CrazyBiker
Wizard
Got to test ride a brand new 0 mile Ninja 1000 this morning.
In short- FZ1 is 3x better in terms of power and ergonomics.
Likes:
Dislikes:
Trading the FZ1 for one will be a foolish move IMHO. It is only slightly better than a stock FZ1. In short, a good choice if you don't modify your bikes. But the negatives make FZ1 the winner for me.
Yamaha made a great bike and they did that 6 years back.
In short- FZ1 is 3x better in terms of power and ergonomics.
Likes:
- Looks really good - better than FZ1
- Great wind protection - ya don't feel a thing at 95mph. Took it to 95 mph a few times - didn't feel the speed at all . Or the speedometer was erratic. I am starting to appreciate full fairings more. Maybe I should have kept mine.
- Good motor and good acceleration, smooth FI in stock form
- Front suspension is good, but the rear shock is ok. They did skimp on the damping adjustments. The left fork doesn't have compression adjuster at the bottom.
- Super slick gearbox. Kawasaki probably makes the smoothest transmissions.
Dislikes:
- My fully modded FZ1 feels much much more powerful and smoother than this stock ninja. My FZ1 is an angry beast compared to the Ninja which seems a tame cow. Once modded the Ninja will definitely open up but I suspect if it will be really better than the FZ1.
- Weird handlebar angle - more forward. Those bars need to be a bit outward. The inward angle put a lot of pressure on the outward area of my wrists
- Illegible gauges
- Real narrow bike which I don't like. It is difficult to get a solid grip with your legs and I imagine difficult to maneuver in tight twisties. I can't magine how brutal it would be to hold on to a naked Z1000.
- Most irritating were ball-numbing vibrations at 5500 -7000 rpms which is not at all good for touring
- No coolant and air intake temperature readouts which is lame IMO. Atleast I couldn't find them. Maybe I should have looked more carefully.
- No dual running lights - hate that.
Trading the FZ1 for one will be a foolish move IMHO. It is only slightly better than a stock FZ1. In short, a good choice if you don't modify your bikes. But the negatives make FZ1 the winner for me.
Yamaha made a great bike and they did that 6 years back.
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