I saw a Zx14 commercial last night

What's with all the bruised egos over this new bike? ???

Assuming there is a next gen Busa on the way, it better be at least as strong as the 14R or Suzuki is just wasting scarce resources. I just don't get why so many folks seem to be taking it personally that the Busa isn't the baddest kid on the block this year. Everybody knows that there's plenty of tech out there to put a future Busa back on top of the heap, so what's with all the fuss?

It's time again for Suzuki to put up or shut up.

I, for one, hope they put up.

Competition drives innovation!


This thread is for jealous Busa owners only. Who invited you :moon:


:laugh:
 
Saw the 2012 ZX14R at the dealer this weekend. While the performance of this bike is impressive, the styling, especially the fins and the front fairing, is a negative, and the fit and finish was lacking compared to my 2008 Busa. That being my opinion, most riders in this class aren't real concerned about styling and fit/finish...they want the fastest, most powerful bike period, and that is currently the ZX14R. Suzuki needs to update their entire motorcycle line, but especially answer Kawasaki with a dominant Gen 3.
 
This just sux, we need more power :laugh: I don't want to lose any reliability though, not sure how well them kawis hold up.
 
I can't knock Daniel's Kawi - Everything I read puts it over the top of the Busa. Congrats to Kawasaki for finally, after 10 years of trying, putting a bike on the market that can outmatch the Busa. Just remember that, as stated above, competition drives innovation, and Suzuki just got the glove slapped in their face so they'd better get with it for a GEN III.

Daniel may well be crying in his cheerios in a year or two, and be back. Until then let him enjoy his moment in the sun (or, is that rain) :laugh:
 
This just sux, we need more power :laugh: I don't want to lose any reliability though, not sure how well them kawis hold up.
My stock motor 06 14 has been holding up to 8lbs of boost for 2 seasons now.....they are very tough engines, and respond extremely well to boost. Another guy has put almost 40,000 on his turbo 14.
I can't wait to see a stage 1 street kit bolted on to a new 14R :laugh:
 
Saw the 2012 ZX14R at the dealer this weekend. While the performance of this bike is impressive, the styling, especially the fins and the front fairing, is a negative, and the fit and finish was lacking compared to my 2008 Busa. That being my opinion, most riders in this class aren't real concerned about styling and fit/finish...they want the fastest, most powerful bike period, and that is currently the ZX14R. Suzuki needs to update their entire motorcycle line, but especially answer Kawasaki with a dominant Gen 3.
id say beauty is on the eye of the buyer and the way it looks doesnt seem to be slowing down sales. chit, their sold before even hitting the showroom floor in many places.
 
Saw the 2012 ZX14R at the dealer this weekend. While the performance of this bike is impressive, the styling, especially the fins and the front fairing, is a negative, and the fit and finish was lacking compared to my 2008 Busa. That being my opinion, most riders in this class aren't real concerned about styling and fit/finish...they want the fastest, most powerful bike period, and that is currently the ZX14R. Suzuki needs to update their entire motorcycle line, but especially answer Kawasaki with a dominant Gen 3.

Styling aside, I'm curious about the problems you found with fit & finish? I'd say the ones I've seen have been pretty well perfect. Maybe there was a problem with the one you looked at?
 
I can't knock Daniel's Kawi - Everything I read puts it over the top of the Busa. Congrats to Kawasaki for finally, after 10 years of trying, putting a bike on the market that can outmatch the Busa. Just remember that, as stated above, competition drives innovation, and Suzuki just got the glove slapped in their face so they'd better get with it for a GEN III.

Daniel may well be crying in his cheerios in a year or two, and be back. Until then let him enjoy his moment in the sun (or, is that rain) :laugh:

If Suzuki comes back with a superior bike in the next couple of years, I'll probably be on it too. And yes, I know a little about rain. It poured on us from Clarksville until about 20 miles from home. :laugh:
 
Agreed, on the green se edition, the inner dash panels are painted to match the bike, this is the same thing I have seen many busa owners do to there bikes to complete the look, but Kawi does it stock.

Also polished wheels and tid bits here and there on the clip ons and stem nut, to me bike is well done for a jap bike, my brand new Ducati had horrible fitting body panels and paint that scratched if you looked at it wrong, and people think there put together well:whistle:
 
This has been going on since the days of the GS and KZ back in the 70's!
Busa diehards, you just have to deal with that Kawi has won the horsepower and performance as of 2012 models go. This is a hyper sportbike class after all that was based on Horsepower and Speed!! So really everything else is out the door. I could giv a chit less about fancy anti lock brakes, digital display, or any other pretty bells and whistles you have, I WANT arms pulling out my sockets horsepower, I want to watch that MPH needle climb faster then the electronics or GPS can keep up with, I want twist the throttle and have the feeling HOLY SHEEP CHIT this thing is pulling like a freight train with no conscience, I want 100 mph roll on and the front lifts under pure power!, I want a new bad azz motorcycle with a warranty for when I sling a rod while racing, I dont want to wrench on my bike tune or tweak I just want to gas and go!, This is why I bought the Hayabusa last year!! It was the baddest boy on the block.
Now I understand that not all bought the busa for this reason, some just need the name Hayabusa and the sense of people knowing its a bad azz bike but never run em up and hit the limiter in 6th gear or carry the front wheel under WOT...
For each is there own, we differ and buy motorcycles for different reasons... I could care less if it was purple with pink pin stripes and shaped like a box, the bottom line is, can it haul AZZ when I kick it in the AZZ when another OEM bike rolls up beside me on the interstate or local dragstrip.
 
I WANT arms pulling out my sockets horsepower, I want to watch that MPH needle climb faster then the electronics or GPS can keep up with, I want twist the throttle and have the feeling HOLY SHEEP CHIT this thing is pulling like a freight train with no conscience, I want 100 mph roll on and the front lifts under pure power!
thats easy. slap a Turbo on what u already have....:laugh:
 
This has been going on since the days of the GS and KZ back in the 70's!
Busa diehards, you just have to deal with that Kawi has won the horsepower and performance as of 2012 models go. This is a hyper sportbike class after all that was based on Horsepower and Speed!! So really everything else is out the door. I could giv a chit less about fancy anti lock brakes, digital display, or any other pretty bells and whistles you have, I WANT arms pulling out my sockets horsepower, I want to watch that MPH needle climb faster then the electronics or GPS can keep up with, I want twist the throttle and have the feeling HOLY SHEEP CHIT this thing is pulling like a freight train with no conscience, I want 100 mph roll on and the front lifts under pure power!, I want a new bad azz motorcycle with a warranty for when I sling a rod while racing, I dont want to wrench on my bike tune or tweak I just want to gas and go!, This is why I bought the Hayabusa last year!! It was the baddest boy on the block.
Now I understand that not all bought the busa for this reason, some just need the name Hayabusa and the sense of people knowing its a bad azz bike but never run em up and hit the limiter in 6th gear or carry the front wheel under WOT...
For each is there own, we differ and buy motorcycles for different reasons... I could care less if it was purple with pink pin stripes and shaped like a box, the bottom line is, can it haul AZZ when I kick it in the AZZ when another OEM bike rolls up beside me on the interstate or local dragstrip.
Amen brother :bowdown:
 
thats easy. slap a Turbo on what u already have....:laugh:

You missed the point...
I want stock OEM! I been there big bores nitrous etc..
I dont want to have to tweak, tighten a bolt, etc... I dont care what kind of turbo your running.. at some time it needs tweaking, service adjusting etc....
I want grip it rip it and come home and park it,,, go out grip and rip park it... Oil changes and tire changes is all I want to do.. stock OEM warranty = no worries!
I am just a street rider, I am not looking for ET I am looking for horsepower for when that other biker rolls up besides you at 75 and says lets go,,, WHACCA GOT?
 
I could care less if it was purple with pink pin stripes and shaped like a box, the bottom line is, can it haul AZZ when I kick it in the AZZ when another OEM bike rolls up beside me on the interstate

Why would you want stone chips on the front of that pretty purple & pink tampon box. :rofl:
 
Styling aside, I'm curious about the problems you found with fit & finish? I'd say the ones I've seen have been pretty well perfect. Maybe there was a problem with the one you looked at?

The blue ZX14R I saw on the showroom floor had nuts and bolts attaching the windscreen to the fairing, which compared to the design on the Busa, has an unfinished appearance. The area below the dash also seemed rough. The way the left and right fairings connect below the radiator seemed flimsy to me. The plastics themselves didn't seem as substantial as on the Busa. The clear plastic brake and clutch fluid resevoirs should be upgraded to relect the flagship status of the model. Granted, I may be more particular about these concerns than most, however I believe that these issues are a reflection of other design decisions that a company makes that aren't as readily apparent to the customer and could adversly affect the reliability and durability of a machine.
However, having said that, these bikes are bought because some people want the most horsepower/speed/perfomance, and the Kawasaki has easily won that war in 2012, and probably for the next couple years. I commend Kawsaki for releasing a bike that has dramatically gapped the competition instead of playing leapfrog every year. They seem committed to winning this class.
 
Seen this commercial to many times. There is a few different ZX14 commercials, I just watched one how it talked about how the Busa falls short in so many ways. Lol, I have to admit, the new 14 is an amazing machine. But I choose my Busa either way.
 
The blue ZX14R I saw on the showroom floor had nuts and bolts attaching the windscreen to the fairing, which compared to the design on the Busa, has an unfinished appearance. The area below the dash also seemed rough. The way the left and right fairings connect below the radiator seemed flimsy to me. The plastics themselves didn't seem as substantial as on the Busa. The clear plastic brake and clutch fluid resevoirs should be upgraded to relect the flagship status of the model. Granted, I may be more particular about these concerns than most, however I believe that these issues are a reflection of other design decisions that a company makes that aren't as readily apparent to the customer and could adversly affect the reliability and durability of a machine.
However, having said that, these bikes are bought because some people want the most horsepower/speed/perfomance, and the Kawasaki has easily won that war in 2012, and probably for the next couple years. I commend Kawsaki for releasing a bike that has dramatically gapped the competition instead of playing leapfrog every year. They seem committed to winning this class.

When you said fit and finish were lacking, I was thinking of things like body panels not properly fitting together, bubbles in the paint, wrinkles in the seat cover, etc. Basically QC issues.

I understand what you're saying about the areas you mentioned though. Just from the few things you talked about, I can see where those decisions might have been made in order to assist in quick and easy trackside or roadside maintenance. It seems like the designers tried to create easy access to a lot of areas they know we'll want to dig into.

The Gen II Busa always struck me as being more of a sealed unit. Kind of like the people who designed it never meant for the machine to be opened up and worked on. From what I've heard, the Gen I Busa was easier to work on.

As far as reliability and durability, I've always been under the impression that Kawasaki had a very solid reputation in those areas. Right in line with other Japanese bike makers. One thing to consider is that the 14R is not a whole new bike. Like the Gen II Busa, it is a revision of the original model. I don't think they tried to build a new machine from the ground up, but to improve on a bike that has been a high performer since 2006.

It's not all that much, but mine has over 2000 miles in its first 6 weeks on the road and has not experienced a single hiccup along the way. I'm very pleased with the 14R so far, but both of them are fine machines.

:beerchug:
 
You missed the point...
I want stock OEM! I been there big bores nitrous etc..
I dont want to have to tweak, tighten a bolt, etc... I dont care what kind of turbo your running.. at some time it needs tweaking, service adjusting etc....
I want grip it rip it and come home and park it,,, go out grip and rip park it... Oil changes and tire changes is all I want to do.. stock OEM warranty = no worries!
I am just a street rider, I am not looking for ET I am looking for horsepower for when that other biker rolls up besides you at 75 and says lets go,,, WHACCA GOT?
lol... copy that. nothn like stock reliability but with a built motor, tranny, etc... ull be a hellova a lot more reliable then any stock bike if u keep it around 300 hp. Frank at Powerhouse has over 5k miles on his ultra street bike and never had any issues whatsoever. of course its built but adding a turbo doesnt mean ull have problems if uve addressed the weak links and dont push it to its limits.

a stage 1 kit on ur bike would be just about as reliable as a stock bike would be ill bet. ET or not highway roll-ons with a turbo bike are tough to beat and u nvr have to fill it with N20....:laugh: and ull be beating most all ZX-14's out there as well.
 
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