Any opinions on Kawasaki's new Z1000 or Honda 919?
06-04-2003, 02:00 PM
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Ok. Here it goes - sorry I don't have a scanner, I'll just retype the juicy bits:
"...During our top-speed testing, as the bike accelerated hard (making the front end light), a patch of slightly rough pavement sent it into a tankslapper at approximately 100-120 mph! This has never happened during testing before, even though we use the same piece of road...."
"...The front profile wasn't odd, and the tire pressures were also double-checked, and proved to be ok. But when we wiggled the handlebars, we noted something unusual: Rather then the bike changing directions in direct response, what we felt was the chassis shaking. While this flexibility doesn't generate instability during smooth maneuvers, and in fact the bike feels very communicative, providing clear signals from the tire to the rider, it may be a big problem in certain situations..."
"...However rare the set of circumstances might be that had caused the problem would be hard for us to know, except later, other motojournalists confirmed our experience. At a press event, three others mentioned having had nearly identical problems and remarked they felt lucky to survive them. It's not so rare apparently..."
"..We'd definitely recommend a steering damper should be fitted at the very least. But a Band-Aid fix shouldn't be required."
"...During our top-speed testing, as the bike accelerated hard (making the front end light), a patch of slightly rough pavement sent it into a tankslapper at approximately 100-120 mph! This has never happened during testing before, even though we use the same piece of road...."
"...The front profile wasn't odd, and the tire pressures were also double-checked, and proved to be ok. But when we wiggled the handlebars, we noted something unusual: Rather then the bike changing directions in direct response, what we felt was the chassis shaking. While this flexibility doesn't generate instability during smooth maneuvers, and in fact the bike feels very communicative, providing clear signals from the tire to the rider, it may be a big problem in certain situations..."
"...However rare the set of circumstances might be that had caused the problem would be hard for us to know, except later, other motojournalists confirmed our experience. At a press event, three others mentioned having had nearly identical problems and remarked they felt lucky to survive them. It's not so rare apparently..."
"..We'd definitely recommend a steering damper should be fitted at the very least. But a Band-Aid fix shouldn't be required."
06-08-2003, 05:20 AM
#13
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Hm, that's not good news. I have been seriously eyeing the big Kwaka as my next bike but have some pretty strong, albeit distant, memories of HUGE tankslappers on Z1s and GPZ1100s in the '70s and '80s.
I would have hoped Kawasaki would have well and truly addressed these problems by now.
I would have hoped Kawasaki would have well and truly addressed these problems by now.
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08-29-2003 07:29 AM