Bikes Kawasaki Should Build Now.

[i'm-kwaka's]

That duke looks farken SWEEEET

it's so horny

[Phil]

fark the duc - i'd rather see a zzr954 or whatever we are gonna call the z1000 motah in the "F" model 9 frame.

[QLDZX6R]

A new ZX7R or ZX8R would definitely sell,an yes where is Kawasakis mid range twin..BMW new F800S is gonna sell well,Suzuki has had the SV for ages as with the Firestorm and the TRX is a cult bike-always in AMT spannerman,also like to see a comfortable Litre Sports bike...

[Nanna10r]

fark the duc - i'd rather see a zzr954 or whatever we are gonna call the z1000 motah in the "F" model 9 frame.

FEK YEAH PHIL

[Gosling1]

...5. An updated ZX12R, 5kg lighter, slightly smaller in all directions...

But this would need an updated ZX12R rider, 5 kg lighter and slightly smaller in all directions...are there any of those?

my tiny brain-cell is thinking........is you dissin' me ?? of course not, ya'll is dissin' me homie Hoffy !!

Marco - there is an updated ZX12R, 35kg lighter and smaller in all directions - its called the ZX10....

5kg weight loss would not be an improvement at all - I could achieve the same thing by riding my 12 in the nuddy !! Now THATS a good look bit uncomfortable when the bitch-tits start flapping at 200 !!

I thought the new KX450 was fully registerable ?? It will be a great bike.

Kawasaki have *No* plans to create a ZX8R. Not yet anyway ask them again after a season or 2 of MotoGP at 800cc..........

A full size ER to 900 or 1000cc is a great idea. A supermotard based on the current ER6 would be even better.

[I-K]

there is an updated ZX12R, 35kg lighter and smaller in all directions - its called the ZX10....

That's not really valid. The 10R and the 12R don't play the same sport. One's an all-out sportsbike, the other's a... a... have we settled on what we should call a bike which is aimed at people who don't want to fold themselves onto a current race-rep, but who aren't ready for a sports-tourer yet?

5kg weight loss would not be an improvement at all

It would be in a model-update nip-and-tucky sort of way, especially if it was coupled with an attempt to make the thing a smidge more compact to improve the handling further.

I thought the new KX450 was fully registerable ?? It will be a great bike.

Think back to the KDX250 and the KLX650... they both came out in ADR-compliant form, with horns and indicators and brakelights and somewhere to hang a rego plate, and non-compliant enduro-spec, with just headlights and trip meters.

Going off the Kwaka USA information, the KX450R is clearly in the mould of the latter; no indicators, no rego plate holder, no tail light; in a way, it's understandable, because making it road-registrable would mean taking a mx engine designed to breathe through an open pipe and getting it through the emissions standards. If they're not bothering to do it in a market as huge as the US, they're not going to bother to do it for the few hundred bikes they can hope to sell per year in Australia.

[FrogZ]

Whenever you start talking about who did stuff first you will find VERY little if any entries that start Ducati or Honda, more likely Rudge, DKW, Zundapp, Coventry etc.

[rocketrod]

It's a Honda knock off..

You mean the twin headlights? Oh thats right.... Ducati did that first...

Oh, you must mean the under-seat exhaust..... Oh! forgot... Ducati did that first too....

Must mean the swingarm..... Oh darn...... ducati again.....

In fact, the single sided swingarm on VFR's...... Ducati first again......


Honda does not Instigate, it emulates.....

Mate the vfrs had single sided swingarms before ducati thought about it and as far as undertail exhausts go,the NR 750 had em miles before ducatis and as a matter of fact the yammy rz 500 even before that,so if ya gunna talk facts,get them right.

[Gosling1]

Whenever you start talking about who did stuff first you will find VERY little if any entries that start Ducati or Honda, more likely Rudge, DKW, Zundapp, Coventry etc.

Absolutely correct. There is almost nothing on todays motorcycles that hasn't been invented before - the obvious exception being microchips and associated paraphenalia.

One bloke tried to tell me, with a great deal of insistence, a few years ago that Yamaha invented the reed-valve, and there were no 2-strokes built before 1974 that used a reed-valve in the intake.....

Upon showing him the photographs and stories I had from a 1963 edition of 'Motor Cycle Weekly' (old pommie broadsheet newspaper), with a special section on 'How to make a Reed-valve manifold for your BSA Bantam', and how the reed-valve was first used in 1922 on a Rudge?, he shut the fuck up.

Twin-headlights ?? Forget the 1984 CBX750, try a 1974 Godier-Genoud z900-based endurance racer......even the Munch Mammoth of the same era had twin-headlights !!!

Under-seat exhaust ?? 1984 RZ500 as already pointed out earlier, was the first.

....the other's a... a... have we settled on what we should call a bike which is aimed at people who don't want to fold themselves onto a current race-rep, but who aren't ready for a sports-tourer yet?

Yes, its settled. Its a sports-bike, that happens to be a bit bigger than the 1-litre sports-bikes. Thats all. Why is there a mental block that cuts in at 1 litre , whereby anything over that capacity cannot *possibly* be a sports bike. What a load of cobblers. Its a sports-bike alright (but only in the right hands )

Next time I hose a 1-litre *sports* bike, (probably tomorrow ), I will keep reminding myself that I am not in fact riding a sports bike, but some ponderous barge that cannot go, stop or corner, or anything like a *real* sports bike....

[I-K]

Twin-headlights ?? Forget the 1984 CBX750, try a 1974 Godier-Genoud z900-based endurance racer......even the Munch Mammoth of the same era had twin-headlights !!!

Mhm, but the endurance racer was a one-off and the Munch was a fringe model from a fringe manufacturer.

....the other's a... a... have we settled on what we should call a bike which is aimed at people who don't want to fold themselves onto a current race-rep, but who aren't ready for a sports-tourer yet?

Yes, its settled. Its a sports-bike, that happens to be a bit bigger than the 1-litre sports-bikes. Thats all. Why is there a mental block that cuts in at 1 litre , whereby anything over that capacity cannot *possibly* be a sports bike. What a load of cobblers. Its a sports-bike alright (but only in the right hands )

It's not a sportsbike in the conventional sense because you can't race it in the plug-and-play sense of slipping raceglass onto it and taking it to a race meeting. People tried when Formula Xtreme was going. They chopped 40mm off the swingarm to shorten the wheelbase and get the thing to turn. In the end they gave up and turned the racebike into a registered naked.

The ZX10 didn't take over from the ZX12 for the simple reason that people who buy the 12 are likely not looking at bikes the size and shape of the ZX10.

Simiarly, people who buy the 12 want more ground clearance and a shorter wheelbase than a ZX14 (or a Blackbird or a Busa) can give them...

...and I still think the ZX12-A looks better than the -B...

[Phil]

Yes, its settled. Its a sports-bike, that happens to be a bit bigger than the 1-litre sports-bikes. Thats all. Why is there a mental block that cuts in at 1 litre , whereby anything over that capacity cannot *possibly* be a sports bike. What a load of cobblers. Its a sports-bike alright (but only in the right hands )

Next time I hose a 1-litre *sports* bike, (probably tomorrow ), I will keep reminding myself that I am not in fact riding a sports bike, but some ponderous barge that cannot go, stop or corner, or anything like a *real* sports bike....

nah, you got it all wrong gos, we need the sub litre equivilent for the 12....for those of us without the will power required for 12 ownership.

plus i like the lighter bike in the corners but still need to be comfortable between them

whats this with the hosing.......i thought you lot had water restrictions

[Phil]

It's not a sportsbike in the conventional sense because you can't race it in the plug-and-play sense of slipping raceglass onto it and taking it to a race meeting. People tried when Formula Xtreme was going. They chopped 40mm off the swingarm to shorten the wheelbase and get the thing to turn. In the end they gave up and turned the racebike into a registered naked.

The ZX10 didn't take over the ZX12 for the simple reason that people who buy the 12 are likely not looking at bikes the size and shape of the ZX10.

i wouldnt say not being able to race it (competitively) means that its not a sportsbike.

[Gosling1]

Mhm, but the endurance racer was a one-off and the Munch was a fringe model from a fringe manufacturer.

The Munch is still a motorcycle with twin headlights FFS !!! the fact that it doesn't sell 20 billion per year is TOTALLY FUCKING IRRELAVENT !!! The endurance racer spawned an aftermarket industry of full-fairings with twin-headlights that were fitted to motorcycles all over the world. La Parisienne, Rickman, Harris - they all had twin-headlight aftermarket fairings.... I guess all these twin-headlight bikes don't count either because they weren't mass-produced

It's not a sportsbike in the conventional sense because you can't race it in the plug-and-play sense of slipping raceglass onto it and taking it to a race meeting.

*the conventional sense*......*the plug'n'play sense*.....

Get a grip mate, your personal definitions of what constitutes a sports-bike are way off the mark. Are you telling all the ZX900 owners out there that they don't own a sports-bike because they can't enter it in a race meeting ?? What a load of frogshit What about the owner of an 1996 FZR1000 ??? Can't enter THAT in any race meetings, try telling the owner its a sports-tourer

Perhaps a better definition of a sports-bike is one that can lap Eastern Creek in under 1'50" ???? If so, my 26 yo Z1000 is *most definitely* a sportsbike !!! It leaves my ZX12 for dead

[MickLC]

I didn't see any hosing going on last night, but there were these couple of sheep

[Gosling1]

I didn't see any hosing going on last night, but there were these couple of sheep

bloody sheep !!! scared the dags of me date they did !!!

No hosing last night, your new bodywork is too shiny !!

....whats this with the hosing.......i thought you lot had water restrictions ...

do we ever its drier than a nun's nasty down here