More oil on ZX-12R fire?

O

OB_Animal

Registered
One of the two leading Dutch moto-mags had some more detailed info on the ZX-12R that was unofficially stated by a Kaw France spokesmen at the Paris show.

It's supposed to be 50 lbs lighter than the 'Busa.

I'll put my Nomex suit on in a moment.
 
No flames here, Animal, but you know the old story. There are three kinds of lies; plain lies, d-a-m-n-e-d lies, and statistics. The Kaw number could be dry weight without battery, compared to full-up wet weight for the 'Busa. You can't tell.

Let's just wait for our favorite mag's (Euro mag's, American mag's, whoever) to get hold of a ZX-12R test machine and give it a comparison thrashing. That will tell us what we want to know. Until then, I am ignoring the rumors...they mean nothing. I believe these bikes are going to be very close in performance.
 
Motoboy. Not a flame.

Where did you sit on a 12? Dealer? Show?

Was it full of gas. At 6 lbs a gallon that would be your 30 lbs lighter.

Thoughts about the weight difference?

Also curious about the 12. How did it sit? Is it a low bar bike, ie the bars mounted below the triple clamp. Could an old man ride it for an hour?

Guys I ask this question here simply because you guys know as much about the 12 as the folks on the 12 board.
 
You can look at Busa and tell suzuki did not try to save any weight at all ! When you look at a picture of the 12 it appears to be a little on the light side, compared to a BUSA maybe 25 lbs. Mag engine covers, single sided titanium exhaust can and more.

Let's see 8 or 9 more hp minus 25 lbs = ???

[This message has been edited by jim p (edited 08 October 1999).]
 
OK, I knew I was gonna get flack for this.

I SAT on the bike, which was trotted out by Kaw reps (unofficially) at a monthly sportbike gathering last nite in Newport Beach, CA. It was warm and had just been ridden, so I know it had at least some gas, oil, battery, etc. My ESTIMATION (ie seat of the pants guess) was that it felt ABOUT 30 lbs lighter than our sweety.

Position, for the 15 seconds I was on it, was sport-toury like the Busa, ie bars not too low. Seems it would be fairly comfy.

What I disliked the most was its generic appearance, outside of the front end, its HUGE exhaust can with "TITANIUM" embossed on the end, and the cheapo plastic of the dash fairing.

Actually the ZX9R looks much better in the front, in my opinion.
 
OK, I knew I was gonna get flack for this.

I SAT on the bike, which was trotted out by Kaw reps (unofficially) at a monthly sportbike gathering last nite in Newport Beach, CA. It was warm and had just been ridden, so I know it had at least some gas, oil, battery, etc. My ESTIMATION (ie seat of the pants guess) was that it felt ABOUT 30 lbs lighter than our sweety.

Position, for the 15 seconds I was on it, was sport-toury like the Busa, ie bars not too low. Seat is really wide. Seems it would be fairly comfy.

What I disliked the most was its generic appearance, outside of the front end, its HUGE exhaust can with "TITANIUM" embossed on the end, and the cheapo plastic of the dash fairing.

Actually the ZX9R looks much better in the front, in my opinion.
 
You actually lifted the bike up !!! It's impossible otherwise to tell the weight since the center of gravity could be placed different from the 'Busa, but then you all know that.
 
any info on how fast the 12 is? they must have said something............It would have been my first question..........
 
This was posted on the ZX-11 website. I think its bogus because I've never heard of anymore taking delivery yet, and have not even heard of the bike mags getting test bikes yet. Has anyone seen this on dragbike.com, like the poster claims ? The entire posting starts after the dotted line.
-------------------------------------------

Saw this on dragbike.com:

"""ATTENTION!! ZX12 SIGHTING....
A well known friend of mine took delivery of a 2000 zx12 and stopped by the shop i work at. The bike with a hundred miles on it kinda rolled it self on to our dyno, and WOW!!! on the 1st and only pull 161.8 our best stock busa is 158.2.Then he went out busa hunting,he didnt have to hunt for long as i called 2 of my friends with busa's and they went to play upstairs and downstairs and sorry to say the ZX12 walked them in any gear at any speed. My friend with the 12 did not say this was a secret, SORRY RICKSTER!!! """

[This message has been edited by Turbo (edited 08 October 1999).]
 
I understand where you are coming from Motoboy. Obviously you could not tell the weight by sitting on the ZX-12 but, center of gravity is everything with handling. If the CG is lower on the ZX-12 it feel lighter and flick quicker in the corners. It may still be as heavy or 2-3 lbs heavier which will not help in acceleration but it will feel lighter with respect to handling.
I was worried about the cheap dashboard covers, the ZX-11 was cheezy at first when it came to finishing, and there is not much you can do about it either unless some sub. parts come in.
But I am still getting a ZX-12R!!
 
This was posted on Dragbike.coms public forum and was reputed by Kawasaki motorsports employee Steve Rice who stated that there where only 4 ZX12s in the USA and that NO ONE has taken delivery of anything, no how no way.
 
Yes it does. Trot that green bad boy out and show us how it's done is my feeling on it. it'll keep up at best. If it is so good and they have been working on it for YEARS as touted scoop the world and RELEASE it NOW! Don't hold your breath for that.
 
Just talked to my old Kaw. dealer in Miss. He states he is getting 3 zx-12s next year and the price will be $12,000. He also says that he expects delivery in March or April. Long time off--I wonder about Jap marketing. If they made the bike available now they could not satisfy the demand.
 
I just sat on the 12 last nite. It definitely is lighter than the Busa...I'd say about 30 lbs. That impression might also be helped by the underseat gas tank and resulting low center of gravity.

Please don't flame me.
 
I guess we just have a good sleeper, people will lul themselves into thinking the Hayabusa is a pig bys it looks and fail to repsect it as the sportbike it is.

I agree that the Hayabusa looks FAT, but its only in the perception. When your on it, it does not ride FAT. And I do think suzuki conserved weight, every part I take off I am amazed at how light it is.

Motoboy, how can you a.s.s.e.s.s somethings weight by sitting on it ??? Theres always one clueless one in the bunch... Take it to the scales... our dragstrip has scales at the far end.
 
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