Kawasaki pitch new ZZR1400 against Hayabusa

One concern, if you look at the views from the cockpit the Busa is steady while the Kwaka is shaking itz head. Could catch out the un-wary!

Posted: 10/10/2011 at 19:16

Those bikes look stupidly big and heavy... they probably have a lot of appeal for our american friends but here in Europe I'm not sure the market really cares about drag strip performance :-)

Posted: 10/10/2011 at 20:21

Actually both bikes are neither big or heavy when on the move. I've ridden both and used to own a ZZR1400. Easy and a real pleasure to ride, even slowly. Of course, they are heavy if you are just trying to move it about on your drive!

Posted: 10/10/2011 at 21:21

The retard is acting like he built the machine. Seriously, I'd rather listen to an engineer who helped design it speak in Japanese than this clown.

Posted: 10/10/2011 at 22:32

Great, if Im ever doing a straight line speed trial on a salt lake I'll be sure to get the Kwaka. Doubt I ever will be though. Seriously, i wish they'd get back to making 400's than all this big bore nonsense. 1000 cc's is all you need Im afraid.

Posted: 10/10/2011 at 23:36

"Need" and fun are two different things. I'm living in Singapore at the moment, a small crowded island - all I "need" here is my Honda CBF150 - it gets me about much quicker than a car through the traffic jams and faster than bigger bikes. However, when I'm in Europe I have fun on my ZZR14. So I welcome bikes like this, they're fun as long as you exploit the performance in the right environment. The day we self-limit ourselves to what we "need" will be a sad day.

Posted: 11/10/2011 at 02:24

franky speaking,ive owned my 1999,hayabusa since its inception,i currently own a silver n gray 2009 ,i feel the difference in power, handling, from the 1999 -2009 etc ive beaten several realitive stock hayabusas with a modified 1999 and the 2009 has the attitude of of a pissed off pitbull,i look foward to facing off with the new zx-14r bring it,old vs new . Every bike has flaws,and an expert hired gun like ricky G doesent hurt either,but im good too!

Posted: 11/10/2011 at 07:24

I'll stick with a Honda Blackbird and the difference in cash please.

Posted: 11/10/2011 at 11:58

Dam it is heavy... 590lbs! I thought my old EFE weighed a lot!

The video is undoubtedly cheesy and awful, but the “clown” in it is called Rickey Gadson, and if you want to get the fastest time out of a stock[ish] bike over 440 yards there are very few people who will even get close. You certainly won’t.

Posted: 11/10/2011 at 17:02

I see Robertsan has never had the pleasure of riding a zzr or Busa, I have owned my ZZR for nearly 3 years, I have had it on track,toured 2 up and covered 16 thousand miles on it since I purchased it from new, I'm so looking forward to test riding the new 2012 weapon of choice, when Robertsan passes his test and saves up enough to own one of these very agile hyper bikes maybe then he will be better qualified to pass comment

Posted: 11/10/2011 at 22:54

What is laughable is the ZX12R produced 165BHP on the back wheel , the old ZZR1400 only produced 4 more BHP so this new incarnation puts up to 200 plus BHP is well over due.
Kawasaki will now sit at the 217BHP and sell thousands of them, with only basic upgrades for the next seven or eight years. Technology takes time to filter through to the average motorcyclist but with the big majors ( Honda , Suzuki ect)its about selling in numbers not actually delivering the best bike with the best technology. If you look at the Italian companies they are putting state of the art new technology on the road years before the Japanes manufactures could this be the start of a reversal of fortunes for the Japanes manufactures ?
As for getting back to 400cc bikes perhaps if the chap who made this comment actually passed his test and rode a decent sized bike he would realise the big bikes are actually good fun and can handle exceptionally well in the right hands - But there in lies the problem, does he have the right hands ???

Posted: 13/10/2011 at 08:07

Isn't it funny that they never showed the race with the riders switched? Why show the solo ride? I think the answer is clear....

Posted: 18/10/2011 at 07:41

Persons with their hats on backwards are synonymous with being an idiot.

Posted: 10/11/2011 at 00:39

Even 1000cc's is excessive in my opinion, unless you're racing (or perhaps long distance touring). This American obsession with drag strips is bizarre, there's no real skill involved, I'd like to know which bike is ACTUALLY better, not just which one has the most horsepower.

I'd much rather stick with my SV650S.

Posted: 10/12/2011 at 23:35

Having long-term tested both, the ZX-14R is a bit faster when you rag it but the Suzuki's sweeter to ride every day. If I was buying one, no contest. I seriously considered getting a 'Busa but I wouldn't want the big Kawa.

Posted: 12/12/2011 at 22:01

I think the way they showed the match up is bull! ... need to have a professional track rider that does not run suzuki or kawasaki and have him and only him run down the track to see in times and spped the real difference instead of 2 differnet riders ... i have 2011 hayabusa and in my area ran the so called kawasaki zzr1400 on a longstretch of road even at 50 mph to start ... all though he got the jump on me i was able to pull past him and did not let off till aroung 208 mph ..nice try on the video ...

Posted: 18/03/2012 at 17:21