Good News For Kawasaki

I've used Pirelli Diablo Sportbike Pros and Metzler Racetech Comp Ks, both slicks front and rear on the street. Never had a problem and I prefer them to street tires. Of course, I'm a little careful about cold tires and dust. I only ride in summer and always check the forecast before going out. I look for slicks specced for cold track and no tire warmers. Slicks are a little less expensive than comparable DOT tires by the same manufacturer too.
ive run used race Meltzer and Pirelli soft slicks and dot race tyres on my gsxr road bike for years they don't need tyre warmers they are fine, just can't put them back on the track , i wouldn't use Dunlop slicks on the road they are so specific in heat ranges.
 
The Gen1 ZX14 spanked the Gen1 Busa. The Gen2 Busa equaled the Gen1 ZX14. The ZX14R spanked the Gen2 Busa and I seriously doubt the Gen3 Busa will equal the 14R. All this takes into consideration the fact that people give different values to characteristics like the styling, handling, braking, comfort, etc. so personal opinions can vary.
You all forgot the OG ZX-12 that was the Gen -1 Busa rival. Unlimited no gentleman’s agreement protruding intake and all around bad ass.
Still worthy of respect.
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Oh, I didn’t forget the 12, but figured we would never solve the world’s problems if we brought that bike into it. The 12 was not an equal to the Busa. Close but nah.
Might as well bring in the Super Blackbird too if we bring in the ZX12...these two bikes were nipping at the heels of the Hayabusa...
 
That reminds me, I wanted to ask you if you ever pulled your secondary flies on the 14. I know the 08 had quicker opening secondaries, but pulling the flies in my 06 with Ivans map and tre was un-frigging-believable. It really was ridiculous how much low end kawasaki was hiding... I see why they did it though, you needed to use judicious throttle control to stay out of trouble... definitely could have caused some legal issues for kawasaki and newbies jumping on the 14, especially back then when the superbikes were still being eyeballed as a possible "menace to society" lol.
The 08 flies caused a sudden leap in power at about 2700 rpm. It was mostly a problem for street riding. Taking a quick left hander from a stop sign gave me a bit of a scare several times. I removed the flies the first winter I owned the ZX-14 while I had the the bike stored. The fueling was still stock and it didn't feel any different than it did with flies in. I tried a map from the supplier I bought my PC5 from and then a map from the tuner I bought my pipe from and I don't think either made much difference, the surge was still there with or without the aftermarket pipe and PC5. I put autotune on it and accepted the trims only one time after riding two years without touching the Autotune. It was a little smoother from start to 2700 rpm but still there. In 2016, I learned how to use Autotune properly with the help of Romans (the guy, not the Bible). By that time I had about 49000 miles on the bike and it was 8 years old. The first gear flies open surge has all but vanished now. It's extremely subtle in first gear. The fueling on the 08 is as much responsible for the flies open response as the flies are. Some people people put the flies back in their 08+ Gen1 ZX-14s to gain back fine throttle response. As I mentioned, I felt the fine throttle response was a little dangerous at low rpm. I never saw any benefit to putting my flies back in even in all the years I rode the bike without having the fueling tuned really well. Some will say it's not worth taking the flies out to gain some smoothness at that low of an rpm. The bike isn't making much power at that low of an engine speed anyway so you don't really miss out on anything. I got it done about as right as I can for now and I'm happy with the smoothness. I'm not about to put the flies back in.
 
The 08 flies caused a sudden leap in power at about 2700 rpm. It was mostly a problem for street riding. Taking a quick left hander from a stop sign gave me a bit of a scare several times. I removed the flies the first winter I owned the ZX-14 while I had the the bike stored. The fueling was still stock and it didn't feel any different than it did with flies in. I tried a map from the supplier I bought my PC5 from and then a map from the tuner I bought my pipe from and I don't think either made much difference, the surge was still there with or without the aftermarket pipe and PC5. I put autotune on it and accepted the trims only one time after riding two years without touching the Autotune. It was a little smoother from start to 2700 rpm but still there. In 2016, I learned how to use Autotune properly with the help of Romans (the guy, not the Bible). By that time I had about 49000 miles on the bike and it was 8 years old. The first gear flies open surge has all but vanished now. It's extremely subtle in first gear. The fueling on the 08 is as much responsible for the flies open response as the flies are. Some people people put the flies back in their 08+ Gen1 ZX-14s to gain back fine throttle response. As I mentioned, I felt the fine throttle response was a little dangerous at low rpm. I never saw any benefit to putting my flies back in even in all the years I rode the bike without having the fueling tuned really well. Some will say it's not worth taking the flies out to gain some smoothness at that low of an rpm. The bike isn't making much power at that low of an engine speed anyway so you don't really miss out on anything. I got it done about as right as I can for now and I'm happy with the smoothness. I'm not about to put the flies back in.
Pulling the secondaries combined with Ivans map and tre on my 06 didn't affect throttle response or smoothness at all, it was as smooth as butter lol. What it did do was give me a gigantic boost in the off idle and low end throttle response. It took the fun factor WAY up... that was the single best mod I've done to the bike so far.
 
Pulling the secondaries combined with Ivans map and tre on my 06 didn't affect throttle response or smoothness at all, it was as smooth as butter lol. What it did do was give me a gigantic boost in the off idle and low end throttle response. It took the fun factor WAY up... that was the single best mod I've done to the bike so far.
For me, the most noticeable mod was going to +4 teeth on the rear sprocket. The weight loss from switching to a full system was also very noticeable. I took a lot more weight off the ZX-14 but those were done one small step at a time and none of them were really noticeable on their own.
 
For me, the most noticeable mod was going to +4 teeth on the rear sprocket. The weight loss from switching to a full system was also very noticeable. I took a lot more weight off the ZX-14 but those were done one small step at a time and none of them were really noticeable on their own.
Time for some humor...

I'll be the Hayabusa Forum advocate...

The biggest improvement you can get with a ZX14R is to get a Hayabusa...:lol::lol::lol:
 
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