Kawasaki does it right - (Demo) Rides Report

[reaubideux]

skip to bottom for tl;dr summary

Over the past couple of months I've had the pleasure of going to demo ride events for Yamaha (rode the R6 and FZ6R) in the middle of June, Kawasaki's Demo Days (rode the ZX6R and 650) in the end of June, and just this past weekend I did Suzuki's demo ride (GSXR 600 and GSXR 1000). Counting the Triumph demo ride (Daytona 675) I did last September and I've ridden the majority of the 600 super sports except the CBR600RR - can't find any Honda demo events, may just have to hit the dealership and see if they'll do test rides.

The rides....
R6 - I really can't compare this to anything since it'd been so long since I rode the Daytona 675 last fall I'd forgotten the feel of riding a super sport so I was a bit nervous but the R6 was pretty easy to acclimate to; of course it's rather uncomfortable and my back was a bit sore by the time the ride was over so I ruled it out pretty quick as a possible "upgrade." It's fast as hell and the route we took didn't really give any opportunity to see how it feels in turns other than those starting from a standstill.

FZ6R - great bike, very comfortable and the power was very usable and felt like a perfect "next step" bike between the 250 and eventually a super sport, it gives a chance to feel a bit more power while retaining the more upright riding position. Again, can't speak to the cornering ability but for people like me who 98% of your riding is commuting then this is a ideal bike. The fact it's an inline 4 was a big plus, it sounds good - chastise me if you will but I really don't like the sound of the Ninja 250 and 650 - felt nice and smooth. It's on my list of bikes I'm looking at when it's time to move on.

ZX6R - Of all the super sports I rode, this one was the most comfortable and I got the best opportunity to get a decent test ride thanks to the quality of the Kawasaki demo ride event. My back was still a bit achy by the end but tolerable. I had ridden the R6 only a couple weeks prior so I was still familiar with the feel of riding a super sport and was comfortable with the bike a bit quicker than the R6. So far, it's the only super sport I'd really look at as a possible replacement (although I'm still hoping to test ride a CBR600RR, I keep hearing it's the most comfortable of the SS class).

Ninja 650 - of every bike I've ridden, I loathed the 650. I mean, I was about 2 miles into the test ride and just wanted to turn it around and head back. Having just rode the FZ6R a couple of weeks prior it was a great chance for a back-to-back comparison. The ergos of the 650 didn't fit me, the buzziness and vibrations of the 650 drove me nuts and the power delivery was flat and it honestly felt under powered. I'll admit I'm painfully bored w/my 250 as far as outright power is concerned, I was bored with the 650 pretty much right away. Even the requisite launch up the highway on-ramp was boring and I was wringing it out pretty well. I'd be bored with this bike in about a week and looking to upgrade.

GSXR 600 - Of all the test rides I did, the Suzuki test ride route was awful: short, mostly side roads that were under construction, so I really didn't get a chance to do much. I will say it was the most uncomfortable of the super sports (I'd have to try out a D675 again to see for sure). I impaled my calf muscle on the foot peg when I climbed on it for the first time. The fact I'm only 5'8" doesn't help as I have to lean over that much further to reach the controls and not rest my weight on my wrists. I think it's the most aggressive riding position of the SS bikes I've ridden to date. I appreciated the riding modes, I was switching between A & B (only had 2) off and on through the ride and it was noticeable each time. When in mode A (sporty/normal mode) throttle was definitely twitchier than B (wet weather).

GSXR 1000 - I really have no desire to own a 1000, I wanted to ride the 750 but it wasn't available and I was able to hop right onto the 1000 so I said WTF and hopped on. It was more comfortable than the 600 in the way that stubbing your toe is more comfortable than dropping a brick on it. It was probably just me but I had a harder time steering the 1000; when making left turns onto access roads I kept going a bit wider than I'd like and really had to focus to keep a tighter turn. I wasn't running off the road, but when I felt like I was putting the right amount of input to go left (or right) in a tighter turn ended up not quite being enough and I'd swing a few feet wide. I felt like I was having to fight the bike's inherent desire to want to stand upright much more than any other bike I'd ridden previously. Nothing felt natural when riding the 1000 except braking. I was tensed up a whole helluva lot more on the 1000 than on the 600 despite being a bit more comfortable. The thing that had me absolutely livid about testing the 1000 had nothing to do with the bike but the damn LEAD rider was leading on the Burgman 400 scooter. The one chance I would've gotten to try and open up the 1000 just a little bit was blown b/c I was stuck behind this jackass who picked the scooter to LEAD the group.

The events...
After all this, I gotta say that Kawasaki definitely does the demo ride thing the best: best organization, best perks, most bikes, most fun, allow for a real ride (by comparison to the others).

I think the crux of the problem with the Yamaha and Suzuki rides is that they were at the same dealership and I think the escort riders were the same for both events (rather old gentlemen, i.e., we're doin' the speed limit at all times) and I'm assuming the dealership planned the route so they're to blame for the fun, or lack thereof, of the route. The Suzuki route was atrocious, very little highway and a chunk of the side roads were partially under construction so there was a lot of gravel and rocks in the road. This was also the problem with the Triumph test ride, the dealer is in the inner city so 3/4 of the ride was just getting through city lights with about a half mile on a highway that's always cluttered. In contrast, the Kawasaki ride was about a 12 mile route but the route was about 2/3 side roads, 1/3 highway. The Kawasaki event was held at a casino that was about 5 miles away from the other dealership that hosted Suzuki and Yamaha so a lot of the same roads were utilized. Kawi also provided their own escort riders as well, and all of them were younger people - this was also one of the "perks" as Kawi clearly knows that young males are one of their primary customers so they made sure to have a several of the riders and the event staff be of the young, very attractive, female variety. I'm man enough to admit the guys were all pretty good looking too so the ladies had some eye candy as well.

The #1 thing Kawi did right was splitting up the bikes by type which allowed for mostly like-minded riders to ride a suitable pace, the super sport group was a blast; we all did the on-ramp blast onto the highway, the side roads were fun as well and we kept a good speed, definitely above legal limits but only really got a bit excessive in one instance. My biggest annoyance with the Yamaha/Suzuki/Triumph rides is that you have all the cruiser guys wanting to slowly roll along and make sure to check their reflection in every window they pass to see how cool they looked on their bloated, chromed-out cruiser and then do the slow-down-so-I-can-gun-it crap on the highway so you're constantly slowing down way below the speed limit... and then speeding up just to have to slow back down which just leads to the dumbass behind me rolling up my ass (happened at least once on every ride). With the sport bike riders all together we all kept a good distance and good pace b/c we all wanted to go quick all the time and don't really care how we look - except for the occasional squid who just wanted to rev his bike at every stop light but slowed waaaaay down whenever you had to actually turn.

The way Kawi did their registration worked well, their's was the only event to have drinks and snacks available as well and I got a free hat just for pre-registration, although I gotta give the gold star to Yamaha on this one - Yamaha was the only one to let you register for all the bikes you wanted to ride at one time. Each co. would only let you do 3 rides per day but at least Yamaha, you only had to wait in line once, you picked up to 3 bikes and then the ride time and you're done. The others, you waited in line, picked a bike, had to wait until you did that ride and then get back in line. Suzuki wouldn't even guarantee you a spot, they only promised you the slot on your first ride, after that you were on standby so if the bike you want isn't available for another hour and a half, you would be standby for that bike but if someone who hadn't registered yet came in and wanted to ride that bike then they'd bump you and that guy got your ride slot. This was my reason for not waiting around to ride the 750. Kawi was the same way IIRC which was the one disappointing thing about their process. I only had time to ride one bike at the Triumph event so I didn't care to see about riding anything else - of course, hindsight being 20/20, I wish I would've made time to ride the Street Triple as that is my #1 choice for my next bike.

I was discussing the Suzuki event in direct comparison to the Yamaha and Kawi events while standing right next to employees of the dealership and the Suzuki reps - they weren't engaged in the conversation but they were clearly eavesdropping - and made sure to praise the Kawi event for all the above reasons and mention what I didn't specifically like about Suzuki and Yamaha. Coincidentally, neither Yamaha nor Suzuki offered the option to take a survey about how we liked the event. Kawi did and I happily took the survey.

tl;dr - Go to top and read the whole post, there's penguins, strippers, and an evil doctor hellbent on world domination, honest!

[walty87]

Originally Posted by reaubideux

Go to top and read the whole post, there's penguins, strippers, and an evil doctor hellbent on world domination, honest!

skipped everything until I saw this.

After reading everything all I got to say is... you got me

[wvninjamom]

Thank you for the great information. I recently rode the Yamaha FZ6R at a demo ride and agree with everything you said. I thought the corning ability of this bike was pretty good; seemed to lean easily and grip well through the curves.

[reaubideux]

Originally Posted by walty87

skipped everything until I saw this.

After reading everything all I got to say is... you got me

Yeah, sorry... I had to; no real way to do a "tl;dr" summary of that post.

[reaubideux]

Originally Posted by wvninjamom

Thank you for the great information. I recently rode the Yamaha FZ6R at a demo ride and agree with everything you said. I thought the corning ability of this bike was pretty good; seemed to lean easily and grip well through the curves.

I was pleasantly surprised at the power and wished I could've really tested the handling a bit more. Only thing I had to say (to myself, anyway) was that if I got one I'd have to look at clip-on/handlebar options and possibly rear sets to give a bit more of a sportier riding position.

[Jiggles]

The 650 is slow? The 650 that power wheelies in first and does 0-60 in under 4 seconds is slow?? I get not liking the ergos or vibration but that bike is far from slow

[Trailerboy531]

Suzuki demo ride?!? They don't do those here So jelly...

[reaubideux]

Originally Posted by Jiggles

The 650 is slow? The 650 that power wheelies in first and does 0-60 in under 4 seconds is slow?? I get not liking the ergos or vibration but that bike is far from slow

Re-read what I said:

Ninja 650 - of every bike I've ridden, I loathed the 650. I mean, I was about 2 miles into the test ride and just wanted to turn it around and head back. Having just rode the FZ6R a couple of weeks prior it was a great chance for a back-to-back comparison. The ergos of the 650 didn't fit me, the buzziness and vibrations of the 650 drove me nuts and the power delivery was flat and it honestly felt under powered. I'll admit I'm painfully bored w/my 250 as far as outright power is concerned, I was bored with the 650 pretty much right away. Even the requisite launch up the highway on-ramp was boring and I was wringing it out pretty well. I'd be bored with this bike in about a week and looking to upgrade.

I never said it was slow, just that it felt under powered; it was still quick, but the power just didn't feel like it was there for a bike this size. Maybe the flat power delivery - at least that's how I recall it feeling - made the perception of acceleration seem slower than it actually was versus bike where you get that additional rush of power at the top end. Ultimately, I still stand behind my statement that it was boring.

Hell, who knows, maybe the bike was sorely lacking a good overall maintenance on it? People beat on these things for hours at a time and I have no idea how well they maintain a fleet of bikes that are specifically used for people to abuse.

Also, this is all my perception, I wasn't making a factual statement, just my perception of the bike. What feels fast to one may feel slow to another.

[reaubideux]

Originally Posted by Trailerboy531

Suzuki demo ride?!? They don't do those here So jelly...

Damn, I would expect you SoCal people would get just about every factory out there doing demos given how many people ride bikes out there.

A friend of mine said there's supposed to be a Ducati demo event next month, cautiously optimistic about that one.

[Jiggles]

Do you mean flat like linear? As in it seems to slowly gain more and more power compared to a 600 that sees a rush at the powerband?

[Trailerboy531]

Around here if you show up at a Ducati dealer and don't look like some kid who wants a test ride but are an actually interested buyer you can test ride pretty much any ducati or Aprilia, etc. Even the Panigale!

[reaubideux]

Originally Posted by Jiggles

Do you mean flat like linear? As in it seems to slowly gain more and more power compared to a 600 that sees a rush at the powerband?

Yep.

Originally Posted by Trailerboy531

Around here if you show up at a Ducati dealer and don't look like some kid who wants a test ride but are an actually interested buyer you can test ride pretty much any ducati or Aprilia, etc. Even the Panigale!

Didn't know that, will need to keep that in mind next time I'm near a dealership; of course I wonder how serious they'd take me if I showed up on my Ninja 250.

[ScorpionNinja]

I read your whole OP*
Cool!

I live here in Michigan. Kawi is the ONLY major manufacture that comes annually with 2 demo trucks and does an AWESOME event IMHO!!!!

So you really liked the Ninja ZX6R, well too bad you didnt ride the Ninja 2012 ZX10R w/ABS. I did, twice. I will tell you... AND my one friend will tell you... the ZX10R was really comfy to ride, nice power and quick to rev, engine heat wasnt too bad while sitting in traffic, -*vs the BMW S1000RR that I also demo rode this year!*
The Ninja ZX10R had better ergos than the ZX6R. I pick the ZX10R over the ZX6R hands down. Better Ergos, better gauges & readout, built-in lap counter, hi-beam "passing" button/trigger, etc...

I CANT say anything about Yamaha, Honda, Suzuki... cuz they DONT come to Michigan with 1-2 demo trucks. NOR does any dealerships offer demo rides locally. How ****ing LAME!!!

So big props to Kawasaki!!!

[ebrammer252]

I wish I could catch a Triumph test ride day

[reaubideux]

Originally Posted by ScorpionNinja

I read your whole OP*
Cool!

I live here in Michigan. Kawi is the ONLY major manufacture that comes annually with 2 demo trucks and does an AWESOME event IMHO!!!!

So you really liked the Ninja ZX6R, well too bad you didnt ride the Ninja 2012 ZX10R w/ABS. I did, twice. I will tell you... AND my one friend will tell you... the ZX10R was really comfy to ride, nice power and quick to rev, engine heat wasnt too bad while sitting in traffic, -*vs the BMW S1000RR that I also demo rode this year!*
The Ninja ZX10R had better ergos than the ZX6R. I pick the ZX10R over the ZX6R hands down. Better Ergos, better gauges & readout, built-in lap counter, hi-beam "passing" button/trigger, etc...

I CANT say anything about Yamaha, Honda, Suzuki... cuz they DONT come to Michigan with 1-2 demo trucks. NOR does any dealerships offer demo rides locally. How ****ing LAME!!!

So big props to Kawasaki!!!

I'm insanely jealous you got to ride the s1000. That's about the only 1000 I'd really like to test (and maybe a Duc). I didn't ride the ZX10 because I'm just not interested in owning a 1000. I went to the event wanting to try the 650 and zx6 since I was genuinely interested in those as an upgrade. But I'm glad to hear it's a comfy bike to ride.

[reaubideux]

Originally Posted by ebrammer252

I wish I could catch a Triumph test ride day

Last I'd heard, Triumph stopped doing the demo ride events altogether.

[ScorpionNinja]

Originally Posted by reaubideux

Last I'd heard, Triumph stopped doing the demo ride events altogether.

+1
Here in Michigan, I was told triumph wasnt going to bring their demo truck this year. When I went to my local dealership "Open House" back in early spring this year!

Last year in 2011, Triumph did have their demo truck and I got to demo ride lots of bikes. The 675 was nice and all, but if I were buying a new bike, the 675 wouldn't be my choice!

[ebrammer252]

I'm dying to get rid of my SV650 in favor of a speed triple haha

[Samer]

Originally Posted by ScorpionNinja

+1
The 675 was nice and all, but if I were buying a new bike, the 675 wouldn't be my choice!

Why?

[reaubideux]

Originally Posted by ebrammer252

I'm dying to get rid of my SV650 in favor of a speed triple haha

Did you mean the street triple? The speed triple is 1050cc and the street triple is 675cc. I don't think too many people put the speed triple and and sv650 in the same basket comparison-wise.

[ScorpionNinja]

Originally Posted by Samer

Why?

cuz I'd rather buy a 2012 ZX14R, or BMW 2010-2012 S1000RR, or 2012 ZX10R! either one is a better more enjoyable bike than a daytona 675 for ME!

(I've demo rode all the above bikes, btw)

[ebrammer252]

Originally Posted by reaubideux

Did you mean the street triple? The speed triple is 1050cc and the street triple is 675cc. I don't think too many people put the speed triple and and sv650 in the same basket comparison-wise.

Yes, my bad! Street Triple