Hi All
Just wanted to say hello.
Having test rode a few bikes including a 2009 GTR, I have just committed to a nice new Blue number.
Due to pick it up Thursday... cant wait!!
Will post again with my thoughts (together with my opinions of some of the oposition I tested) over next few days.
I dare say your opinions of some additions I have in mind will also prove invaluable.
Ride safe
Steve
Steve, welcome to the forum. You have made a wise choice. 8)
Thanks; I think I have.
I have just traded a 600 Ninja and an ST1100 in for a bike that will offer some highlights from both ends. The test ride proved the GTR to be a good prospect. I dont hang about but want some all round ability and I think I have found the answer??
The only concerns at the moment are the seat height ( I am a 5'8" shortarse) and the exhaust which looks unsightly and BIG.
Love the overall package though.
Rather than spending nearly £400 on a genuine Kawasaki Gel seat, (unless you are loaded) if you struggle with the original seat height just get it re-sculptured. This option should cost you less than £100. As for the exhaust, its an acquired taste, you either love it or hate it. :)
Steve ... Welcome ... you certainly have made a good choice .... there are stacks of threads here about everything Gtr .... seats,screens,batteries,kit and oh yes ..... top boxes ;D ;D
Have a look round and look forward to hearing what you think !
Enjoy !
Hi and welcome Steve
Gel seats on eBay go for around £200 - £250, and after market exhaust can be had for about £200
Hello and welcome to the forum. :) I'm a new owner myself... loving it so far, although bought new, so just running the beast in at the moment.
I have got to go through the running in bit after I pick mine up tomorrow. Its a bit of a pain but at least this bike does a fair pace even at low revs.
Hope you are enjoying yours.
Going to order a replacement silencer today.. cant live with the HUGE standard one.
I'll have done 1000 miles by the end of tomorrow... :)
Hang on, that means I'll need a service in a couple of months! I think I'm going to do more miles on this bike than any other. It eats miles for breakfast.
First service is 600 miles and the next one is at 3750.
I just had mine done for 66 pounds.
Oil and filter change isn't compulsory I was told that unless it happens after 12 month not necessary anyway.
Is that your 3.75k service for £66 quid? My first service was free. Hoping the next one will be cheap - can't imagine it's much more than a check of everything.
1k just about up on the odo. Dare anyone take me on at traffic lights on my way home tonight!?
They charged me for 1hr labour :(.
You're a lucky man that you didn't get charged for the 600 mile service.
I was told that Kawasaki stopped the free 1st service earlier this year, so your dealer obviously picks up the tab.
Or maybe it's just M&S in Newcastle taking their customers for a ride?
Guess you will be doing a test of the traction control then cpettifer ;)
Cradley Kawasaki do all their first services for free. :-)
And yes, I need to test the traction control system to ensure my complete safety when operating my motor vehicle. It just so happens to be a dry day out (at the moment here anyway), so I may need to give it more beans than on a wet day to test such a function... ;-)
How do you actually "test" the traction control?
If it works correctly you shouldn't even be aware that it's there.
I guess the bike just feels a bit "gutless" when it's wet. ;D
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=28PO6QMzcsU (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=28PO6QMzcsU)
When the traction control is working the KTRC indicator light flashes, this light is located at the bottom right of the rev counter.There are lots of cattle grids in and around the dales and I often have the light flashing as I go over them without being as carefull as you would on a bike with no traction control, so it does work.
Thanks Geoff, I am confident it works.
So either I haven't triggered it yet or I just didn't notice the light because I was too busy looking somewhere else.
I definitely know how it feels on a powerful bike without KTRC on a wet road - butterflies in the stomach territory. :D
And I know the GTR ABS works very well too since it probably saved my bacon at least once already.
I put a video on this forum many months ago which shows a GTR rider riding over wet plastic sheeting with the traction control on and then off. The bike was on stabilisers to prevent it toppling without the traction control on. If I could find it again I'd link it, but its there somewhere.
I have had the traction control intervene on many occasions now, mainly in the snow and ice, but also the odd surprising cow pat on juntion exits. I will say that the flashing TC light on the dash is bright enough to notice it even in broad daylight, even when you are not looking at the dash.
I would not say that it has ever saved me from a crash, of course I still exhibit caution in these conditions, but it does stop that buttock clenching rear wheel stepping sideways a foot incident I am sure we have all experienced. It is an extra reassurance.
I am so impressed with TC that I can honestly say I will not buy another bike without TC and ABS. I simply cannot imagine why you would not have them.
Martin.
Martin, I totally agree.
I can only guess that those Anti-ABS campaigners have never ridden a bike with it. :-[
OK, maybe a Rossi can stop the same bike without ABS on a wet surface in a slightly shorter distance, but all those wannabes and show-offs probably just over-shoot or fall off trying. ;D
Quote from: Lonewolf on October 06, 2011, 10:28:49 PM
I put a video on this forum many months ago which shows a GTR rider riding over wet plastic sheeting with the traction control on and then off. The bike was on stabilisers to prevent it toppling without the traction control on. If I could find it again I'd link it, but its there somewhere.
I think this was the thread:
http://www.gtr1400.co.uk/forums/index.php/topic,113.msg784.html#msg784 (http://www.gtr1400.co.uk/forums/index.php/topic,113.msg784.html#msg784)
But the video is no longer on youtube! Hmph.
Mecki couldn't agree more about ABS I was a bit undecided about it UNTIL a bloke pulled right into my path from a side turning and I just know that without ABS I would have panic braked and gone down and smashed myself to bits on the side of his Land rover, so my first experience of a bike with ABS (1250 Bandit) was indeed in my opinion a life saver. These people that say that they can stop quicker without it are deluding themselves, in a panic stop ie when someone has just pulled out in front of you I fear that in dry conditions you would have little chance of keeping the bike upright and on wet roads no chance at all, ok I accept that you may still hit the car, but I would rather do that whilst still on the bike than sliding along the road on my ear.
Yep, that was the link. Shame its gone. :(
This has got to be the most frustrating first few days of owning a bike ever :-\
I picked the bike up late Thursday and rode it home (20 miles on the clock) and since then everything has gone mad and I have been running around sorting things out for family/ work, including getting my sons latest purchase; a CBR600.
As of this morning, the only things I have done with it is spend an hour in the garage yesterday evening getting my head round operating the controls.(still 20 miles on the clock)
Still things can only get better ::)
Oh don't worry .... they will ;D
Even further down than me.. Are you an Emit or the real thing? ....Hello any how.
Hi Ziderman. Both my grandmothers were Cornish, but i'm an emit really. Moved down 4 years ago;always wanted to; but brought up in Wiltshire.
Like me then Cornish father welsh Mother & born in Somerset lol
As long as we can all enjoy our bikes in an area we like being in, who cares about the background.
Maybe we could arrange a meet and a run out some time ;)
Quote from: coastrider on October 01, 2011, 09:55:56 PM
Thanks; I think I have.
I have just traded a 600 Ninja and an ST1100 in for a bike that will offer some highlights from both ends. The test ride proved the GTR to be a good prospect. I dont hang about but want some all round ability and I think I have found the answer??
The only concerns at the moment are the seat height ( I am a 5'8" shortarse) and the exhaust which looks unsightly and BIG.
Love the overall package though.
;
at 5'8" your a bit taller than me! I fitted a gel seat it lowerd the bike enough so I can get one foot fully flat on the ground, 12 months and 3,000 miles later loving the bike and never had any issues even when fully loaded or backing the bike up! providing its on level ground, if not I just get off and push the big sod back. of course when your riding the bike its as light as a feather, yes! its a big bike, but am only 5'7" and 12 stone and the bike as never cause me any concerns. its just matter of getting use to it! I can see where your coming from the st 1100 seat height I think was quite low at approx 800mm the gtr standard seat is 815mm the kawasaki gel seat will drop that down to approx the same. :)
Hi 2kwacks
I have got used to the height and at the moment I think the standard seat is ok. In all honesty i would have a gel seat, but for the price they are :-\
The only time I really want a lower seat is when I back the bike down our drive. There is a steep drop at the end and when I back down (on the bike) I have to do the last bit rolling back without being able to touch the ground. It's a bit unnerving at first but you sort of get used to it. I usually manager to roll the last 2 meters backwards with my feet up now!!
Doing our drive make any road junction seem a doddle ;D
Quote from: coastrider on November 07, 2011, 07:26:09 PM
Hi 2kwacks
I have got used to the height and at the moment I think the standard seat is ok. In all honesty i would have a gel seat, but for the price they are :-\
The only time I really want a lower seat is when I back the bike down our drive. There is a steep drop at the end and when I back down (on the bike) I have to do the last bit rolling back without being able to touch the ground. It's a bit unnerving at first but you sort of get used to it. I usually manager to roll the last 2 meters backwards with my feet up now!!
Doing our drive make any road junction seem a doddle ;D
have seen the gel seats on ebay selling from £150.00 to £200 still a fair amount of money, but they are £380 new. also check under the zzr1400 category its the same seat and they just put the zzr1400 catchers off the original seat on the gel seat. also with me being a short arse have mastered over the years to control the front brake precisely at slow to a complete stop. due to the way our roads camber I tend to stop with my right foot down. it's terrible what us short arses have to put up with ;) I also ride the b.m.w rt 1200 at work. which on its lowest seat setting is 820mm I still get one foot flat on the ground, but I think the foot rest is a bad design. its a fixed foot rest and its placed in such away it will not fold in if the back of your leg touches when stoping, this means when you do stop you need to spread your leg out that little bit more. incase you roll on a bit! which dosen't help us short arses out >:( but have got the gtr so am ;D-ing.
I usually stop with my right foot down anyway. Got used to it so I can engage first when I can pull away without doing the 'two step'. I have never had a problem using the brake and the throttle together.
As you rightly say, when virtically challenged, using the camber to your advantage becomes quite useful.
There's always a way to get round these minor inconveniences ;D
qoute! There's always a way to get round these minor inconveniences. "no pun" intended I hope! ;)
QuoteI also ride the b.m.w rt 1200 at work. which on its lowest seat setting is 820mm I still get one foot flat on the ground, but I think the foot rest is a bad design. its a fixed foot rest and its placed in such away it will not fold in if the back of your leg touches when stoping, this means when you do stop you need to spread your leg out that little bit more
Does that mean the cylinder heads ground out before the footrest heroblobs, hence no pivot?
Quote from: coastrider on November 09, 2011, 03:47:50 PM
Does that mean the cylinder heads ground out before the footrest heroblobs, hence no pivot?
in a nut shell! by jove you've got it ;) the way to cure this small problem is to change both the voo voo valve and the bossfolic but this can prove dam right impossible to achieve and even harder to find ;D
Hello...where a bouts in west country..?
Quote from: Ziderman on November 25, 2011, 04:18:08 PM
Hello...where a bouts in west country..?
Click on his "profile" :)