2014 Kawasaki Z1000SX ongoing review

[Kwacky]

I saw one recently at a petrol station. It's nice in those colours

[Kwacky]

Managed to get 17.74 litres into the tank this morning. I think that's the most so far. 165 miles since the last fill up. The bike says I'm doing an average of 44.9 mpg, which isn't bad.

[Kwacky]

I had completely forgotten that I had some replacement barends replaced under warranty. I need to pick those up at some point and get them replaced.

[Kwacky]

Took the bike to collect the replacement parts and they fitted them for me while I was there. Top service

[Monty]

Did you tell them about your flying lesson?

[Kwacky]

The bar ends were fitted on Saturday, the day before I did my Dumbo impression.

[Kwacky]

The front Z8 has worn unevenly. Having done some googling it appears to be common for people who do a lot of motorway/A road miles in the cold. Something to do with the way the tyres react when you brake and cause a sudden input of heat. I'm not sure how plausible that it.

So I need to replace the front before I go to France.

The rear is squaring off but there's loads of life left in it.

So far the z8s have done over 5,000 miles, which is the best I've had on this bike. I'll be sticking with them for now.

[Kwacky]

Front tyre booked in for Friday afternoon at Addison Tyres who Spudda recommended a couple of years ago http://www.discounttyresuk.co.uk/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; I've used them a few times and they really do take care of your bike. They get the manuals out to check torque settings before they do anything and talk you through any issues they may have found.

They have done the tyre at the same price as http://www.oponeo.co.uk/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; so there's no complaints from me.

[C00kiemonster]

Thats great mileage. If the front hadn't worn unevenly, would it have had more life in it?

[Kwacky]

I reckon it's got at least another 2,500 miles in it, if not more

I'll take a look at the rear at the end of the month and decide if I need to change it before France, but that's got a lot of tread left in it.

[Rossgo]

That's very good mileage for a big bike like yours, hope it's relatively cheap too

Sent from my HTC One_M8 using Tapatalk

[Kwacky]

Front Z8 fitted. I had obviously got used to the vibration from the old tyre. At least I can go round corners now without the front skipping.

[Kwacky]

Front scrubbed in yesterday.

I put the baffles back in the cans last night. I'm going to try them for a week to see if there's any difference with fuelling. I suspect not but it's a little experiment.

Without them there's a nice burble and bubbling at the 4,000 rpm mark.

[Blade]

Must be a Kawasaki trait as mines the same at 4k rpm

[Kwacky]

We got stuck behind some cars yesterday whilst on twisty roads, so I was rolling the throttle through 4k so Perkles got an earful

[Monty]

Must be a Kawasaki trait as mines the same at 4k rpm

Snap, these are going in the bin as soon as I can find someone local that can fit and balance tyres.

[Perkles]

What tyres are those monty ?
I want to ditch the oem bt16s on mine but to tight as they are hardly worn

[Monty]

BT-023, fecking horrible. The grip is actually OK or it had been until I went out on Saturday in the hot weather, but I hate the profile.

Just noticed I'd quoted the wrong person above, meant to quote Kwacky not Blade.

Anyway back to the ZX before Kwacky starts moaning!

[rocket]

If you go near barnsley national tyres will do them £15

[Cav]

What tyres are those monty ?
I want to ditch the oem bt16s on mine but to tight as they are hardly worn

Get rid of those as soon as you can, they're a crashfest tyre !!!

Dunlop Sportsmarts are the best road tyre IMO