Best Street Oriented Sport Bike

I have been riding supersport liter bikes for over 20 years. I recently sold my 2006 GSX-R1000 and picked up a gently used 2012 Ninja 1000. This, for me, is so much more fun of a motorcycle than any of my previous superbikes. I'm not a top speed guy although I do like to get up there some. I love co...rners though. This bike for the street is the perfect blend of comfort and still being able to hammer in some curves. My thing with superbikes is that they are only fun when you are screwing around. Riding my Gixxer I always felt like I wasn't enjoying the ride itself but was waiting for the chance to hammer the gas or find some twisty section of road where it was a blast to ride. But being in Indiana there aren't many of those. With the Ninja I actually have fun just tooling around. It has tons of low and mid-range power and torque which in itself makes it more fun to just ride around. If you think you have to be uncomfortable on a supersport to enjoy sport riding...think again. If you aren't going to the track on a regular basis you don't need a bike built for the track. The Ninja can be taken to the track and perform as well as most superbikes on the handling front. But, the difference is you are super comfortable for the ride home or around town. Fun and performance doesn't have to mean uncomfortable. Test ride one and you'll see. The only down sides to the Ninja is it is a bit buzzy in the bars and pegs and getting used to the higher clip-ons took me a bit but once I did get the hang of it...I'll never go back. Read Full Review

2012 Kawasaki ZX1000CG Ninja

Two year review: For those riders looking for a sporty looking liter bike with big but user friendly power. Also makes an excellent light sport touring mount complete with sharp looking and matching hard luggage. With a slightly longer piston stroke this 1043 cc inline 4 produces big torque right of...f of idle and builds power smoothly through the mid range all the way up until it butts up against the soft limiter at around 11,000 rpm's. Peak torque is 74.4 ft-lbs
at 9,500 rpm's. Horsepower is 130 @ 11,000 rpm's but peak HP is not what this purpose built, new from the ground up engine is, all about. With a broad spread of power beginning at 2,500 rpm and signing off at around 11,000 rpm you will not be constantly rowing through the gearbox to keep the engine on the boil. Put it in 3rd or 4th gear and you can ride the twisties all day with minimal stabbing at the shift lever. The suspension has preload, compression and rebound up front and preload and rebound out back. Just experiment with the settings or have a tuner dial it in for a comfortable day in the saddle. The rear brake is fairly useless but the Nissin master cylinder and Tokico 4 pot binders up front are strong and progressive w/o abs. ABS is an option. The stock clip ons put you in a bolt upright seating position that is easy to get used to. However, the seat is good for about one hour before monkey butt sets in and you must stop and walk around a bit. My Sargent aftermarket seat solves this problem. The stock mufflers are quiet at street legal speeds but should be scrapped for lighter and better sounding slip ons or a full Akrapovic system. The oem tires are Bridgestone battlax BT-016-190/50/17 rear and 120/70/17 fronts. Upgrading to 190/55/17 battlax S20 hypersports front and rear is advisable Read Full Review