Rode tide's beautiful new black and pink ER-6n today (thanks man!)
tide has taken his bike down one tooth on the front sprocket, which seems to give it a fair bit of punch off the line (the speedo's now out about 7%, of course). You still have to give it significant handfuls compared to a 'big' bike, but if you don't mind whacking the throttle to the stops in each gear, you can progress in a straight line as fast as anything has any right to on the road.
I didn't exceed an indicated 170kph (presumably the speedo should have read 158 at that point).
(Yes, that was on a public, not-at-all-closed road. And only an hour or so after I'd received a ticket that will, when I pay it, take me over 100 points and earn me a three-month holiday. You might say I was in the mood to make a furtive display of pointless defiance.)
Anyway, yes, the ER-6n.
It squirts along just fine. Short-shifting seems to work well; it gets a bit wheezy above 9,000rpm.
It tips in very nicely, and is very forgiving. You can pretty much brake and turn wherever you want, and generally just be as sloppy as you like; there's nothing to what's under you. It's like riding a 70hp mountainbike.
(I've always had this theory that 70 or so hp is the perfect sensible amount of power for a road bike. The ER-6n seems to bear that out, too. Never too little, never too much.)
Oddly enough, I noticed that the forks have a larger rake angle than my GSX1400's. Who'd-a thunk it?
One thing I noticed straight off was the ease with which one can get on the gas ridiculously early in corners. Just tip in and whack on unreasonable amounts of throttle well before you normally would, and the ER-6 twitches around, slides an inch or two at the back in one direction or another, then just sorts itself out and rockets up the road without a care in the world. I love upright naked bikes.
It could do with some attention to setup (if, in fact, anything is twiddle-able - I suspect not). Aftermarket suspension upgrades are probably indicated. The front end loves to shake itself around. I had an almost-lock-to-lock tankslapper as I stood on the pegs and gassed the bike in a straight line over a railway crossing. A few less-violent front-end wiggles as I throttled over bumps, too. Not really ideal; if I owned one, I'd have it to a suspension person ASAP to get it behaving itself. I wasn't exactly pushing it.
Still, it's a very quick bike on the road. And so easy to ride quickly. The ergonomics made it very straightforward to shift around, stick a knee out, hang off or sit upright or even lean the wrong way while cornering in an attempt to get those pesky chicken strips off the 160-width rear tyre (it didn't work).
Just for the record, I've gotta say that I no longer have any respect for anyone who gives me the learn riding one of these things; you're obviously not having to work for it.
At NZ$10,000 or so RRP, I'd have to say that this is about the most bang for your buck you can get in a motorcycle right now.
Frankly, if I didn't need something that worked well as a good long-distance two-up touring bike, I wouldn't cry if I had to swap the GSX1400 for an ER-6n. The Kawasaki's easier to ride, just as comfortable, and more fun in the twisties.
Definitely not just a girl's bike.
Two thumbs up!
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Originally Posted by yungatart
... but the 650R only in black (with red rims) & kawasaki green with black.... why didnt they do the 650R in blue?? 
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