14 replacement

[grog]

maybe around last 5 years been looking at replacement/addition to my 14. wont sell 14, just my love. spent countless hours looking for another. decided today. kawasaki h2 sx se. think i could really like one of those. not a fairing person, never had one. worries me a bit. rest seems to tick lots of boxes. very expensive. great reviews. unreal colour. your thoughts on it gentlemen.

[lil4399]

Just had a quick read up, that's a lot of bike! What are you going to do with that extra 91bhp?.....

[Mister Fishfinger]

I get your point about fairings, but on a bike that powerful you are never going to get anywhere near its limits without some kind of wind protection. So I think it's pretty necessary.

I read the road test of it in last month's Bike magazine and they raved over it. They did make the point that you don't really get the benefit of the supercharger until you are over7000rpm. That's something to think about as well, I had previously thought superchargers were all about low end stomp.

[Tony Nitrous]

Mate has a H2-SX here in Brisbane.

Same guy that has a GSX14, Busa, ZX14, FOUR supercharged H2's etc etc.

He loves it!
Says its a brilliant bike.
There's a few issues with them as stock with the mapping and throttle openings but a few tweaks and some re-mapping and he says they really are something special !

[Tony Nitrous]

Powerful naked bikes are quite useable, it's just the top speed that isn't, although nakeds can still hit some very silly numbers.

There's plenty of naked bikes at the drags, at the world wheelie comp, and ridden by hooligan streetfighter owners. The acceleration, punch, over taking, wheelies etc is a whole heap of fun.   Big horsepower bikes don't have to be about top speed.

I'd love a naked H2 or H2-SX with Renthals.

I've had three 160+hp naked bikes, and extra 20 or 30 ponys wouldn't do them any harm at all !

[Mister Fishfinger]

Powerful naked bikes are quite useable, it's just the top speed that isn't, although nakeds can still hit some very silly numbers.

There's plenty of naked bikes at the drags, at the world wheelie comp, and ridden by hooligan streetfighter owners. The acceleration, punch, over taking, wheelies etc is a whole heap of fun.   Big horsepower bikes don't have to be about top speed.

I'd love a naked H2 or H2-SX with Renthals.

I've had three 160+hp naked bikes, and extra 20 or 30 ponys wouldn't do them any harm at all !

Sure, but the H2-SX is a sports tourer. If you want to go touring fast, I reckon you really need a fairing. If you don't want to go touring then you buy the H2, not the SX version.

[Tony Nitrous]

Sure, but the H2-SX is a sports tourer. If you want to go touring fast, I reckon you really need a fairing. If you don't want to go touring then you buy the H2, not the SX version.
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Having had a good look at both bikes, there is quite a few differences in the specs.

The SX would suit a lot of folk better than the previous H2 even as a bike that they never toured on, in the same way a GSX14 suits some folk better than a GSXR even if you never tour or do track days.

I missed a ride on one recently but hope to change that soon.

[Tony Nitrous]

This is Paul's. He's also had 4 x H2's and after the SX was de-restricted he discribed it as the best bike he's ever had.



I agree Grog, It's certainly on my list of possible future bikes.

[ARH]

It's a nice machine.... but 15 to 18k?  Not cheap!

[KiwiCol]

15k - 18k would be bloody cheap down this way.  I've not checked the price locally, but I'd be fairly sure it'd be in the 35k - 40k area, maybe more.

[Andre]

@ARH In Austria, due to their incredible tax on bikes, 27.5k €. In Germany 22k €. Based on German price it would be about 37k NZ$

[Tony Nitrous]

I think the higher spec version has a list price of $35K-AU. I'd expect to get it at a bit less.

Not a cheap or budget bike but it was never intended to be.

To me it's borderline affordable but certainly at the top of what I'd be willing to spend on one bike.

[ARH]

@ARH In Austria, due to their incredible tax on bikes, 27.5k €. In Germany 22k €. Based on German price it would be about 37k NZ$

Exactly the reason why I'd never buy one here Andre!  Was expensive enough bringing the 14 over from the UK..... Austrian taxes are unreal.....

[Tony Nitrous]

I used to moan how cheap bikes were in the US compared to the UK.

I had a H#rley D#vidson that cost as much in £'s as the US paid in $'s,
and there were almost 2 $'s to the £ at the time !

I had a real nice 1977 US KZ1000 what was a grey import into the UK.
The UK price for the old skool bike was easily double of the US price.

One real regret with the GSX14 was that they didn't flood the US market with them.
Imagine a HUGE source of bikes, spares, go-faster parts and knowledge that would have generated!

Another issue here in AU is that it's just a small market and very spread out.
Plenty of Harley's and Sportsbikes, but lots of other stuff is harder to find compared to the massive UK, EU and some US markets.  Stuff like TDR250's, Bimota's, RD and RG500's, Harris's etc are harder to find out here, I knew 2 folk in the UK with NR750's, never seen one out here.  Great country to live and ride, but having 1/3rd of the UK population over 30 times the space makes for a different used bike market.

[grog]

Tony, youve done ok with your selection.