On your bike: Kawasaki's 1400GTR
Posted: Tue Nov 07, 2006 4:42 am
On your bike: Kawasaki's 1400GTR
Well, does my silencer look big in this?
Tuesday, November 7, 2006 - By David Neely - Belfast Telegraph - belfasttelegraph.co.uk
No wonder Kawasaki released the first picture of its new 1400 GTR tourer showing the left hand side of the bike, keeping the silencer well out of view. Good bit of PR work that. But you cannot get away with it forever.
Later official pictures showed the four-into-one can ... and did it look big! But even that did not prepare me for its size in the flesh, so to speak, as I stood and gazed at the bike at the International Motorcycle Show at Birmingham’s National Exhibition Centre.
Big? It’s a monstrosity ... If it were to be placed upright the only object to outsize it close to where I live in Co Antrim would be the chimney of the power station at Kilroot.
Silencers are getting bigger all the time and the reason is the new Euro 3 emission laws which come into force in January. Why oh why, I wondered, did Kawasaki’s designers not give the bike a can per side? I know they had to consider the panniers but surely there must have been a more pleasing-to-the-eye option?
The other bike to catch my attention on the Kawasaki stand, and for the correct design reasons this time, is the Versys. It should be a good seller. Generally, though, the Big Green stand did not impress.
When I was there on Press day there were no signs beside or on the bikes giving details about the individual machines. Poor show.
A bike that impressed me a lot, easily 10 times better in the metal than in photographs, was Triumph’s new Tiger.
It’s definitely a looker. Triumph has taken the Tiger away from the big trailie/GS market sector and placed it ... where? That’s a good question. I watched some people try it for size and the reactions were different.
One man climbed aboard, checked out the seating position and the layout of the controls and said: "Perfect, everything’s to hand. This is just what I’m looking for: a machine with sports performance but without the discomfort of a sports bike."
His two friends nodded in agreement. A short time later another two visitors looked at the Tiger and one said to the other: "That’s not for me, Triumph has lost the plot, it’s definitely not a trailie, it’s not what I want or was hoping for."
Yamaha has been offering a bike in this style for some years, its twin-cylinder TDM. Never a volume seller in the UK, it has a small, loyal following. Rumours have been circulating for some time that there’s to be a new, bigger-engined TDM but to date there’s nothing concrete.
Honda has a lot riding on its new Hornet and there’s no reason why it should not sell well. Sometimes when a machine starts its life with a fairing the engine can look ugly when it’s removed, but the Hornet doesn’t.
I thought one of the new colour schemes, in HRC livery, for the 2007 Fireblade was simply stunning.
Suzuki had a lot of interest in the new GSX-R1000, with it’s three-way switch to control the power output. I only hope that the Eurocrats don’t read this as an admittance that the bike is too fast.
The new generation of water-cooled Bandits are the business — there’s certainly plenty of choice from all the makers for economy priced machines.
At BMW the three new G 650 singles in road, trail and su-permoto versions are more sharply focused.
Take the road bike — I cannot imagine it with panniers.
Hyosung bikes from South Korea are well made and well priced. The factory also builds for Suzuki. The GTA 650R sports v-twin for £3,999 must be a bargain, as is the 125-four stroke single trailie at £1,899.
While all the Japanese makers displayed their custom bikes prominently, there’s no beating Harley in this sector of the market and its prototype XR 1200, with its twin exhausts, is a winner. The KTM stand is also good with a strong range of machines. The marque also has high quality accessories.
This year I thought some stands were slightly smaller, perhaps reflecting that while sales have been steady they have not been as buoyant as in previous years.
Noticeably absent were the Italians: Aprilia, Benelli, Ducati, Moto Guzzi, Moto Morini and MV. It would appear to be a difficult time for them.
Well, does my silencer look big in this?
Tuesday, November 7, 2006 - By David Neely - Belfast Telegraph - belfasttelegraph.co.uk
No wonder Kawasaki released the first picture of its new 1400 GTR tourer showing the left hand side of the bike, keeping the silencer well out of view. Good bit of PR work that. But you cannot get away with it forever.
Later official pictures showed the four-into-one can ... and did it look big! But even that did not prepare me for its size in the flesh, so to speak, as I stood and gazed at the bike at the International Motorcycle Show at Birmingham’s National Exhibition Centre.
Big? It’s a monstrosity ... If it were to be placed upright the only object to outsize it close to where I live in Co Antrim would be the chimney of the power station at Kilroot.
Silencers are getting bigger all the time and the reason is the new Euro 3 emission laws which come into force in January. Why oh why, I wondered, did Kawasaki’s designers not give the bike a can per side? I know they had to consider the panniers but surely there must have been a more pleasing-to-the-eye option?
The other bike to catch my attention on the Kawasaki stand, and for the correct design reasons this time, is the Versys. It should be a good seller. Generally, though, the Big Green stand did not impress.
When I was there on Press day there were no signs beside or on the bikes giving details about the individual machines. Poor show.
A bike that impressed me a lot, easily 10 times better in the metal than in photographs, was Triumph’s new Tiger.
It’s definitely a looker. Triumph has taken the Tiger away from the big trailie/GS market sector and placed it ... where? That’s a good question. I watched some people try it for size and the reactions were different.
One man climbed aboard, checked out the seating position and the layout of the controls and said: "Perfect, everything’s to hand. This is just what I’m looking for: a machine with sports performance but without the discomfort of a sports bike."
His two friends nodded in agreement. A short time later another two visitors looked at the Tiger and one said to the other: "That’s not for me, Triumph has lost the plot, it’s definitely not a trailie, it’s not what I want or was hoping for."
Yamaha has been offering a bike in this style for some years, its twin-cylinder TDM. Never a volume seller in the UK, it has a small, loyal following. Rumours have been circulating for some time that there’s to be a new, bigger-engined TDM but to date there’s nothing concrete.
Honda has a lot riding on its new Hornet and there’s no reason why it should not sell well. Sometimes when a machine starts its life with a fairing the engine can look ugly when it’s removed, but the Hornet doesn’t.
I thought one of the new colour schemes, in HRC livery, for the 2007 Fireblade was simply stunning.
Suzuki had a lot of interest in the new GSX-R1000, with it’s three-way switch to control the power output. I only hope that the Eurocrats don’t read this as an admittance that the bike is too fast.
The new generation of water-cooled Bandits are the business — there’s certainly plenty of choice from all the makers for economy priced machines.
At BMW the three new G 650 singles in road, trail and su-permoto versions are more sharply focused.
Take the road bike — I cannot imagine it with panniers.
Hyosung bikes from South Korea are well made and well priced. The factory also builds for Suzuki. The GTA 650R sports v-twin for £3,999 must be a bargain, as is the 125-four stroke single trailie at £1,899.
While all the Japanese makers displayed their custom bikes prominently, there’s no beating Harley in this sector of the market and its prototype XR 1200, with its twin exhausts, is a winner. The KTM stand is also good with a strong range of machines. The marque also has high quality accessories.
This year I thought some stands were slightly smaller, perhaps reflecting that while sales have been steady they have not been as buoyant as in previous years.
Noticeably absent were the Italians: Aprilia, Benelli, Ducati, Moto Guzzi, Moto Morini and MV. It would appear to be a difficult time for them.