Test ride of Z1000SX

Poucher - when I took it for a test ride I was amazed at the low down flexibility in the engine, as you said, 30mph in 5th or even 6th is no problem, the fuelling is spot on. I had the 12v accessory socket, heated grips and the colour matched rear seat cowling and the dealer Cradley Kawasaki also wired in my Zumo 660 mount. I also bought an Abba stand at time of purchase for getting the bike upright for maintenance, cleaning etc, Cradley did me a good deal on that also, about £100 and it is a godsend. Mine is on it at the moment, put away for the Winter and on the Optimate.

PS. No wonder your bollocks were frying on the Ducati looking at that heat map:eek:
 

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Lord Snooty- That burnt orange was a great colour for this bike :thumb

I also got the power socket on the dash and the twin usb point under the seat, only problem with the usb socket is the bracket that it’s mounted on could hold up the Forth bridge! Fek me!...it took up all the underseat storage space, so I took the bracket off and mounted the socket nearer the riders seat in a suitable gap and I can now get my puncture repair kit and mini pump under the seat, all good.

When I got the bike I had it delivered straight to my house and spent two days in the garage fitting stuff to it, firstly £170 quids worth of paint protection film, essential to do this before the bike ever goes on the road for best results, you get a fly, or a bit of grit you’ve not cleaned off the bodywork correctly and you’ll see it under the film.
It now has PPF all over the front nose cone and fairing lowers, all the tank and also the painted tops of the panniers where you’re likely to catch them with your boots.
I also at this time fitted an Evotech radiator guard- with a bit of a struggle - my fault for being so impatient, I looked on Evotech website and in March they didn’t show a rad guard for a 2020 model, so I just bought one for the 2019 thinking surely the rads will be the same??.....nope!
I got it on by modifying the top fittings on the rad guard itself, a couple of hours chew on I didn’t need but worth it in the long run.

Also fitted a Fenda extenda to the front mudguard, wired in the mount for my Garmin 660 and that was it, good to go.

My friends quite rightly call me “anal” about the cleaning and maintenance of the bike,...just can’t stop myself?

Agree about the ABBA stand, I’ve had one for ages, probably the most useful bit of bike kit I’ve ever bought!

The Ninja must be the easiest bike ever to do an oil change on as well !, I know the service intervals are every 7,500 miles and I’ve also got the extended warranty on it, but we were due to do a 5day September weekend in Scotland, about 1,200 miles in total and at that staGe the bike had about 4,500 miles on it, so I thought I’d do a quick oil change on her before we went, a tenner for a genuine filter and 30 quid for oil and it took me about twenty minutes...easy!
Didn’t even have to remove any bodywork! You can get to oil filter and drain plug dead easily, a great bit of design on Kawasaki’s behalf, just adds to my belief that this bike is so easy to live with!
I’m now running it on Michelin Road 5s, probably not quite as sporty as the S22s, but not too far behind them,, but lots better life, rear tyre has done over 3,500 miles already and there’s probably about another 2 - 2,500 miles left in it.

Fuel mileage wise best I’ve seen is 56mpg and worst was around 46mpg, most of the time it’s doing about 48-51 mpg, and I don’t ride it gently , so I think that’s pretty damn good for a bike of its size and weight.

Looking forward to banging loads more miles on her again providing lockdown no 3 is not around the corner!!
 
You mention paint protection film. As I intend to buy a Ninja 1000 next year, albeit a 2020 model as I am not too keen on the 2021 colour schemes, I would also like to protect the paintwork. Did you buy a pre cut set or just a sheet and cut it yourself ?
 
Hi mrtee- I bought an R&G Pre cut one for the Bike and panniers, that was about £120 from memory?
And then I bought a tank kit and an extra piece of sheet for the top of the tank in front of the filler cap from an outfit called chipguardUK, that cost me about £50.
Seems a lot of money to fork out for something you don’t see ( once it’s on the bike!) but it just gives me peace of mind knowing it’s got some protection on there, the bike will thank you for it in the long run!
As I’ve already said, If you can possibly avoid it, don’t ride the bike before you get the PPF on it, that will get you the very best results finish wise .

Hope this helps
 
Lord Snooty- That burnt orange was a great colour for this bike :thumb

I also got the power socket on the dash and the twin usb point under the seat, only problem with the usb socket is the bracket that it’s mounted on could hold up the Forth bridge! Fek me!...it took up all the underseat storage space, so I took the bracket off and mounted the socket nearer the riders seat in a suitable gap and I can now get my puncture repair kit and mini pump under the seat, all good.

When I got the bike I had it delivered straight to my house and spent two days in the garage fitting stuff to it, firstly £170 quids worth of paint protection film, essential to do this before the bike ever goes on the road for best results, you get a fly, or a bit of grit you’ve not cleaned off the bodywork correctly and you’ll see it under the film.
It now has PPF all over the front nose cone and fairing lowers, all the tank and also the painted tops of the panniers where you’re likely to catch them with your boots.
I also at this time fitted an Evotech radiator guard- with a bit of a struggle - my fault for being so impatient, I looked on Evotech website and in March they didn’t show a rad guard for a 2020 model, so I just bought one for the 2019 thinking surely the rads will be the same??.....nope!
I got it on by modifying the top fittings on the rad guard itself, a couple of hours chew on I didn’t need but worth it in the long run.

Also fitted a Fenda extenda to the front mudguard, wired in the mount for my Garmin 660 and that was it, good to go.

My friends quite rightly call me “anal” about the cleaning and maintenance of the bike,...just can’t stop myself?

Agree about the ABBA stand, I’ve had one for ages, probably the most useful bit of bike kit I’ve ever bought!

The Ninja must be the easiest bike ever to do an oil change on as well !, I know the service intervals are every 7,500 miles and I’ve also got the extended warranty on it, but we were due to do a 5day September weekend in Scotland, about 1,200 miles in total and at that staGe the bike had about 4,500 miles on it, so I thought I’d do a quick oil change on her before we went, a tenner for a genuine filter and 30 quid for oil and it took me about twenty minutes...easy!
Didn’t even have to remove any bodywork! You can get to oil filter and drain plug dead easily, a great bit of design on Kawasaki’s behalf, just adds to my belief that this bike is so easy to live with!
I’m now running it on Michelin Road 5s, probably not quite as sporty as the S22s, but not too far behind them,, but lots better life, rear tyre has done over 3,500 miles already and there’s probably about another 2 - 2,500 miles left in it.

Fuel mileage wise best I’ve seen is 56mpg and worst was around 46mpg, most of the time it’s doing about 48-51 mpg, and I don’t ride it gently , so I think that’s pretty damn good for a bike of its size and weight.

Looking forward to banging loads more miles on her again providing lockdown no 3 is not around the corner!!

In the bright sunlight the orange is spectacular, the metallic fleck is fabulous. I also had the fenda extender fitted and I've since fitted some fork crash bungs. I also get low 50s mpg which is excellent for such a powerful bike. I haven't done an oil change myself as I have had the dealer do them both so far, now it is out of warranty I may just start doing them myself.
 
Looks good and I bet it was a damn sight cheaper than the Akrapovic!.....does it clear your panniers ok? Looks quite short, won’t burn the bottom of the panniers will it??

Mines got the Akrapovic fitted, very happy with it, not really any difference in sound but it’s over 3kgs lighter than the standard dust bin.
 
Looks good and I bet it was a damn sight cheaper than the Akrapovic!.....does it clear your panniers ok? Looks quite short, won’t burn the bottom of the panniers will it??

Mines got the Akrapovic fitted, very happy with it, not really any difference in sound but it’s over 3kgs lighter than the standard dust bin.

Less weight is always good, but do you really think you’ll notice the 3kgs on a bike that weighs 235kgs before you start adding luggage and 90 kgs rider etc ?
 
Looks good and I bet it was a damn sight cheaper than the Akrapovic!.....does it clear your panniers ok? Looks quite short, won’t burn the bottom of the panniers will it??

Mines got the Akrapovic fitted, very happy with it, not really any difference in sound but it’s over 3kgs lighter than the standard dust bin.

Scorpion do advertise it as not suitable for panniers, they do fit but they are worried about them melting. Have spoken to a fella on Kawasaki site and he say's Scorpion are going to make a carbon heat plate for him, so he's keeping me updated with that. Makes a lot of sense for them to do that as they will sell loads of these pipes, everyone I speak to wants one but the pannier thing puts them off!

At worst though i'll just use the standard pipe for trips away

Got this for £343.00, usually £429.00. 20% off right now
 
Less weight is always good, but do you really think you’ll notice the 3kgs on a bike that weighs 235kgs before you start adding luggage and 90 kgs rider etc ?

Absolutely will not notice the weight difference, just looks great compared to that huge behemoth of a thing, I love a bit of a noisy pipe too, though it's not that bad
 
Less weight is always good, but do you really think you’ll notice the 3kgs on a bike that weighs 235kgs before you start adding luggage and 90 kgs rider etc ?

Errr....never said that I noticed any weight difference,..it was just for info really, ..that okay with you Arsey?:rolleyes::rolleyes:
 
Scorpion do advertise it as not suitable for panniers, they do fit but they are worried about them melting. Have spoken to a fella on Kawasaki site and he say's Scorpion are going to make a carbon heat plate for him, so he's keeping me updated with that. Makes a lot of sense for them to do that as they will sell loads of these pipes, everyone I speak to wants one but the pannier thing puts them off!

At worst though i'll just use the standard pipe for trips away

Got this for £343.00, usually £429.00. 20% off right now

Bottom of my panniers have an Aluminium heat shield, maybe the pipe would be okay to use as long as the heat shield is fitted??
 
I will keep my standard exhausts, I don't see the point of spending hundred of pounds just to make the bike a bit noisier, and the looks are always subjective, I'd rather spend the money on petrol and hotels. Some end cans claim to increase power by one or two bhp and a weight loss of a few kgs but for normal road riding it makes no difference whatsoever to a rider's speed.
 
I will keep my standard exhausts, I don't see the point of spending hundred of pounds just to make the bike a bit noisier, and the looks are always subjective, I'd rather spend the money on petrol and hotels. Some end cans claim to increase power by one or two bhp and a weight loss of a few kgs but for normal road riding it makes no difference whatsoever to a rider's speed.

Agree with all of that Lord Snooty, I put the Akrapovic on purely for looks, that’s the only reason I wanted it, ..riding the bike, it’s no louder or more powerful, with your helmet and plugs in you would never be able to tell which end can is on the bike and that’s exactly how I wanted it because I just can’t be doing with loud bikes these days,...must be getting old :rob
 
For anybody interested, I thought I would put up a picture of my new Ninja 1000SX bought with 305 miles on the clock, with all the goodies already fitted for less money than a standard bike. Rear seat cowl, Kawasaki top box, tank protector as well as the original rocket launcher exhaust and a couple of smaller screens, one light smoke and one clear all included in the price.

 
We’re pristine en route to Bournemouth Kawasaki now to collect a pair of Performance Tourers.
Seeing as no one was interested in the ZZR, it’s going into them so someone will get a bargain.
 
For anybody interested, I thought I would put up a picture of my new Ninja 1000SX bought with 305 miles on the clock, with all the goodies already fitted for less money than a standard bike. Rear seat cowl, Kawasaki top box, tank protector as well as the original rocket launcher exhaust and a couple of smaller screens, one light smoke and one clear all included in the price.


Can you fit a centre stand to the SX now ?
 


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