I will be going Tuesday or Wednesday to pick up my bike finally. A few of my friends tell me I should get the bike and put around 1K on it before mods. (Brocks CT duals, PCV, and K&N). The dealer I'm buying the bike from says to get that stuff put on and get the bike tuned before I pick it up. What do you guys think? Also how many of you got a free helmet thrown in with the price of the bike?

Great setup you will have. My vote is for modding after break in. That way you will be covered if anything goes wrong during the first 1000 miles when th8ings are most likely to happen.

I don't know if there is any performance benefit to modding before break in. It seems like there could be if you believe in the high rpm race break in approach. The engine might ware in according to the mods slightly different than stock.

Look at how some of us break them in. Some go around the block just to make sure they have all the gears, doesn't overheat and the cluth feels good then it is party time. Some get 50 miles on them and they are at the track. Some live by break in rules. End result is they keep running without problems.
Doesn't matter if the mods go on before or after because you are set on modding so if you have the extra $ to get a pipe and PC tune you should go for it. The way you break it in is what will matter yo you.

Is it a free X-12?

Is this your first bike? I hope not but if it is I would leave it stock for a bit it’s going to scare you shitless to start with mods will be a waste of money for you period. The only reason I say that is because the chance of you having even a minor accident or parking lot tip over is really high on your first bike if that’s the case. If you do then you can replace the stock pipes with a set of slip-ons. Ride it for a while and then decide the last thing you need is more power that’s just going to make the learning curve even steeper. Good choice the 14 is a great bike.

Lots of good input. By the way this is my first street bike. I used to race dirt bikes and there were a few friends that had street bikes that I would ride occasionally. I just never really had the money to get my own. I started my family a little early in life (19) and now two of my three children are all grown up and out of the house. So I figured now its time for ole dad to have a little fun. Mass I'm gettng an 09 14. I've always broke my automobiles in driving like I would any other time no different and I have an 04 dodge diesel with about 188,000 on it that runs like a champ. I probably just jinxed myself. But anyways I'm still only 39 so I'm not over the hill yet.

* Last updated by: jbice on 1/15/2010 @ 1:45 PM *

Willid I know exactly what you are saying about initial bumps and bruises. I just took the Texas version of the riders saftey course about a month ago. Man if you guys seen some of those yahoo's you would shit. Just knowing they will be out there riding amongst us. One guy said he had been riding for 15 years and he was one of the worst riders in the class. Of course he was from Wisconsin. Hey rook not trying to yank your chain, he was probably from a different part of Wisconsin. Anyway Willi I'm getting full coverage insurance just for that reason. (100.00 dollars a month).

jbice:

There have been a couple of good threads here regarding break in procedures. Here is one and here is another.

One of the threads had a link to this website, which I found quite interesting.

Hope this helps... -bg

Normally I say thrash it from day one but in this case it might be a good idea to follow the break in that might give you sometime to get use to the bike. To be honest the zx14 is a big teddy bear until twist it hard just respect it and it won't kill you LOL. Have fun man

The dealer I'm buying the bike from says to get that stuff put on and get the bike tuned before I pick it up. What do you guys think?

Break it in on the Dyno, change your oil and enjoy your extra hp. I did not have a dyno but was mean to my lady and she loved the high rpm abuse. lol

I did a max rpm break in on my busa just for peace of mind. I wanted to make sure I harnessed every one of those wild ponies in the new motor. If you think you might feel the slightest bit insecure about achieving max performance, i would recommend handing the bike off to a friend that you trust to run the tach up to redline for you. I did my max rpm WOT runs in second gear to avoid wheelies or going insanely fast.

The 14 was broke in gently. The motor still turns a bit harder than the busa, I think. I'm not sure it matters which way you go. You need to do what is going to give you peace of mind.

If you do the mods right away, you will have the max rpm break in with the dyno runs.

First bike a zx14? Really? I will pray for you and your family. YOur first mod better be full leathers, boots, gloves, and quality helmet. Im not saying you cant ride or your irresponsible but a bike like this can get a way from you real quick. This aint your daddy's harley if you know what I mean. Glad to see you took a safety course now your first ride should be on a race track so you can learn the bike without traffic.

Are you going to let that dealer rip you off by paying for the pipes install, pcV install, air filter install and "tune"?

Slipons give you next to nothing in power gains. Some will try to tell you otherwise- they've probably never had a full system on the bike or have read many threads and posts by others. In case you decide to go that road, it takes 30 min or less to unbolt the stock cans and put the aftermarkets. It takes 30 min or less to put in the air filter and hook up the pcV.
FYI not all helmets are the same. I bet a "free one" doesn't mean a new Shoei or Arai, everything else is a big compromise IMHO. If you are the guy who rides a flagship Kawi and wears a cheapo squid lid- knock yourself silly.

Buy full riding gear! Don't even think about spending on else for the bike.
Well, you need tires too- the oems are garbage.

Strip the bike down a little bit, it's too porky and has heavy handling.

One guy that thought himself how to ride a sportsbike on a 14 is Rook.
Didn't crash probably due to his utmost respect to the learning curve.
Others bought 14s and crashed on week 1- a wrecked bike and hurt body and pride.

Agan, buy some good brand name quality riding gear.
And don't go chasing your friends on their Squidzukis-
there's a guy named Alex who posted his mishap in the proper section here.

Hope this helps and ride safe.
Post some pics when you get the new bike

I live near two different dealers here about 20 miles east of Houston.I'm just trying to see who will give me the best deal. They both have the 09 monster 14. One store is advertising a drive out price of 11,400. The other dealer has a sticker on the bike in the shop of 11,900 drive out. But this guy is known to cut the best deals in this area. I'm going to try to get him to come down to 11,000 and throw in an Aria Corsair RX-7 last years model with the monster graphics. I got my son the same helmet brand new still in the box off craigs list for 400.00 and I got my wife a Shoei RF100 of craigs list for 150.00 both brand new. Just can't find an XL for me. I'll pay for it if I have to but was just trying to get a break on it especially if I am buying the Brocks full titanium exhaust and PCV from this guy. Me and a friend will do all the labor but I will be taking it to another friend that works at a local Honda shop to have it tuned on there dyno. And yea saftey is el numero uno with me bro. I've been shopping around for some good gear but just haven't pulled the trigger on anything yet.

* Last updated by: jbice on 1/15/2010 @ 6:38 PM *

Mass, you sound like you were reading my mind. I was going to post that info for jbice but then I didn't want to turn it into one of my War and Peace posts.

The power of the 14 is easy to control. The torque makes it almost as easy to take off as one of the big V-twins I used to ride. It is plenty fast gently riding 2.5K-3.5K rpm for street riding and that rpm is not going to give you any tire spinning or wheelies. (IMO, 2000rpm is too low for break in even though the engine will still pull the bike fine. If you break it in gently, DO NOT switch to full synthetic oil unless you have put several thousand miles on the bike)

The 14 is a lot lighter than a large cruiser but it must be twice as heavy as your average dirtbike. If you're not used to it, it can be a handful at low speed or if you accidentally stall in a take off. Even though the weight, geometry and riding position are pretty well suited for cornering, I had a couple scares taking even gradual corners at highway speed. The sport position took a little getting used to before I could turn with a lot of confidence. The weight is also a factor in emergency braking. The brakes are excellent but that doesn't mean the bike will stay straight or keep the back tire down. I had to brake hard a couple times when learning the bike because i was so focused on the bike and not enough on the road. I think it is a good idea to take a few 15 minute rides/day at first and increase the duration a little at a time. Anyones' brain will get taxed quickly when they are learning something new that requires a lot of concentration.

I did roll mine on it's side when dismounting soon after purchasing and I did want to kill myself on the spot. That was the worse thing that happened as a result of being mentally fatigued so I guess I'm lucky. Just remember, you have a foot and your side stand has a foot. If your foot doesn't step on the stands foot, you are not allowed to get off the bike. LOL Don't laugh, it has happened to a lot of riders!

Thank you guys for all the tips and info. I think the dealer was probably telling me to get that stuff done to the bike before picking it up so he could make a little extra money on labor for install. I have been planning on doing everything myself from the get go but I didn't know if I should do it right away or wait afew 100 miles. I will probably put everything on the bike and take it over to eastside honda and break it in on the dyno. Thanks again.