Kawasaki Sportsbike Riders Club - Australia - Online Forum

Welcome, again.

You don't know how close that ZX-14 came....

Welcome again Daffy,
bike looks cool,would that be this years model VFR or other.

It's an '05 Pabs, but still new as it has only 35klms on it. I got an ok deal so i took it, i know it's not a kwaka but hey i luv the V4 sound.

shoooosh, Love that sound too
fill me us in later on your new ride Daffy,there a few closet H riders here mate,I'd be interest in your view of the Vtech& that Sync Braking system too
enjoy

Will do Pabs

Welcome Daffy

welcome back
welcome back
welcome back

ZX14 or VFR8
Must have been a hard decision (seriously)
and certainly NOT based on looks

You have unbelievably shiny bikes.
Welcome at my place any time for bike shining.

frogzx12r wrote:ZX14 or VFR8
Must have been a hard decision (seriously)
and certainly NOT based on looks

It was, i think both bikes are ugly and handsome at the same time. Now i can freely admit that one of the reasons for getting a 14 would be because it's the latest and greatest. The thing is the 14 is a (somewhat) new release with possible flaws not yet discovered(though that was a minor consideration).

VFR8 is not perfect but has had years of evolution to get right. At the end of the day i also wanted something that wasn't an inline 4, plus my riding habits i took into account too.

Yes i'm getting old(er), i finally have a bike that is not second hand (thanks to a decent paying job at last) and i can enjoy my riding experiences even more.

Pabs wrote:shoooosh, Love that sound too
fill me us in later on your new ride Daffy,there a few closet H riders here mate,I'd be interest in your view of the Vtech& that Sync Braking system too
enjoy

I'll attempt to answer that now pabs.

Linked Brakes:
I'm not a 10/10ths rider, or even 8/10s so keep that in mind when i comment on the linked brakes.
Stopping Power:
More than adequate, i 've had to quickly brake a few times now and they pull the bike up nicely. I use both rear and front to get max. braking results.

Stability:
Subjective- bike did not go offline or become unstable during any braking operation.

Front/Rear Lever Operation:
I've always tended to use the rear in low speed/suburban riding, so with the rear brake operating on a front piston too i get a little more retardation while braking. Like any bike you have to use front/rear to stop properly anyway.

VTECH:
I could go on about this but i'll make my comments brief:

It cuts in @ 7000rpm.
You notice the power come on, but nothing special unless you've come from a smaller capacity bike.

With only 2 valves in operation under 7k rpm, if you want to do something quick you have to use the gearbox (nothing unusual there for most bikes anyway).
The biggest bugbear there is if you want to overtake someone, if you just roll on in 5th or 6th gear then have a cup of tea waiting to get around a vehicle. (if you stay in 6th the gearing means 160klm/h before VTech hits)

I've not done much cornering, but if you want to hang with anyone else you need to keep the revs up and the Vtech engaged.

I now have over 2000klms on the bike so the VTech transition is now a lot smoother, since i fitted Staintunes at the 1000klm service it's a less restricted exhaust and seems to run a little more smoothly overall.

Conclusion: It's not a KWAKA
All around rideable bike, not sports, not tourer, but can do a bit of both if you want it to.

g'day daffy nice ride

Go the 10R.