Okay, I just went to the international motorcycle show here in Minnesota and I had a chance to sit on, and examine, all three of these bikes. I was originally pining for a CB1000R when I was in the market for a new bike last year, but I eventually got my '03 Z1000.
After going to the show today, I realized (as you all probably already know) the CB1000R is being released in the states as a 2011 model. After sitting on all three bikes, and looking at the specs of these bikes, I've come to these conclusions and come up with these questions.
1) The Z1000 is the most comfortable of them all to sit on. The ninja 1000 comes in a very close second and the CB third. The CB just doesn't have quite the same feel as the other two. On the Z, you feel like you're on top of the bike, and in total control of the weight of it. It's really well balanced. The Ninja 1000 is similar feeling, but you feel a little more "in" the bike than the Z if that makes sense. The CB feels a little narrower and less balanced. Not a lot, but slightly. It might be just me, but it almost feels like your sitting on a monster sized dirtbike on the CB. I didn't care for the way the CB "felt".
2) The Ninja 1000 looks really nice in person and the cockpit looks pretty good. The CB1000R looks like its finished very well. Every part is nicely rounded, and there isn't any extra plastic where there shouldn't be. The single sided swingarm is pretty trick, but the wheels, in my opinion, are thick and ugly looking. When you're sitting on all three, you notice one thing immediately. The CB is very minimalistic, the Ninja has a lot of "stuff" going on when you look toward the guages, and the Z is a happy medium. I don't like the way the bars and risers look on the Ninja: They almost look like they were just slapped on as an afterthought. Nothing, including the bottom of the windscreen looks like it "fits" together right. I like the bars and guages on the CB, but overall, the Z does look better in the instrument department.
3) The CB uses a reworked 2007 model CBR1000R engine. Like the Z of the first gen, it's a detuned version of their biggest sportbike engine set up for more midrange and torque. At first I thought this was awesome. The ZX9R made 135 hp or so, and the same engine after the "torque and midrange tweaking" made about 125. So it lost 10 hp, big deal. Surely the CB1000RR motor, which made somewhere around 165-175 hp in '07 would make the CB1000R an absolute monster right? Wrong, it's not even close. Somewhere along the way in the tuning, Honda lost 40-50 hp in translation here.:dontknow: It's listed at about 125 hp, same as the Z. I realize the Z has evolved in the engine since the first gens, but it's close to the same power output as it has been in the past. How utterly disappointing this was to discover!
So finally, as you might imagine, I think the Z is the best of the three bikes. It's not too little, and not too much, and you can call me goldielocks of you want. I prefer the minimalist looks of the CB, and I like some of it's trick little bits too. But it's just a little bit TOO little for me. If they made a naked version of the CBR1000RR, like the one that is being raffled off there, there wouldn't be a question for me. But the CB just seems like they paid attention to all the little details and did them very well, but they lost sight of the big picture while doing so. The Z has it's little things that I don't care for, the newer one gets the more plastic one gets as well, but overall it's MY favorite bike. The Ninja 1000 is nice, but it lacks the refinement of the other two. Maybe a couple years down the road they'll figure out the little mismatched things, but for now it comes in firmly in second place with me. The CB1000R is last in the group for the reasons listed. When I sat on it, it felt exactly like the Harley XR1200R, and it looks like one a little too.
Too bad for Honda, because I've always been a Honda guy till now. I bought my Z because I couldn't get a CB1000R here. Now, I'm a 75% Kawasaki guy and 23% Honda guy.
Keep in mind that this review might have gone totally different if I had found out the CB was pushing 155-165 hp. That kind of power can make up for some shortcomings in other areas. But it doesn't, so I'm cool with my Z. :2cents:
After going to the show today, I realized (as you all probably already know) the CB1000R is being released in the states as a 2011 model. After sitting on all three bikes, and looking at the specs of these bikes, I've come to these conclusions and come up with these questions.
1) The Z1000 is the most comfortable of them all to sit on. The ninja 1000 comes in a very close second and the CB third. The CB just doesn't have quite the same feel as the other two. On the Z, you feel like you're on top of the bike, and in total control of the weight of it. It's really well balanced. The Ninja 1000 is similar feeling, but you feel a little more "in" the bike than the Z if that makes sense. The CB feels a little narrower and less balanced. Not a lot, but slightly. It might be just me, but it almost feels like your sitting on a monster sized dirtbike on the CB. I didn't care for the way the CB "felt".
2) The Ninja 1000 looks really nice in person and the cockpit looks pretty good. The CB1000R looks like its finished very well. Every part is nicely rounded, and there isn't any extra plastic where there shouldn't be. The single sided swingarm is pretty trick, but the wheels, in my opinion, are thick and ugly looking. When you're sitting on all three, you notice one thing immediately. The CB is very minimalistic, the Ninja has a lot of "stuff" going on when you look toward the guages, and the Z is a happy medium. I don't like the way the bars and risers look on the Ninja: They almost look like they were just slapped on as an afterthought. Nothing, including the bottom of the windscreen looks like it "fits" together right. I like the bars and guages on the CB, but overall, the Z does look better in the instrument department.
3) The CB uses a reworked 2007 model CBR1000R engine. Like the Z of the first gen, it's a detuned version of their biggest sportbike engine set up for more midrange and torque. At first I thought this was awesome. The ZX9R made 135 hp or so, and the same engine after the "torque and midrange tweaking" made about 125. So it lost 10 hp, big deal. Surely the CB1000RR motor, which made somewhere around 165-175 hp in '07 would make the CB1000R an absolute monster right? Wrong, it's not even close. Somewhere along the way in the tuning, Honda lost 40-50 hp in translation here.:dontknow: It's listed at about 125 hp, same as the Z. I realize the Z has evolved in the engine since the first gens, but it's close to the same power output as it has been in the past. How utterly disappointing this was to discover!
So finally, as you might imagine, I think the Z is the best of the three bikes. It's not too little, and not too much, and you can call me goldielocks of you want. I prefer the minimalist looks of the CB, and I like some of it's trick little bits too. But it's just a little bit TOO little for me. If they made a naked version of the CBR1000RR, like the one that is being raffled off there, there wouldn't be a question for me. But the CB just seems like they paid attention to all the little details and did them very well, but they lost sight of the big picture while doing so. The Z has it's little things that I don't care for, the newer one gets the more plastic one gets as well, but overall it's MY favorite bike. The Ninja 1000 is nice, but it lacks the refinement of the other two. Maybe a couple years down the road they'll figure out the little mismatched things, but for now it comes in firmly in second place with me. The CB1000R is last in the group for the reasons listed. When I sat on it, it felt exactly like the Harley XR1200R, and it looks like one a little too.
Too bad for Honda, because I've always been a Honda guy till now. I bought my Z because I couldn't get a CB1000R here. Now, I'm a 75% Kawasaki guy and 23% Honda guy.
Keep in mind that this review might have gone totally different if I had found out the CB was pushing 155-165 hp. That kind of power can make up for some shortcomings in other areas. But it doesn't, so I'm cool with my Z. :2cents:
I would like to put a round head light on with a bikin fairing
