I had a new 2012 Z1000SX that I kept for 5 years. It does have great build quality, performance and it was green. Resale value was also good and I only lost £3k on the original price when selling. I found it enjoyable at times, but the lack of comfort from the hard seat, stiff rear suspension and bars that were too flat and without adjustment made it rather a pain the majority of the time. Owing to the powerful engine there weren't that many opportunities to gun it in real world road riding. I now own a 2010 Mk1 CBF1000 I bought second hand. To be honest I wasn't expecting it to be very good, just cheap. It's not as powerful (42bhp less), but it's much more usable, comfortable and fun to ride on roads. Surprisingly it's really grown on me and personally it's my choice (of these two) as a proper road bike rather than needing track days to use the performance.
My pick of that bunch is the Suzuki GSX1250 FA. This bike is a genuine all rounder capable of doing almost everything well. It's low down mid range torque is exactly where you need it in the real world. It's basically a GSF Bandit with full fairing, centre stand and ABS. Best of all it's only £8,000 new which is amazing considering what it can do. It's powerful and fast which isn't surprising when you consider it's muscle bike heritage. With a few mods this bike can do 160 MPH plus in a straight line and the stock OEM bike will push 145 MPH. For high speed comfortable motorway mile munching this beast is superb as it will sit at 100 MPH all day. The engine is over engineered and is bulletproof.
@@41778055 I bought a 16 plate 1250 in feb 17 and it is as good as the review above states, I paid 6k for it then and was offered £4300 a couple of weeks ago for a trade in. I was tempted to go down to a smaller more commuter friendly bike, say a 650 versys or vstrom, which tbh would suit my needs better, but each time I go for a demo, I am reminded how great my bike is on the ride home, so I have decided tomkeep hold of it. You can come off a roundabout at 20mph in second gear, open the throttle and in a few seconds look down and see you are up to 60 lol, great fun. I have had it up to 120 and felt safe on it. It is quite heavy when manouvering around in garage etc, but that goes away as soon as you start moving
I would not argue that the Kawasaki is the best of the three bikes tested. I am a Honda man but I love all three of these bikes. But Adam, you were a little harsh on the Honda. "Whats it got beneath it ?" you ask - Well its a fireblade engine actually. "Not sure where the money has gone", whilst it may be a little expensive it is pretty good quality and, compared to the earlier version of the CBF 1000 it has adjustable, & better quality, suspension front & rear, sorted generator/RegRec, ally frame, clearer speedo, slightly more power etc etc. I know lots of people who have traded from the Bandit to the CBF to get a lighter bike with better handling. Albeit slightly less torque. I have not ridden the Kwaker and I would like to - it looks great. But the CBF is better than Adam gives it credit for, and, in my opinion, better than the Bandit.
i've got the kawasaki, just bought it a few weeks ago and it's a great bike, best i've ridden. no buzz saw. perhaps years ago, has a better counterbalancer set up and is just quite smooth. i could ride a thousand miles on it, in fact i have! that said, easily the best out there in this class.
I owned a brand new 2016 model of the Ninja 1000 as it's called here in the states, and a brand new 2016 Bandit 1250S. Kaw has much more horsepower and just a very little bit more torque than the Bandit, and the bike weighs over 50 pounds less, but that 1255 cc Suzuki engine produces the torque lower in the rev range making it more useful. The Kaw has only the one headlight on when on low beam, looks like a bulb has gone out, unbalanced looking. The Suzuki's engine is MUCH smoother than the buzzy Kawasaki. The Kaw shifts much smoother. The dual (weird looking) exhaust on the Kaw ( to me) isn't as nice as the Suzuki's single sided unit. In the end I sold my Ninja and kept the Bandit.
Twist and go, nothing to worry about, even pull from any gear more or less, no rush up top, will do everything well enough. Bland is a good description, as most scooters are, even the pricey ones, it's hard to get the adrenaline flowing on an automatic bike (scooters) regardless of everything else, and there's really just one scooter out there that's really fast (GP800/SRV850).
We've bought the 2012 Z1000SX. Half a year ago. Its pretty sporty and fast, not just becouse its the first bike for me. You can dive into corners completely but if you are unlucky, you might scratch your exhaust! The only sad thing is, that it is limited to 240-250km/h although it could reach 300 with its 140hp. Another negative thing is or might be its weight but thats usual for tourers. Its a great Funbike, everyday Bike and an OK tourer. Good for sporty people who like to travel
get the bandit , be aware of the fuel filter will need replacing when it starts missing at about 50k, the seat...get a sergeants or original a gel insert
3:35 "In every kind of aspect it's better than the other two" sure, if you ignore an important feature for a so called '...tourer', where's the centre stand? 4:22 "it does everything the other two can do" unless you need to pull the rear wheel off in the middle of nowhere to change a tyre.
I guess you've never had a flat on a long trip. It's very simple, you place the bike on it's centre stand (if you're lucky enough to have one), remove the wheel, thumb a ride from a good samaritan to the nearest town, have tyre changed/repaired, reverse the steps. The alternative is to trailer the bike or wait for a van/truck, not good options. The obvious additional benefit for chain drives such as this bike is cleaning, lubricating and adjusting the chain. It also helps when loading luggage if you're in touring mode. Don't get me wrong, I'm a Kawasaki nut and I'd probably buy one of these but, if KHI want to offer a Sports 'Tourer', I just don't see why it doesn't have a centre stand.
Like the Channel but every time I look at a UK Video of either a car or bike test it's raining! I pity you guys, really I do! From one biker to all others from Australia.
What did you say?. Hondo is so easy to drive almost as big a scooter ????. seema You never ride a big scooter ... because ..scooter is very difficult to ride well and agile and smootly and fast in corner as Honda can go much better and faster as a big scooter. I think you just talk somthing...to make minutes in this videos...
The buzz from the engine on the Kawasaki Ninja Z1000SX that travels through every part of the bike and "into" the rider is unbearable for many, myself included. That nasty buzz just ruins the whole experience. It's almost unbelievable that Adam didn't even mention it, as it's so pervasive and impossible not to notice immediately, let alone after riding the bike around for a while.
I've just ridden a SX today and I did not feel any kind of buzz. It's just an amazing bike. Power everywhere, good handling, nice comfort. Maybe I didn't feel a buzz because I am already blunted from my parallel-twin.
I've had my 2014 Z1000SX for 10 months now and have never detected a buzz riding on our Andalucian roads and I don't hang around. This thing is The Best all round road bike I have ever owned.
Mike Ritchie It is a very good bike, but the engine buzz getting through is just too much for some people, and I'm one of them. I'm glad it's working out so well for you.
You always mention like a scooter???do this bike really like a scooter?by the looks alone,you can easily differentiate it will..This is a sports touring bike,the similarity of this bike to a scooter?"the both have to wheels"
I bought one of these at 56 as a born again biker. It is just like a scooter. Any old gear at any speed and it goes. It can also be thrashed off the line with nothing happening apart from loads of acceleration, no wheelies or wheel spin. My last bike was an RD350. The first few gears would have the front wheel in the air, and it was impossible to use full power off of the line. All this excitement would go on as everybody else overtook me. My wife has a scooter (SH125), it is brilliant but slow. My CBF is just as easy to ride as the 125 but compared to the traffic you meet every day, is capable of letting all sorts of hell loose in a mad dash to obviously 69mph on a dual carriageway.
@@MrDickBills i love my cbf. I love its smoothness. It just glides along. All the power you need. It is a litre bike after all. It is what it is. Love it or loath it. I don't even want to put a can on it. It's quietness kind of suits it. I like sexy bikes but i always like to jump back on my cbf! Its a joy.
I got a gsx 1250 fa ,,, seating is crap after a 100ks radiator to small for a sub tropical climate lazy suspension,,,, cheap finish,,, But it’s a beast.. push it around a corner and you get an adrenaline rush,, like wow slow down,,,,, I have gotten 550 kms on a run still had a litre left,, push it and you will get maybe half.... it’s a gsx 1100 base plant supt up to 1250... change the oil and filter at each 5 or 6000ks intervals keep the carbon out clean oil last for 100,000 easily... oh change the freaking seat... Sargent seat or Corbin.
Yes Kawasaki are awesome, but what is with the new style of end can on the exhaust?? I don't know if i like it, looks like something strange and about the electronics, I agree they are great, while they are working but one little sensor goes down the computer/ ECU is telling you that the bike is fucked, but its not so electronics are great while they are working correctly, sometimes simply is better
A simplistic use of the word simplistic! Calling the bike "simplistic" in this context is a huge insult! Adam needs to use a dictionary more oftener so he doesn't make himself sound stupificatious.
Save your money and buy a bandit FFS. Just buy a bandit, get it painted. Wheels too. Nice silencer. He's just said it in not so many words hasn't he. This bike came out best all round tourer by MCN ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-zQCVb7qYp00.html. You can pick them up soooo reasonably, virtually mint on a newish reg too. Get searching......