The bike the new VFR1200 should have been?

Just a thought...

First Ride: 2011 Kawasaki Ninja 1000 - Sport Rider Magazine

 

Nice bike if you only want Kawasaki quality of finish

 

Echo, I totally agree with you. I just saw the ninja in a dealer the other day for the first time. I drooled Its a beautiful bike, sporty, but with a realistic riding position. I like the VFR1200, but its far too expensive(5 grand more than the ninja) not as pretty as the ninja, and a little big for my tastes. I do want to get a look at the new triumph sprint GT, looks like a winner in my book. Not that I'm in any position to buy a new bike... but men can dream right?

 

there is a very low-mile 1200 sitting in my local used dealer now.
looks great, and feels good static. seems kinda big just sitting there,
but im sure its all good once moving above 5-MPH.

i rode the new sprint-GT at the local demo day last year. there is alot to like about that bike.
the triple mill is damn infectious, and 1050 would be plenty of power for my style and needs.
only downside to me is the price, and the roasting my ankles took in mixed traffic conditions.

 

+1 I like the new VFR1200 but my first thought when I sat on the new Ninja 1000 at the deal was "Kawi built themselves a vfr!" If only it were a V4...

 

It would be sweet if the ninja was a V4, but I've heard good things about that 1000cc inline motor they have in it. From the test vids i've seen it also sounds pretty nice too.

 

NIce bike, I guess, from the magazine reviews. But it doesn't work aesthetically for me. I like pretty bikes that function well - and if my pretty bike doesn't function as well as I would like, $$$ can fix that. It's more difficult to fix ugliness.

 

I would have looked at one but it would have had to have been a perfect fit like the 1200 is; look at the exhaust it looks very familiar; I'm liking the linked brakes and ABS. I haven't seen a bike that didn't have a few good qualities. I would park next the z1000.

 

Personally, I wouldn't touch the Kawi. No doubting some of its attributes, but the 750rpm reduction, and resulting 20hp loss for the U.S. market, epitomizes Kawasaki's lack of focus where R&D is concerned. A better solution would have been to design a compliant chimney, regardless of aesthetics, leaving the decision to the owner as to whether or not it should be replaced with an aftermarket, but with the stated redline and HP intact nonetheless. I know, I know, 170hp is still a respectable amount of power, but it's not 193hp and that's what you're paying for. Why even bother developing such a powerful machine only to cut its legs off at production? Hopefully Honda is developing a V4 superbike as we speak -signs point to a definite maybe- because I'd literally bet a months salary that it goes to market with both testicles attached.

Edit: Nevermind, just read the article. I thought we were talking the ZX-10.

 

I wondered for a sec there as I thought, "Wait a second, the new Z1000 has more balls than my ZX-14?!!!"

Ida freaked...

 

While the the 1000sx Ninja looks and is packaged well and agree in some ways is the bike the VFR800 replacement should have been.

Having similar upright bars to the FZ1S I don't like its chook chaser riding position and a mate who was going to trade his Gen 4 in on the Ninja after several serious test rides decided not when he found out you can't have the factory top box and panniers on at the same time.

 

It serves the same purpose as the VFR: sport bike for the road... except with less performance, less character, less refinement and a crude finish. Of course it's cheaper.

 

and uglier

 

I'll give you the rest, but I think the Ninja would more than hold it's own against the new VFR, and will likely out handle it by far.

Wow, I think most would disagree; since the new VFR has garnered such vehement opposition to it's looks...

 

In the UK we refer to the VFR 1200 as a Marmite bike as the products advert is "Love it or hate it"

 

I admit my taste is Bohemian - I love the look of Terblanche's 999/749! I think the Kawasaki looks like a Transformer.

 

+1, the forward and down "sloping" angles on the Kawi look hidious. I would happily spend a little more to get the 1200; which gets better looking with each glance. Yeah, I would have to tweak a few things on the 7gen, but what bike doesn't need a few mods these days.

 

The more I go into my garage the more I get to like the looks of my VFR

 

As do many of the bikes nower days...