Loved the writeup. Interesting how seemingly minor changes affect the personality of the bike. I know what you mean by this kind of bike encouraging bad behavior too. Comfy, upright ergos, stout power. The combo encourages the rider to play and have fun. Rarely a ride goes by that I don't find a country backroad to ride a nice fat wheelie on my FZ1 :D

These kind of bikes are indeed trouble Would not want it any other way. Nice work Kaw. I truly hope they sell lots and lots of these.

Thank you! That FZ1 is a sweet bike as well. It's not unlike my old R1 for which I just had the tranny undercut and indexed ('cause I wore out 2nd doing these kinds of antics).

This new Ninja just adds to all the good choices we have these days.

The idea of this bike as a lightweight Sport Tour is appealing, especially since a C-14 is amost $15k these days. But from the photos, I can't see the ergonomics working for more than a few hours riding per day.

It sucks, getting old...all those injuries come back on you and limit your options.

The idea of this bike as a lightweight Sport Tour is appealing, especially since a C-14 is amost $15k these days. But from the photos, I can't see the ergonomics working for more than a few hours riding per day.

It sucks, getting old...all those injuries come back on you and limit your options.

Did anyone see the Euro name designation? Z1000SX.
Duke- would you call your inside marketing geeks at Kawi and tell them before they make a fatal name mistake they should adpot the Euro name for Insurance reasons? Tell them the resident Insurance guru is the one begging for naming sanity.

The addition of bags makes for a much more practical, all-round bike. Easy to use everyday, even when not travelling. All this real-world practicality will surely doom the bike to a early death as the squids who rule sport bike sales will immediately label it an uncool old man's bike. And the uncool old men will continue to buy BMWs!

BTW, I know you posters have a need to impress us with your witty quotes, but come on. The quotes have taken over, they're longer than your comments, and add little or nothing to the discourse. Do you really need to....

Sorry, ACE, the marketing machine boat has already sailed on the name. It's surprising they don't think of such things in advance. Maybe they should put you on their payroll...

My specialty is shameless marketing. They aren't too shameless.

Nice looking bike, except for those damn exhaust pipes. What ever happened to nice chrome exhaust pipes that were round, with a hole in the end of 'em? Now they have to make a statement I guess.

Might look nice with fishtails. Give it the Kustom look.

One of the most eagerly-awaited-for bikes of the new year, at least for me. Way to go, Team Green!