2013 Kawasaki Ninja ZX-6R Review

[The_AirHawk]

Originally Posted by jmdonald

My understanding is the major contributors to this forum ride HD's and it is well known they had to commit at least one murder to have been accepted into the HD brotherhood. Scary thought that one. I am thinking about buying a sportster.

You do, and we'll come to your house and hurl taunts and invective at you from the sidewalk, might even do a couple of circular-burnouts with a slash through them (a' la Mad Max) in the street, or mebbe in the abandoned parking-lot of that closed 7-11 eight blocks North......

Buy yourself a MAN'S Bike!

[The Spaceman]

HD may be picking up a few riders here and there, but it seems to me the growth is in the ADV and "standard" market. Which makes sense because they represent rideable, affordable bikes that don't need a track or an on-retainer attorney to enjoy.

[Buzglyd]

Originally Posted by The Spaceman

HD may be picking up a few riders here and there, but it seems to me the growth is in the ADV and "standard" market. Which makes sense because they represent rideable, affordable bikes that don't need a track or an on-retainer attorney to enjoy.

We're talking about younger riders Kenneth.

Old farts by faux ADV bikes.

[Kevin_Duke]

While we've drifted off topic, let me also add another bellwether fact: Kids these days don't care much about driving cars, let alone motorcycles. I, like probably most of you, got my license the day I turned 16, as motor vehicles were the ultimate in freedom for a teenager. But many kids today don't get their DLs when they're 16, often waiting until their late teens or even their 20s.

[seruzawa]

Originally Posted by Kevin_Duke

From the albeit limited stats I've seen, it's not that youngsters have abandoned sportbikes for Sportsters, it's more about youngsters abandoning motorcycles. Kids don't have the finances for new bikes or the insurance they require, plus few of them even have experience on a minibike or a dirtbike. So they're not, and they never will be, as enthusiastic about bikes as we are.

While H-D may boast about their rising market share among youngsters, their sales reference point started just above zero.

Nothing new there. Most motorcycle sales in the USA are still to the boomers and as the boomers die off motorcycle sales are going to be in serious trouble. The younger generations have not taken to motorcycles in anything comparable to the numbers of boomers who did. It's got nothing to do with costs, they just don't care about bikes or cars that much either. A new Playstation though.........

[The Spaceman]

Originally Posted by Buzglyd

We're talking about younger riders Kenneth.

Old farts by faux ADV bikes.

Not any more than "old farts" are buying the vast majority of all types of bikes. Young riders are buying naked and ADV bikes too. That's what Honda's whole "New Concept" engineering is about, and while the NC700X may not be a true ADV bike, Honda is aiming it at new riders who want that style.

[trenttheuncatchable]

In my area, bikes are mostly ridden by specific types. If you have a gut and are older, you're most likely on a cruiser (and most likely on a Harley, though I see quite a few non-Harleys also). If you're younger and do not have a visible gut, then you're most likely on a sportbike. And most of the sportbikes I see now are actually older models, not newer bikes. This is what I see on the street. On the expressway I see the gamut: cruisers, sport-tourers (mostly BMW's), and sportbikes.

Getting back to the topic at hand, I love Kawi's. I own two. And I am glad that the 636 is back. But I am also wondering if Kawasaki is pricing themselves out of the market. A fifteen hundred dollar price increase in one year's model is quite a lot.

[Buzglyd]

Originally Posted by The Spaceman

Not any more than "old farts" are buying the vast majority of all types of bikes. Young riders are buying naked and ADV bikes too. That's what Honda's whole "New Concept" engineering is about, and while the NC700X may not be a true ADV bike, Honda is aiming it at new riders who want that style.

Big difference between aiming and hitting the target.

[Kevin_Duke]

Originally Posted by trenttheuncatchable

I love Kawi's. I own two. And I am glad that the 636 is back. But I am also wondering if Kawasaki is pricing themselves out of the market. A fifteen hundred dollar price increase in one year's model is quite a lot.

Kawi's price increase is big, but it's really only catching up with Honda and Suzuki. The MSRPs for the CBR and GSX-R were $11,540 and $11,599 in 2012, and it's probable they will increase for 2013. To me, I'd gladly pay $100 extra to get 37cc more power and TC.

[Duken4evr]

The younger riders I have helped (they come to the old guy with the FZ1) in my garage are buying well used SV650s and CBR600s and the like. They have no money, but there are a few interested in riding. Got one youngun started on a WR250. He rode that with me off road for awhile, then went to street on an SV. I let him ride my Husaberg 450 and now he is interested in dirt bikes again. Pity, being young and broke, one has to make hard choices.

Oh well. The kid is hooked, he will buy new when funds permit, and they will someday. He is a good smart kid and will do well. Doing my part out here. Bikers in general may not like Hillary, but she was right. It takes a village. A moto village