G
Guest
I have been a subscriber for probably 10 years, and have found your editorial content generally accurate and honest. but after reading your reveiw of the ZX-12R, I no longer beleive that. your declaration that the ZX-12R doesn't "measure up to Suzuki's GSX1300R Hayabusa in terms of all-out engine performance, back-road handling and top flight fit-and-finish," just doesn't add up. It doesn't ring true since every other reveiw i've read in print and on the internet declares the exact opposite. how could you guys have gotten it so wrong? maybe you're just resentful because Kawasaki reps promised you a Top-End King and didn't deliver. based on your reveiw Ialmost traded in my ZX-12R for a Hayabusa. had it not been for my dealers insistance on$1400.00 plus the trade in, i would be the unhappy owner of a Hayabus right now.
Jeff Charlow
Baltimore, MD
Actually, Charlow, if you'd bought the Hayabusa you'd be the owner of a better all-around sporting motorcycle, just as our june report indicated. we have no idea what type of testing the other magazines/e-zines do, but i can tell you what we did . our entire staff rode the ZX-12R, CBR1100XX and Hayabusa extensively, on back roads(fast,slow, rough and smooth), while commuting and on short trips. the overwhelming consenus? Exactly what we printed: That the 12R, though a fast and capable open-classer, was a notch or two below the 'Busa in most measurements of sportbike goodness-handling,crispness, power delivery, suspension quality, comfort, overall fit and finish, etc. after getting off the 'Busa, every tester stated emphatically that it was the best of the bunch. with so much performance parity among production-line sportbikes these days, it takes extensive back to back testing to discern differences. ridden alone (which we suspect many media outlets did), the 12R is a heckuva good open-class sport machine. ridden next to the Hayabusa, it's a clear runner-up.They're wrong. We're right-Ed.
I THINK I'LL SEND ED A HAYABUSA T-SHIRT
Jeff Charlow
Baltimore, MD
Actually, Charlow, if you'd bought the Hayabusa you'd be the owner of a better all-around sporting motorcycle, just as our june report indicated. we have no idea what type of testing the other magazines/e-zines do, but i can tell you what we did . our entire staff rode the ZX-12R, CBR1100XX and Hayabusa extensively, on back roads(fast,slow, rough and smooth), while commuting and on short trips. the overwhelming consenus? Exactly what we printed: That the 12R, though a fast and capable open-classer, was a notch or two below the 'Busa in most measurements of sportbike goodness-handling,crispness, power delivery, suspension quality, comfort, overall fit and finish, etc. after getting off the 'Busa, every tester stated emphatically that it was the best of the bunch. with so much performance parity among production-line sportbikes these days, it takes extensive back to back testing to discern differences. ridden alone (which we suspect many media outlets did), the 12R is a heckuva good open-class sport machine. ridden next to the Hayabusa, it's a clear runner-up.They're wrong. We're right-Ed.
I THINK I'LL SEND ED A HAYABUSA T-SHIRT
