I'm "thinking" of selling my 1402, I've been thinking I'm getting a bit sick of the naked bike because where I live the wind never seems to stop and I was thinking I might be happier with a fared bike, so I went into Canberra and at Joe's MC shop they had a ZX1400 so I took it out.
I thought the low bar riding position would be a deal breaker but after a few kays it wasn't an issue and I could always put 2" risers on if needed.
I didn't get to ride the ZX for long and only in 80kph speed limits so I couldn't take it up to hiway speeds.
I got off the bike n said yeah, thanks for the test ride n got back on the 1402 to take the 75k hiway ride back home.
Strangely the 1402 felt like a spongy air buffeting disappointment when I got back on it.
I expected to feel right back at home but couldn't stop thinking about the ZX. This was around two weeks ago and the thought of selling my 1402 is stronger than ever.
Maybe I just need a change?
Any thoughts please.
@ Tony Nitrus, Tony, you had a ZX1400?
What about putting a bikini fairing on the 1402? Is it the ZX that has only 5 gears, or is that the Yamaha im thinking of?
6 gears on the ZX Eric, bikini, no way in the world mate, I chucked the one it came with in the bin, it was so noisy.
Get the Kwakka and keep GSX....... :grin:
D.D.
A friend had one, loved it, although almost stacked it into the back of a car that pulled into his lane whilst doing 160 plus on the german autobahn, new undercrackers needed after that . Very capable bike.
Nic, rode one i think was 14. Only around town like you,out on open road would be awesome.Power like Busa, top quality everything. A real licence loser if i had one.Great bikes.
I would like a green one.
Yes, the green one is what I'd like too. On a whim, today I rode back to Joe's MC with the idea that I'd have another ride on the one I rode, you guessed it, bloody sold :cry2:
So I just turned around and rode back home. In doing so I had the ride of my life on the 1402. I rode faster than the good ol law would have approved, man what a freakin great bike our gsx is, when you're out on the hiway and have the guts to abandon the boot on your throat, ie, the law, these bikes grow another leg. If you just saunter along not wanting to get into trouble it's all just so bloody boring. I think I've fallen back in love with mine. In saying that, I'd love a green ZX. 200 horses would be interesting lol.
Quote from: grog on Tuesday, 19 March 2024, 05:23 PMNic, rode one i think was 14. Only around town like you,out on open road would be awesome.Power like Busa, top quality everything. A real licence loser if i had one.Great bikes.
There's one in Sydney with 125 thou kays but just under 5 grand, if it wasn't in Syd I'd go get it but I'm not riding in Syd traffic.
Nic, blue one at Glenwood, on gumtree. $5500 negotiable. Looks good, twin Yoshis, rack, power commander.
Quote from: grog on Tuesday, 19 March 2024, 06:16 PMNic, blue one at Glenwood, on gumtree. $5500 negotiable. Looks good, twin Yoshis, rack, power commander.
Yeah that's a nice lookin one but it's in Sydney.
On outskirts, youd be fine👍
Quote from: grog on Tuesday, 19 March 2024, 07:28 PMOn outskirts, youd be fine👍
Maybe, no rego though. Thanks for having a look mate, I'll be keeping my eyes open for one with a bit of rego and not in Sydney. One'll come up sooner or later, it took me 2 years to fine my Suzy.
Nic, was talking to Mate today who owned ZX. He had a first model GSX14 for 13 yrs, 120 th ks. His thoughts were, gsx is fine but hard work at speed, ZX just a rocket, slips thru the air, any speed you want.Comfort, servicing, fuel mileage, tyres distance he never noticed much difference.Reckons hed own either again. Now has GTR Kawa, reckons a big step above other two, his words.
A mate asked if I'd had a look at the GTRs, so I had a look, yeah naa, don't like the look of em much.
When I was riding the ZX it has on the dash a readout as you ride, when I was just cruising at 80ks it said 14.2k per litre of fuel. I had 200ks on the gsx trip, I filled it up and it came to 17k per litre so quite a bit different and I've watched a few vids where they say the ZX does use more fuel. Anyway, like I said, I'll keep my eyes open, one will show up in the nsw country area just like my gsx did. Until then I'm happy to keep riding the gsx, I just don't want to have to maintain two bikes but I might end up doing just that :(
I'll admit to sitting on a new Busa last week. Popped in to my local shop for a coffee and there it was in shiny orange.
But nah love my 1400, and I was reminded why I sold my gsxr1000 K6. My legs/knees don't like the high pegs...
The 1400 is my 56 th bike and will probably see me out (I'm 75 on 10th April ).
Which reminds me ,by then I'll have 60 years of riding under my belt...
I rode into Canberra today to ride 2 ZX14s at a difference bike shop. One an 07, the other an 06. I tell ya, they were both pieces of shit. I marvel at how bike shops won't do a bloody thing to make a used bike sellable. Neither of them ran like you'd want, I got out on the 2nd one only then did I realise it had no mirrors :happy1:
I'm starting to get the picture, if you want an even half decent bike you have to buy private.
I wish I had the funds, I'd just bite the bullet and get a busa. I'm 70 n I didn't mind the low bars and the high pegs, if only the bikes weren't crap.
Roo, I think you may be our oldest member still riding. I'll see what info can be dug out of the database
Owned a GTR1400 for a year it was a nice bike, what turned me off was the plastics and amount of time spent removing them to change an air filter. Also factor in 10 hours to check the shims quoted by a Kwacka dealer .. longer if any need changing.
I love the naked bikes,
Bit late but hope you had a great Birthday Roo :cheers: :)
Quote from: Kiwifruit on Friday, 12 April 2024, 03:26 PMBit late but hope you had a great Birthday Roo :cheers: :)
Cheers bud, hopin to get out for a ride but finally the rain has come to the Horowhenua. Lawns are all brown so we need it..
Be another week yet ?
ps had to renew my licence for 75yrs, Med cert and some stupid questions for $90 then $21 for the Licence.... Repeat again for Licence at 80 yrs fark ! question is will I still be riding ? lol.
A bloody good effort Roo. I struggle sometimes at 68.ive thought about a lighter bike but nothing i like.
Well I bought one, it's an 07 model, 61tho Ks, it has 1" bar risers, full 4:1 yoshi exhaust. It looks black but in the sun it has blue sparkle through the black paint, absolutely stunning to look at. Double bubble screen, rear seat cowl, unfitted Ventura. The guy was such a nice bloke, I had to travel 3 hours in the car and ride the bike home, the owner did an oil and filter change and gave me 10 more ltrs of oil.
Anyway I had a few hours to ride her home and find out a little about it. I'm pretty sure I would have been sorer on the Suzuki. I stopped for one break, strangely it wasn't my arse that got sore but my groins and inner legs, I think that's just from riding longer than I have in eons. My hands did finally need a break but all in all I'm pretty happy with how it is to ride.
I've been wanting to get out of the wind for ages, yesterday it was a cloudless beautiful 20° and 25K winds so I got to see how she fares in the wind, there's no way I could ride the Suzuki all afternoon in those winds, I was cruising at 120 kph on the Hume, I figure that's about 115 real at the most in a 110 speed limit?? I reckon now I can ride no matter the wind and that's a real win for me.
And let's not even talk about the power, FFS, say no more.
The old owner was quite concerned for me and begged me to take it easy on more than one occasion which I did, my main objective was to get home without being booked, I "think" I achieved that. I gave it a little squirt coming back onto the freeway after my break. You just marvel at that kind of power, quicker than a busa. Has power commander so the speed restriction has been bypassed, the guy said he's had it to 300kph but it will do 335, oh that'll come in real handy.
Anyway here she is, I still have the 1402 but not sure for how much longer. Now the getting to know the bike starts in Ernest.
Well done Nic.They are awesome bikes but but be careful with that licence, so easy to be fast
Good on ya Nic, you've scratched an itch!
Smart looking bike Nic. Be careful out there. It looks fast in the photo !!
Very nice, I've ridden and would buy if I could afford a 1400GTR :)
Thank you for all the well wishes, I do appreciate it.
Well I've had it now for a few days and it's already costing me. Had to order a front michi road 6 to go with the rear, while the front has plenty of tread it is starting to square off and when I checked the date it was 2012 :facepalm:
So $300 for a tyre, it's being delivered to my house, I will fit it myself. The suspension was set really by someone who knows nothing about bike suspension. Luckily I do so it now rides so much better even with the crap front tyre. Being a new old bike there are lots of things to check, I will get to them one at a time. These bikes not having a centre stand are a real pita, I have a rear paddock stand but have had to order a front one, it would be so much easier with a centre stand, Kawasaki does sell one but they won't sell it online. If I want to take the rear shock out I'll have to winch it up by a chain to the shed rafters, same if I want to do the fork oil.
Very soon I want to remove the pair valve rubbish, the bike pops quite a lot on decel. While I'm at that I'll check the plugs. To do anything you need to start removing plastic, I knew this going in but still it's a pita as well. I've ordered oxford heated grips and battery tender wires. Even the battery is behind plastic.
The wonderful space under the Suzuki seat is nowhere to be found on the ZX, there is absolutely NO room under the seat.
I am already more than aware of how hard it is to keep the bike at legal hi way speeds, really easy to look down n see you are doing 120 when only 3 seconds earlier you were on 100. I'm told I'll get used to it.
Supposed to have 3000Ks on the chain n front sprocket, when I have the rear wheel off I'll check the sprocket, the carrier bearing and the cush drive rubbers for play. Wheel bearing as well.
Brake pads, coolant, fork oil, fork seals, the list goes on n on, steering bearings and lube. It's just the price you pay when you buy a used bike.
Apart from all that hooey, what a freakin bike it is. I'm looking forward to the ride improving with the new tyre and the pair system removed. Simple things like dropping the idle speed 100 revs so it goes into gear easier, neutral esp and the suspension settings that were completely wrong and really, impossible to understand, the bike should ride so much better. I don't really mind all the work, it gives me something to do.
Cheers men.
Quote from: VladTepes on Tuesday, 23 April 2024, 10:12 PMVery nice, I've ridden and would buy if I could afford a 1400GTR :)
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You should probably invest in some form of cruise control to keep your license 😈😈😈
Nic, PIA plastic covered bikes, such a nightmare to do little things.Diavel was prime example. Around 3 hrs to change battery, i dont miss it, except for its power, handling, sound & braking. Yeah, sometimes would like it in shed.
I've been working on it all day. Got the rear shock preload adjusted. Fitted heated grips so had to take off a cover or two to get at the battery, not too bad once you do it and work it out. Price you pay I spose.
It's interesting reading how others perceive different bikes. When I bought the GTR1400 it was going to be a keeper, it was immaculate.. previous owner spent more time cleaning than he did riding .. I adapted to it easily but there was that feeling it wanted to drop when doing tighter turns at low speed ... certainly the power was there and it handled well for this old guy .. what turned me off was character and ease of doing stuff myself .. for example my son and I just changed brake and clutch lines to braided and flushed and new fluid and it took a couple of hours and that was with lunch in between ... I'm a big fan of simple not 1000klm rides in a day.
Anyhow, I can say I owned one for a year and a bit ... but very happy with the GSX & XJR 1300
👍🙏
Well I know this is a Suzuki 1400 forum but as you know I bought the ZX14 and yesterday for the 1st time since buying the zx I took the GSX14 out.
I thought some might be interested in my observations???
The first thing I noticed with the Suzuki is the butter smooth gearbox, super nice, the ZX is a bit of a clunker, you need to rev match quite accurately to get close to a nice shift, at least on this bike.
The Suzuki suspension: even though I have Race tech fork springs, compared to the ZX the GSX is very spongy. Of course I could stiffen it up but not for my local back roads, so the ZX suspension is much better, rail like around corners and sweepers and about the same with the bumps but rock solid, hit a bump mid corner, no probs.
The Suzuki power is plenty for me, no complaints there and I never let the ZX have it's head anyway. I've become quite good at staying reasonably legal in the speed dept.
I think the ZX feels way lighter to move around in the shed, much easier.
The ZX requires high octane fuel so that costs you more.
In the end if I had to only have one I think I'd keep the ZX. Still, for the moment I'll keep both, don't know for how long though. I still love the 1402, but I think when you ride the ZX, maybe because of the riding position? I don't know but it makes me feel like riding more than just cruising on the GSX.
I took the ZX on a twisty ride with immaculate roads, all I can say is I was thankful there were a few cages on the road to hold me up. The bike was exceptional in the twisties even though I just meandered along really. Also the ZX feels like it wants to lean into the corners, I had to work at turning the Suzuki after riding the ZX for a month, that's something you get used to but yesterday it was very obvious how the Suzuki has to be manhandled into corners compared to the ZX and I remember when I first got the Suzuki I could feel it then, going into corners, esp around town, it never wanted to lean over, ??? maybe just this particular bike, I dunno.
The yoshi exhaust on the ZX sounds rather harsh and obnoxious to me, I have ordered the db killer insert and hope that will tame it down a bit, should be here soon.
So those were my comparisons after almost a month of riding the ZX.
That'll be the last I say about the ZX because I don't want to upset the GSX purists. Thanks for indulging me with my new ride :cheers:
PS: Of course, the big differences are the riding positions on each bike. The hands down approach of the ZX is probably the thing I sometimes don't like but for some reason I never get a sore arse on the ZX and I had almost given up riding when trying to address the sore arse issues I've had with the Suzuki, so that alone would sway me towards the ZX.
Cheers again.
Good write up Nic. I like hearing about other rides, we all know or should 14 far from perfect.Rode a Harley Sportster couple of days back, that makes 14 seem like something special.Terrible bike.
Nice write up mate, horses for courses I think. Tyres and suspension settings make all the difference, could be why the 1402 doesn't want to turn as opposed to the ZX?
A faired vs a naked on long hauls, I think the faired bike would win each time, you are better protected from the airflow and that may make a more comfortable ride.
I dunno, I have both styles like you, and love them both for own capabilities.
Quote from: Eric GSX1400K3 on Thursday, 16 May 2024, 06:43 PMTyres and suspension settings make all the difference
They sure do. Find mine quite agile. Wilbers springs in front, YSS RG362; settings for them for my weight by a former Suzuki race mech. Michelin Road 5. But then I don't have a ZX to compare.
I did get used to the gsx, you get so you don't hardly notice after a while but yes, riding the ZX for a month then get back on the Suzuki it was very noticeable then.
Quote from: Nic on Thursday, 16 May 2024, 08:04 PMI did get used to the gsx, you get so you don't hardly notice after a while but yes, riding the ZX for a month then get back on the Suzuki it was very noticeable then.
Yeah mate, I'm old school never really gelled with clipons, busa's, and my last bike a K6 gsxr1000. Where you have to lean off and hang a knee.
I loved the gsxr it was a rocket ship. But on the gsx1400 I can muscle the bars with push /pull and I just feel at home,its me !
I sort of agree Roo. 14 is a muscle bike, you have to use them. Diavel i had was a mind reader, it just knew where you wanted to turn, or stop where you wanted, at least thats how it felt to ride. Loved both of them but very different.