
DefyInertia said:
it's very much a one person touring bike, 2 up.



no its an i-4 and would overall be more expensive to maintai than an fz6, especially if ridden hard and including tire costs.
Click to expand...

your right about the in-line 4, im sorry to misinform
 
The Ninja 1000, SV1000 and the FZ1 are contenders for my next bike, gotta at least get this one paid off first though :D

I do like the look of the Ninja, for sure.

I find myself looking at them every time i'm in a dealership. Go test ride one :D
 
The 2011 ninja 1000 goes for about 9999 here in san diego according to cycletrader.


I was actually loking to get a honda vfr as my next bike maybe years in the future. I like the way they look and direct drive sounds cool :BLAA: no idea why direct drive is better though LOL
 
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