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I finally got around to checking out a Z900RS in person today. Like others, I was surprised at how tall it is. It's even taller than my CB1100 with the tall Tiros-K seat. If I got one, I think I'd definitely have to spring for the lower seat.
Overall the bike looked really good to me. While the big tank does look unusual from the seat, I think it looks fine overall. The build quality looks pretty good, though not quite up to the level of the CB1100. I certainly wouldn't mind owning one.
They certainly seem to be selling well. This Kawasaki-only dealer initially got 4 of them, which all sold within the first week. They recently got 3 more (one of which is already sold).
Which brings me to my dilemma. I also spent some time at the Honda dealer checking out the '17 EX. I really like all of the upgrades over my '13. Pipes, suspension, ABS, big tank and overall more shiny bits. I really like it. And to make it even more appealing, the dealer has taken $2K off the list price.
This is really going to be a tough decision.
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Sell both Honda’s and buy a CB1100EX and the Kawasaki 900RS.
Don’t thank me. It was easy. 
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(02-24-2018, 09:37 AM)Cormanus_imp Wrote: Sell both Honda’s and buy a CB1100EX and the Kawasaki 900RS.
Don’t thank me. It was easy.
Haha! That would be the ideal choice, if I wasn't on a budget. As it is, the '13 will definitely stay, the old CB750 will go and something bright and shiny will take its place.
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Mmmm. Don’t you hate budgets?
Seriously, good luck with the choice. I saw a 2017 in the metal last year and thought it was a very nice looking machine. I still prefer the DLX I think, but I’d probably go for the EX in preference due to the sum of the updates.
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(02-24-2018, 09:56 AM)Flynrider_imp Wrote: (02-24-2018, 09:37 AM)Cormanus_imp Wrote: Sell both Honda’s and buy a CB1100EX and the Kawasaki 900RS.
Don’t thank me. It was easy.
Haha! That would be the ideal choice, if I wasn't on a budget. As it is, the '13 will definitely stay, the old CB750 will go and something bright and shiny will take its place.
Haha! That would be the ideal choice, if I wasn't on a budget. As it is, the '13 will definitely stay, the old CB750 will go and something bright and shiny will take its place.
Keep the CB750, sell the 13 CB1100 & get the 17 EX
you should have bought a DELUXE
2014 Honda CB1100 DLX
2002 Honda CB750 Nighthawk
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(02-22-2018, 09:43 AM)The ferret_imp Wrote: (02-22-2018, 06:39 AM)rotor_imp Wrote: I sit on the Jap bike, but...
(02-21-2018, 09:29 AM)Cormanus_imp Wrote: (02-21-2018, 05:11 AM)Bheezy27403_imp Wrote: (02-21-2018, 04:42 AM)LongRanger_imp Wrote: And, it's a "Jap bike." There goes half the potential U.S. customer base.
HD-riding buddy of mine a few years ago wouldn't even sit on my Kawasaki Concours, let alone ride it. "I don't sit on Jap bikes!" And she was educated, successful, articulate, open-minded and reasonably intelligent.
She sure sounds open-minded.
She sure sounds open-minded.
I was thinking the same thing.
She sure sounds open-minded.
I was thinking the same thing.
Oddly enough, I understand better those that buy Harleys because they "wouldn't sit on Jap bikes!..." then those that believe there is some technical merit to the big bore V twins in this 21st century.
Nothing wrong with the air cooled Harley V twin.Been around a long time and they still sell a boat load of them. Sure it's heavy and slow, and not as technically advanced as some others, but I think I've heard the same complaints about the CB1100.
We all have preferences and opinions. Some are rather stubborn in theirs...on both sides. That, in a way, is exactly what's wrong (other than my personal objection to the stupid noise they make  .
According to some, motorcycling in north America is on the decline, according to the others, it is in a tailspin. I have not heard anyone who, with any authority, claims the state of the industry is healthy.
HD is, for reasons that are not worth going into here, such a dominant force in that industry, that what it does - or does not do - is the principal factor that determines not only the future of the company, but the future of the domestic motorcycle industry. That future is not in noisy, overpriced and overweight toys completely unfit for modern urban traffic, targeting a bunch of old man that have no need for real-world transportation and will be in no position to keep buying any kind of motorised vehicle for much longer; it is in the transportation and recreation needs of our grand-kids (well, of most of us around here, if I get the demographics of this forum correct 
Or, in pictures, motorcycling around the world:
And then, the only kind of motorcycling we know in north America:
I know it looks quaint, but trust me, it's not healthy...
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I completely agree.
However...
...this picture could easily have been taken in San Francisco. That's the one city in America I've seen in which such scenes are a daily reality. Go anywhere in The City, and you will see scores of motorcycles parked together; all makes and models, new and old, large and small, rat bikes to carbon fiber Panigales.
Most places here in America, however, you're correct, it's either Harleys and the occasional sportbike, or, if you're out roaming the hinterlands, it's Harleys and BMWs and Gold Wings, and that's about it.
Oh, and call me crazy, but this...
...looks a whole lot healthier than this...
It also looks a whole lot more fun!
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(02-25-2018, 03:10 AM)VLJ_imp Wrote: I completely agree.
However...
...this picture could easily have been taken in San Francisco. That's the one city in America I've seen in which such scenes are a daily reality. Go anywhere in The City, and you will see scores of motorcycles parked together; all makes and models, new and old, large and small, rat bikes to carbon fiber Panigales.
Most places here in America, however, you're correct, it's either Harleys and the occasional sportbike, or, if you're out roaming the hinterlands, it's Harleys and BMWs and Gold Wings, and that's about it.
Oh, and call me crazy, but this...
...looks a whole lot healthier than this...
It also looks a whole lot more fun! Hobart, Tasmania. The City by the Bay, except down under. It did appear to me to have a whole lot in common with San Francisco. Love them both!
Quote:Oh, and call me crazy, but this...
...looks a whole lot healthier than this...
It also looks a whole lot more fun! To an old man who has paid his dues, absolutely. However:
Long time go, in a galaxy far away (Toronto, actually) I lost a job and drove a cab for a better part of a year. At that time, any suggestion of a motorcycle taxi would have been considered a sheer lunacy. But today? There is no doubt that Toronto (just like NYC for instance), is more than ripe for a motorcycle taxi service (that would be the dudes in hi-visibility vests on the photo above).
While I no longer have a job to loose, if something forced me to consider my old trade again, I would knock on the door of whatever TO municipal department was in charge, and apply for the taxi license renewal, with my CB1100 in tow... (I know a lawyer down there that would be given a chance to fight the rejection as a re-payment of his overdue student loans...
(I'm sure I must now be very close to be asked to remove himself because of the dreaded "thread drift"
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(02-25-2018, 04:23 AM)rotor_imp Wrote: (02-25-2018, 03:10 AM)VLJ_imp Wrote: I completely agree.
However...
...this picture could easily have been taken in San Francisco. That's the one city in America I've seen in which such scenes are a daily reality. Go anywhere in The City, and you will see scores of motorcycles parked together; all makes and models, new and old, large and small, rat bikes to carbon fiber Panigales.
Most places here in America, however, you're correct, it's either Harleys and the occasional sportbike, or, if you're out roaming the hinterlands, it's Harleys and BMWs and Gold Wings, and that's about it.
Oh, and call me crazy, but this...
...looks a whole lot healthier than this...
It also looks a whole lot more fun! Hobart, Tasmania. The City by the Bay, except down under. It did appear to me to have a whole lot in common with San Francisco. Love them both!
Quote:Oh, and call me crazy, but this...
...looks a whole lot healthier than this...
It also looks a whole lot more fun! To an old man who has paid his dues, absolutely. However:
Long time go, in a galaxy far away (Toronto, actually) I lost a job and drove a cab for a better part of a year. At that time, any suggestion of a motorcycle taxi would have been considered a sheer lunacy. But today? There is no doubt that Toronto (just like NYC for instance), is more than ripe for a motorcycle taxi service (that would be the dudes in hi-visibility vests on the photo above).
While I no longer have a job to loose, if something forced me to consider my old trade again, I would knock on the door of whatever TO municipal department was in charge, and apply for the taxi license renewal, with my CB1100 in tow... (I know a lawyer down there that would be given a chance to fight the rejection as a re-payment of his overdue student loans...
(I'm sure I must now be very close to be asked to remove himself because of the dreaded "thread drift"
My wife is from Costa Rica and our retirement plan probably puts us down there for large portions of the year. 15 minutes from the coast...I'm buying a moto taxi and will transport travelers up and down the pacific coast...stop in at resorts and hotels and give Spanish lessons to guests. Motor inland to remote towns nestled in the mountains where I'll teach English at local grade schools that otherwise would never have an English teacher. Gotta have a plan.
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