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05 Z1000

This is a great all round motorcycle. It doesn't have the bleeding edge performance of the open class sport bikes but 120 rear wheel horse power gets the job done. Being a naked bike it is not the bike for speed freaks, it is comfortable to ride at speeds upto 120km/h (75mph), past that you start ...to wish you had a fairing. I find this to be advantageous as at least I know when I am well into speeding ticket territory.
Brakes and suspension are not state of the art but they are more than good enough for the street. Intial bite on the non-radial mount calipers isn't supersport strong but a good squeeze will bleed off speed very quickly and the brakes feel progressive and fade free during street use. The suspension has only rebound and preload adjustment but the damping is well suited to street use where rough pavement is a bigger problem than how much dive occurs under heavy braking. Stability is very good, I have never felt the need for a steering damper and the bike handles mid-corner bumps without getting out of shape.

Like any of the big four bikes fit and finish is excellent and reliability is built right in.

The bike is comfortable to ride with ample room to the pegs for a six foot person and the reach to the bars is comfortable. My only complaints are the seat, which should be replaced with the available Corbin, the lack of an adjustable clutch lever which can be fixed with some Pazzo levers and the vibration, which I haven't cured. The vibration isn't bad under 5000 rpm and over 8000 rpm your too busy to notice it, but highway droning at 6000rpm can numb the fingers.

The bike is a pretty good value, it works well as an all rounder and prices are quite reasonable with an 05 fetching around $7000CDN.

This bike is not much use for high speed highway work or track use but it works very well as a back road twisties bike and a commuter. If I were considering trading it I would be looking at a Triumph Speed Triple or maybe even the new Street Triple. Read Full Review