[Dan]

Hi to all. I'm from Omaha and have wanted to own a Z1000 for a while. I'm 46 and have always been a Kawasaki guy. I've owned a lot of GPZ's and older Ninjas. Couldn't sell my old bike but found someone to trade me a 2008 ZX10R for it. I hate it and wish I would have held out for the Z1000. This thing kills my back and I knew it would. I have to learn to have some patience.

Anyway I plan to pick one up in the spring and am looking forward to meeting you all and reading about this bike.

 

[jrick56]

rode my son's 09 zx10r. my z has way more low end. 0-to 100 is where it's at. 30 - 70mph power wheelies are safer than 100- 150mph wheelies. well at least i think so. closed course, professional driver. do not try this at home.

 

[Dan]

I 100% agree on the power wheelies. I don't have the skills necessary for 100 mph plus wheelies.

I pulled one a couple of day's after I got the bike. Don't know if I was past 100 mph because I stopped looking down, but last I saw was 80 mph and a short while later the front end started coming up. Makes my hands sweat just writing about it. This bike is definitely getting sold before it gives me a stroke. Funny thing is the guy I got it from bought it new and gave it to me with only 2230 miles on the odo. He said it scared him. I should have took that as a warning and passed on the trade. lol Anyone out there looking to trade their Z for this one, it only has 2340 miles on it, give me a shout.

I'm taking a serious look at that new Ninja 1000 instead of the Z1000. Looking forward to sitting on one soon. Also considering gearing this one down and putting a set of the lsl bars on it. That might be the cheapest course but wouldn't change the powerband. No good or cheap course of action from where I'm sitting.

 

[jrick56]

mt friend has a cbr 1000 with a special riser and regular bars. looks a littlr different, but he can ride it longer, he's 49 or 50. if i had of known i might have bought the 10 and done the same thing you're talking about.

 

[RobG]

Suggestion... post it on Craigslist and offer to trade it to somebody with a 600, like a ZX6, CBR600RR or similar, plus some cash (meaning you get the cash). I bet there are people out there with a 600 who wish they had gotten a 1000. Then you'd at least have a bike that, while still not comfortable, is less likely to kill you, until you can get a Z or Ninja 1000.

Re: Omaha, you have my sympathy. I spent six years there. If I NEVER have to set foot in Nebraska again, it'll be too soon.

Rob

 

[RobG]

mt friend has a cbr 1000 with a special riser and regular bars. looks a littlr different, but he can ride it longer, he's 49 or 50.

That reminds me, a friend in Texas had a CBR1000RR and he also did the riser thing. Raised his bars like 4". Said it was LOT more comfy. But he has since returned it to stock and traded it on a Suzuki B-King, which he loves even more.

Rob

 

[notabiker]

i would not hesitate to do a all day ride on my Z 1000. the seat is not to firm. the riding position is very good. and i am 63 years old. i have done several 200 plus mile rides already. i would rather ride my ZED than my victory 8 ball. the 8 ball is a very good cruiser.

 

[jrick56]

what notabiker said except i sold my street bob. 300 miles is ok

 

[RobG]

I needed stop about every half hour when riding my ER-6n, but so far with the Z1000, I haven't had that problem. The seat is wide enough that it doesn't seem to put pressure on your sciatic nerve.

I have a Bill Mayer seat on my DR650 and that thing is fantastic... I did a 660 mile weekend to Crater Lake and back and had NO butt troubles at all with that seat. It came on the bike. Good thing too, the darn things are $450 new.

Rob

 

[jrick56]

660 on a dr you must be young.

 

[RobG]

I'm 42. And it's a comfy bike with that seat, a proper windscreen, and vibranators (they really work). It's every bit as much fun as my Z1000.

Rob

 

[Dan]

I had a cbr600 but it bored the hell out of me. I'm going to wait and sit on one of those new ninja 1000's. Maybe I'll trade on one and suck up the money lost as paying it forward on medical bills. lol On a side note; I went down to our local Yamaha dealer and they have a left over 2009 FZ1 for $7,500.00 OTD but they'll only give me $5,500.00 on trade. That seems like a smoking deal minus the trade. Anybody ever ridden one of these? I remember hearing Yamaha had some problems with their fuel mapping.

Oh, and Rob thanks for the kind words about Omahell. You are so right about Nebraska. Nice people and fairly cheap but most everything else sucks. My Mom retired here as did most of the rest of my family so I feel obligated to endure it. I do dream of moving to a place with longer summers and curves in the Roads though.

 

[RobG]

The FZ1 is a nice bike, it was my second choice over the Z1000. I've heard it doesn't have anywhere near the low-end that the Z has, although with a power commander and pipe, you can make the same power as the R1. Also there is a Fuel Cutoff Eliminator mod you can do to fix the fuel map issue... a friend who had an FZ1 told me about it (same guy who now has the B-King). $7500 is a smoking deal on an FZ1, but heck I only paid $7800 for my Z1000. I took it in the shorts on my trade, but hey what can you do?

IMO, you don't need to endure Omaha if you don't want to be there. If you can get work elsewhere, I say move. My family is all back east... Florida, Tennessee, Virginia. Haven't seen them in years, but we keep in touch via the internet, telephone, etc. I'm refuse to move away from the west. I'm in Oregon right now and while it's pretty, it's too damn wet. I've just about landed a new job (contract) in Southern California... get back to nicer year-round weather and awesome roads.

The only reason I can see for living in the midwest is if you're a farmer/rancher.

Rob