What are Kawasaki doing in the U.S?

[jambo]

Originally Posted by jimmybluedevil

The 650 is actually a cool little v-twin. Upright and faired. Dont know first hand though.

It's a parallel (not V) twin but from all accounts a very good bike, even if the suspension benefits from a little adjustment...

i thought i was back in the 80's looking at them bikes

Yeah they also had the GSXF teapot and called it the Katana...

[northwind]

I joined an ER6 forum a while back- it was crossposted on SV Rider and some of the terrible nonsense they were coming out with was so bad, I couldn't help myself (one guy had dropped the front end 6 inches, so he only had about 50mm suspension travel. Insisted it let him go faster because of the superior aerodynamics, and claimed that the reason his 020s had 1 inch chicken strips is that low bikes corner better. Not because he can't ride, at all.)

Anyway, it seems like the number one reason to choose a Ninja 650 over an SV is the name. Oh, that, and "V twins are too underpowered".

[northwind]

Originally Posted by Razor

Yeah they also had the GSXF teapot and called it the Katana...

Hah, we can't exactly slag there, we've got this:

Originally Posted by northwind

...claimed that the reason his 020s had 1 inch chicken strips is that low bikes corner better.

You gotta like the chutzpah it takes to say a thing like that in public.

Originally Posted by northwind

Anyway, it seems like the number one reason to choose a Ninja 650 over an SV is the name. Oh, that, and "V twins are too underpowered".

Before I bought my '06 SV 650 (naked), I rode an '07 Ninja 650 in comparison. I'll admit I liked the look and the fairings, but the Ninja just doesn't have the kick down low the SV has. It'll still move you sharply down the road, just not with as much stomp as the SV.

As to the name, they're all a bit silly. I'm a middle-aged computer program tester and father of five -- do I really think of myself as a Ninja? Not my image, by a long shot.

Truth is, I'm not big on branding at all. In fact, all of the stickers are off my bike, even the Suzuki S on the tank and the Suzuki name above the tail light. If I'd bought the Ninja, I'd have removed that silly branding as well.

The fun part of testing the Ninja 650 was the salesman. I told him honestly I was an inch from buying the SV 650 (at another dealer; this guy didn't sell Suzuki), and he was talking it down, saying it was old tech whereas the Ninja was "winning reviews all over the place." I asked him to show me one, but no luck. Also he couldn't explain a real advantage of the Ninja over the SV. The ride sealed it for me, the SV is just plain more fun to ride in spite of the lack of a fairing.

My son might have preferred the Ninja name (he does think it's "cool"), but honestly if you're fancying yourself a warrior/daredevil, why would you bother with a budget bike at all, I suspect you won't be happy on anything short of a race replica liter bike.

[northwind]

Don't get me wrong, I really like the ER... But it's as much a Ninja as I am. And to clarify, I'm not a ninja, even a little bit.

Originally Posted by northwind

Hah, we can't exactly slag there, we've got this:

Don't knock it, I've done a flat out lap of Imola circuit on one of them. Only had to brake for one corner

[northwind]

That would make it the ultimate race bike!

[Sid Squid]

Originally Posted by jambo

Translations as best I've figured:

Ninja 500 = ER5 Not quite, it's what we had as the GPZ500, note not the GPZ550 which is an aircool four. The ER5 used a variant of the GPZ500 motor, where it was first seen, and is effectively half a GPZ900 engine.
ZX6/Ninja 650 = ER6
ZZR 600 / Ninja 600 = ZX6R J2 (200-2001) as the current bike, older ZZR 600s before that. The Yanks have always had the ZZR600 as the ZX6
Ninja ZX6R = ZX6R (Thankfully)

But they never got the ZX6R A1P (636cc version of the ZX6R J2 from 2002)

Plus they get some very odd paint schemes

True.

Also as far as I'm aware the GPZ500 has always been called a Ninja in the US.