Thread: I Ordered a New Bike Today

I know. I told them I'd leave a cash deposit for the full value, but still not interested.

If you go to two exhaust pipes don't forget to re-jet the carbs .. but it probably has EFI, right?

Originally Posted by Gerbil

Nice, I've been thinking of getting the 250cc version, but I'm also tempted by the Honda 250R ABS.....

I've got a 2012 Honda CBR 250 ABS for sale if you are interested. Give it to you for 110,000. Very low miles and I paid over 140,000 for it new.

Originally Posted by Camel Toe

If you go to two exhaust pipes don't forget to re-jet the carbs .. but it probably has EFI, right?

Carbs? How old skool of you.

I mentioned a 'PC-V' in the OP- that's a 'Power Commander 5' EFI recalibration unit that allows re-mapping of the fuel injection system via your computer (I had one for my Busa- I believe it was a PC-II- it worked like a charm when I swapped the stock dual exhaust for a single-sided M4 set-up).

Originally Posted by FailSafe

Originally Posted by TonyBKK

Congratulations! The fastest most powerful street legal motorcycle on the planet- WOOT!

Are you getting it from Kawasaki, Thailand (restricted) or from Red Baron, Full Power US Spec?

There is no 'power restricted' version of the 14R (in Japan or anywhere else) just like there was never a restricted Hayabusa- in Japan they sell it as an 'import version' only- I'm getting the full 200ps version- it took a while, but I confirmed this through Kawasaki (the Japanese and European versions are also sold as the ZZR-1400R- the 14R badge means it's for the US market- they might fool around with the ECU or exhaust of the ZZR version)- the only thing restricted (on all versions) is the top speed (electronically limited to 186mph/300kph).

There's a lot of speculative (and incorrect) info on the GT-Rider thread- the one poster who actually got his info from Kawi confirmed the power specs.

Red Baron told me they're having issues with their Kawasaki supplier and couldn't give any firm ordering info for a 2013 model so I went through Kawasaki direct (a member of GT-Rider just bought a 2012 from Red Baron- they still have a black one on the floor, but I want the ABS version- I'm also not thrilled with his account of the first oil change that he recently had done there- not changing the filter on a bike that comes with a special break-in oil [nearly half a liter of which is retained in the filter- you really want all that stuff out of your bike with the first change] from the factory and that's known to leave metal shavings in the filter during the break-in period is an egregious mistake, especially when it can be changed without removing the fairing and only costs about 700 baht- I'll be doing my own maintenance).

I hope you're right about the ZX14R being full power.

When Kawasaki, Thailand sold the ZX10R here it was restricted at the throttle bodies, exhaust and ECU and was a bitch to de-restrict because the wiring loom couldn't accept a full power US/EU ecu...

Funny thing was, the sales people at Kawasaki didn't even know the bike was restricted. As I'm sure you can image there were some pretty irate buyers and once the word got out sales of the ZX10R were terrible, to the point that Kawasaki quit selling the bike here.

Originally Posted by TonyBKK

I hope you're right about the ZX14R being full power.

When Kawasaki, Thailand sold the ZX10R here it was restricted at the throttle bodies, exhaust and ECU and was a bitch to de-restrict because the wiring loom couldn't accept a full power US/EU ecu...

Funny thing was, the sales people at Kawasaki didn't even know the bike was restricted. As I'm sure you can image there were some pretty irate buyers and once the word got out sales of the ZX10R were terrible, to the point that Kawasaki quit selling the bike here.

I didn't get my info from the sales people at Kawasaki. First they told me it had 180ps, which had to be wrong as a Japan-spec bike would be limited to 97hp- then I started digging and calling around- they had given me the specs for the '06-'11 model.

Like I said, though, anything badged as a ZX-14R has a Kawasaki VIN and conforms to certain specs (as it's the US- actually North American as it's also sold in Canada- model)- if it was badged as the ZZR-1400R I would be concerned about the ECU settings as that's the Japan/European version- if you buy a ZX-14R in
Japan, you have to pay extra tax as it's considered an 'import'.

Nice piece of Japanese Engineering...will it be used for touring or around town short stop and go?

Needless to say such "crotch Rockets," are made for only the brave. They say that owners have a "death wish?" riding these in the most civilized worlds is a risk but one would think that in Thailand that risk factor is magnified by about 65 million.

Best of luck and happy motoring Failsafe.

Originally Posted by ltnt

Nice piece of Japanese Engineering...will it be used for touring or around town short stop and go?

It's not 'transportation'- I can't imagine a worse bike to use around town or to hit the shops. I'll be staying well outside of urban areas and trailering the bike through any really dangerous (as far as traffic goes- I won't be riding in BKK, i.e.). That's no guarantee of anything, but I'll be judiciously choosing my spots.

Originally Posted by ltnt

Needless to say such "crotch Rockets," are made for only the brave. They say that owners have a "death wish?" riding these in the most civilized worlds is a risk but one would think that in Thailand that risk factor is magnified by about 65 million.

Well, I don't have a 'death wish' and I've been riding 'big bikes' in Thailand for over a decade (and about a quarter-century overall) and I'm still alive (knock on wood) so I've got a pretty good idea of what's waiting for me.

Originally Posted by ltnt

Best of luck and happy motoring Failsafe.

Thanks.

Question: At high end do you actually hear anything or just the wind going by?

Must be an amazing rush to go through the gears and hit 200kph in 0-6 sec.?

Lots of really nice rural rides waiting for you. the rides through the Northern mountains are terrific!

Originally Posted by FailSafe

Well, I went over the Kawasaki Japan site (I lived in Japan for years and can still read enough to get by- I also remember full-well the Japan-spec vs. rest-of-the-world-spec bikes- I once owned a Japan-spec VFR which was limited to 77hp while everywhere else got the 100hp version) and as I suspected there are currently no bikes bigger than 1000cc (except for the ZRX1200) offered in their domestic line-up for 2013- that doesn't mean you can't buy any Kawi you want in Japan, but it does mean that there are no Japan-spec versions (meaning power-restricted depending on displacement)- they are sold domestically as 'import-only'.

Note, though, Tony, as you mentioned the ZX-10R- in the case of this particular bike, the European version is actually 20hp up on the American version due to ECU emmissions restrictions, but an ECU re-flash can be done for $400 (in the US, anyway...)- if you have the choice, the Euro version would be the better pick- there's no difference between the ZX-14R and ZZR-1400, however (that's one of the reasons for the huge exhaust cannisters- they satisfy emmissions requirements for both Europe and the US, which leaves the ECU settings the same for both regions).

Cool man, I lived in Japan for 10 years as well and miss the Land of the Rising Sun. When I moved there I brought along my US Spec CBR600F2 and had an absolute blast riding all over Japan.

Sadly when I moved to Thailand it was just too complicated, expensive and uncertain to warrant trying to bring the bike with me so I gifted it to a good friend there.

What was so weird about the restricted ZX10R that Kawasaki sold in Thailand is that it was neither Japan spec, US spec or Euro spec. After a fair bit of searching around it turns out that the ECU in that bike is Malaysian spec!

Not only was the ECU different, but the wiring loom as well so you couldn't just unplug the Malaysian spec ECU and replace it with US or EU.

Anyway, congrats again on your bike! Whether it's 180 or 210hp it's still gonna be one of the fastest machines on the road here.

Keep her shiny side up and Let the Good Times ROLL!

Tony

Originally Posted by ltnt

Question: At high end do you actually hear anything or just the wind going by?

Must be an amazing rush to go through the gears and hit 200kph in 0-6 sec.?

Lots of really nice rural rides waiting for you. the rides through the Northern mountains are terrific!

A lot depends on your helmet- it's either fairly quiet or there's a lot of wind noise.

Yeah, I'm looking forward to riding up north- I just don't want to get worn out getting there, hence the trailer.

Originally Posted by TonyBKK

Cool man, I lived in Japan for 10 years as well and miss the Land of the Rising Sun. When I moved there I brought along my US Spec CBR600F2 and had an absolute blast riding all over Japan.

Sadly when I moved to Thailand it was just too complicated, expensive and uncertain to warrant trying to bring the bike with me so I gifted it to a good friend there.

What was so weird about the restricted ZX10R that Kawasaki sold in Thailand is that it was neither Japan spec, US spec or Euro spec. After a fair bit of searching around it turns out that the ECU in that bike is Malaysian spec!

Not only was the ECU different, but the wiring loom as well so you couldn't just unplug the Malaysian spec ECU and replace it with US or EU.

Anyway, congrats again on your bike! Whether it's 180 or 210hp it's still gonna be one of the fastest machines on the road here.

Keep her shiny side up and Let the Good Times ROLL!

Tony

It's the 210hp version- I wouldn't have bought a 180hp version (and they don't make a 180hp version in any case).

I lived in Tokyo from '91-'99- I had a great time there, and rode the entire time on several bikes (the last being an ugly purple 1996 GSXR-1100R- I loved that bike).

I'll join GT Rider once I get my bike and I'll make it up to one of the meet-ups eventually.

What was your first bike? How old were you when you started riding? Was there a natural progression towards bigger and bigger bikes and speed?

Originally Posted by ltnt

What was your first bike? How old were you when you started riding? Was there a natural progression towards bigger and bigger bikes and speed?

I was in my late teens- I rode a Suzuki GSX-250L- it couldn't get out of its own way, but it was a great starter bike:



From there I went to a VFR-750F, then to a ZL-900 Eliminator, and then moved to larger sportbikes (quite a few Suzukis, including the Hayabusa I mentioned- had I not previously had a GSXR-1100R, I think it would have been very hard for me to properly handle that bike)- I think it was a good way to learn- you have to start somewhat small before you move up the chain (unless you prefer the lower-displacement bikes, which can be a ton of fun).

Eight years of commuting through Tokyo traffic also helped me learn how to ride in a crowd (though it was a much more civilized atmosphere than a place like Bangkok).

You picked a great colour, it's beautiful in the flesh. I can't remember where I saw it (Tony?) but I think it was in the Rama 9 showroom.

Originally Posted by Satonic

You picked a great colour, it's beautiful in the flesh. I can't remember where I saw it (Tony?) but I think it was in the Rama 9 showroom.

If I had my choice I would have gone for the special edition black/green, but apparently this year's allotment is for the blue only (though at least it's way better than the white, which I don't like at all)- I was hoping RB could get me one but they weren't really optimistic at all (maybe they get a lot of time-wasters, and I'm not in BKK so I called instead of stopping in- they did say not until June or July at the earliest so I went with another dealer).

Who did you go with?

But now you will have to get all new gear so you don't clash

Originally Posted by Necron99

But now you will have to get all new gear so you don't clash

That color goes with everything.

Originally Posted by Satonic

Who did you go with?

PM sent.

Originally Posted by FailSafe

I was in my late teens- I rode a Suzuki GSX-250L-

A real beauty. I think I need one of those, again...
In the 80's I traded a VW dune buggy for a Yamaha 250 dirt bike. Rode it several times around the dirt track nearby until one day I took a hard fall and the bike came down on me full force. That was my last ride. Thought that if this was the good result, then the bad result couldn't be that far away. Sold it and never again got back on one.

I'm thinking about re-entry to the world of bikes since we plan on moving in the near future to a far more rural location. Another 250 would do me nicely I think.

There are some interesting choices in LOS at the moment.

If you haven't ridden in 20+ years it would be a good idea to start small, of course- bikes have come a LONG way since then- you'll be surprised how much better they are now.

^ not if he buys a lifan.
Be the same bike.