The new steed arrived a couple of days ago, very happy, only ridden her a few klms to get the registration sorted, but the Ohlins feels great all be it thru the suburbs. She,ll get a proper run at the weekend ahead.

* Last updated by: banknyank on 1/28/2016 @ 12:22 AM *

Nice.
Congrats, enjoy

Congrats on the bike. Overall I think getting the ohlins suspenders is better than the brembo brake "upgrade". That's probably my favorite paint scheme at this point.

Hey banknyank, where are you at?

Gday Aussie, I'm a hour East of Melbourne.
Thanx Victhing & Untamed.
Took the new bike out for a spin In the hills yesterday, enjoying it a lot, first impressions, the Ohlins is really nice, she's got a lot of stability, but at the cost of flick ability of course. I've ordered a comfort set of flat, wide bars & associated top triple clamp etc that will give more leverage in the tight stuff. I'm not into drag strip stuff myself.
It's always interesting getting to know a new bike & its behaviours, limits etc, easing into it, there's a whole lot of enertia / weight of course, & keeping that momentum going through endless tight twisties sure is a buzz.
I had followed a mate ( ex racer ) on his 14R not long ago, thru a 50 klm set of mountain twisties, I was amazed what he did with his well set up bike, it was all I could do to stay with him on the Tuono 1100, that ride convinced me I'd found my 2nd bike for the Mrs & I.
I've made the right choice, SO HAPPY to of got RID of the KTM 1190 it's replacing, never again !!
Happy Bloke. & Great Forum Guys.

* Last updated by: banknyank on 2/4/2016 @ 10:13 AM *

Hey banknyank - What's the problem with the KTM? Never owned one myself, but all I hear are good things these days.

Welcome ...

Long story Extra.
KTM can win the Paris Dakar 15 years on the trot ( An Aussie gun rider this year ) but they can't build an adventure bikes air box that keeps dust out ! Go figure. & I only rode it on the road.
Hence their 1190 bikes around the globe are suffering with dust ingestion, directly into the donk, no recall, just ducking & dodging on their behalf, every owner ( who's aware ) left to fight their own battle. In my book they stink as a company, zero ethics, doing a patch up job on later models that still requires them to install an after market filter kit in an attempt to fix things. Not good enough.
First they wanted to rebuild the top end in mine, like feck I replied !
They finally installed a whole new engine. Replaced the plastic dirt bike style petrol tank that had been rubbing & damaging the frame for 12 months. Repaired the frame itself. New screen that had cracked at all 4 mounting points. New indicators that were supposedly of the sealed type, but had water in them you couldn't get out.
Not to mention guys with electronic suspension faults I somehow dodged.
Did my head in for 12 months fighting for my rights. Never Again.
I have a mate who clocked up 200,000 klm on his Zx10 not long ago, before it bit the dust in an encounter with a Kangaroo, the motor still went hard & had never been pulled down. The 14,s would have to be one of the least stressed engines around when used solely on the road.
Looking forward to a long stint with mine.

* Last updated by: banknyank on 2/5/2016 @ 2:11 AM *

Congrats! Awesome looking bike I really like the flames on it. What year is it? Also I'm not sure what ohlins suspenders are but I'm new to the ZX 14 game. Can someone educate me?

Wade

REPLIed on your thread about Ohlins suspension. The Gen1 has forks that are too cushy and a lot of people have sought to upgrade them. The Gen1 rear shock was sometimes not adequate for really big guys but IMO, serves it's purpose for 300 lbs of payload. The Gen2 comes with an Ohlins shock and improved forks but I think the forks could have been changed to Ohlins as well. Some owners still complain about them being too soft. You will probably notice a difference between stock suspension and Ohlins but my feeling is the improvement is something that will be appreciated by racers more than street riders.

OK, I'm officially very happy ???? with the new SE.
Out today for the first time in anger, 500 klms in mid 30,s temps, oh & my legs were no hotter than the rest of me in full leathers, with around 20 like minded nut cases, sports bikes from every nation, all back roads, little traffic, some high speed stuff, lots of tight stuff, mountain passes inc, bits of gravel, couple of pot holes general lumps n bumps.
She took it all in her stride !!
Tweeked the Ohlins at lunch time, a bit stiffer all round, she wasn't bad but now she's spot on for my tastes.
I'd put on some used Dunlop Sportsmarts thru the week in the garage, they got a hard time but zero slides.

All this talk of pulling out flies, just doesn't jell with me, I don't think I saw below the 3,500 at all today, just drop her down a cog, & stuff her in, she's surprising me with her abilities for a BIG girl.

* Last updated by: banknyank on 2/7/2016 @ 12:03 AM *

It's unfortunate that the general public, even general motorcyclist look at this bike as if it's nothing more than a train with rubber tires. This bike can boogie woogie through turns. Combine that with the monster power everywhere and you really have a brutal combination. Is it the same thing as a lightweight supersport? Good lord no... but this bike can turn and burn. There's dozens of videos of people with 14s at track days tearing it up.

Gen 2's throttle response is vastly reworked compared to Gen 1s. I've never ridden a Gen 1, but from accounts here it was more like a typical higher revving I4...not too much down low then as rev's build so does power delivery. Gen 1s had that more peaky feel compared to Gen 2. The difference then is, Gen 2 delivers more power up top in addition to re-worked down low so it doesn't feel as peaky because it's power delivery is so broad. It's delivering 100+ ft lbs from around 5-6k up stock. The peskiness is still there, just not as clear because lower revs there's so much output. Look at stock 14 vs. 14R dyno charts, what I'm saying makes sense.

You can fart around with flashes, flies and other crap if you want. As far as I'm concerned, get the lightest single sided exhaust you can and just go. If you want to flash it, basic flash that retains last KTRC, increases red line (if you care), eliminates gear safety modes, opens flies earlier is all the bike needs or really will benefit from. This flash cost around $75US here.

I believe Gen 1 14s benefited significantly to flashing and other throttle mods. IME for Gen 2? Not so much really.

Nice job on that tire, bank yank!

To me, modding is a novelty unto itself. It comes into riding very little except in straight-line high speed and then, i do not think it makes a HUGE difference. If you're racing or if you just like to tinker with high performance stuff and find out how much power you can get, go all out. Flies out is free but if the Gen2 is like the 08-11 14s, you won't notice a more linear power delivery unless you tune for it. Shorter gearing, same as "dropping a cog" as you put it but your top speed is now reduced. Boost, I would definitely do it but that's a little more weight for the twisties where you won't need the extra power.