If they replaced every part with an OEM one, and the title wasn't branded, I'd do what he did, unless I could find a brand new one for very close to the insurance pay out.

Not too many dealers would turn down a fistful of dollars to get what is in reality a year old bike, off the sales floor. Some would, but the most important word in vehicle buying is "next." I don't get emotionally involved unless it's something that is in obtainable, e.g. a completely original Z1R with low miles, etc.

I would never take a new bike to a track day ffs. Not that I'd crash it, but there are lots of others who have dubious riding skill. YouTube is riddled with track day crash videos. Some almost make me cry.

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I would never take a new bike to a track day ffs. Not that I'd crash it, but there are lots of others who have dubious riding skill. YouTube is riddled with track day crash videos. Some almost make me cry.

I'd much rather use a bike I knew I was expendable for track days, too. Ironically, I'd be more willing to wreck a brand new one than old one I've kept in pristine condition but I wouldn't want to crash a new one either. An old beater would be my choice for track riding, one you could patch together and salvage what you could if it goes down. Dan mentioned a day or two of track training which he's taking advantage of. I think it's going to be fairly safe as long as he doesn't push it too hard. ...there are all the other riders out there too though.

I had two track days on my old ZX-14. There was a guy in the expert class that crashed and spilled water all over on the first day. On the second track day I had, a young guy showed up late to our instruction meeting. He seemed all gung ho. Sure enough, his bike was laying on the side of the track well before the end of the day.

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Yep. It would have to be a bike I could walk away from. I can't afford to take a new bike, insurance won't cover a crash if it's during any kind of "organized competition" and a track day would probably count.

I can see the adjusters eyes glaze over at the mention of "track day."

I don't have enough money to fight them in court. If I could hand pick a jury of gung ho bike guys....maybe.

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My buddy Dan will learn as he will learn. He's bringing the bike to a tuner because the Kawasaki shop he had it fixed at told him the aftermarket exhuast is causing it to run lean. I started to tell him about maps but he said, "i'm not doing that." he doesn't want to bother with loading a map but he'll be getting a Power Commander anyway so it can be tuned. I'd be a little skeptical of any tuner around here. There aren't any sport bikes. Personally, I think he ought to close his wallet for a while and open his mind to all the info that's known about the bike. ...at least take what I have learned over the past 17 years into consideration. ...I mean I know a few basic things. Buy a used ECU and get it flashed by a reputable tuner. Cripe's sake the bike has been crashed already, do what you want with it.

* Last updated by: Rook on 4/26/2025 @ 6:27 AM *

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We need an update.

And by "we" I mean me.

* Last updated by: D1GP on 5/30/2025 @ 8:19 PM *

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Dan brought the bike to work a couple of times so far. It looks like brand new. He has Graves carbon fiber slipons now and they look real nice. I'm used to real loud which these are not but they do sound incredible. I caught up to him in my truck on the way in and I got a good listen. LOL Mr Cool didn't even look over at me at the stoplight, he just let an admiring onlooker drool over the bike while he sat there aloof! I got an up close demo when we left work at 6 am. Dan had an excruciatingly cold ride home, he later told me. He lives 30 miles away. He's riding the bike with slipons and stock fueling. I'm sure he's been told to avoid the higher revs until he gets it tuned.

I'll be the first to admit I'm far from knowing everything about this bike and maybe I'm a bit smug about what I do know. ...all I hope for is someone hear me out and do whatever you think you should after that.

A) slipons good, single muffler full system 100% better for just 25% more the cost. More power, even lighter in weight, much better access to chain maintenance and more the race bike aesthetic.

B) Graves good, Brock's ......well that's what they use in racing so...? They cost about the same. OK, maybe you prefer the look of the Grave's. They do look really nice and since they're just slipons, maybe a hp or two isn't the issue but will somebody at least hear me out on this thing which I thought out quite thoroughly over a decade ago?

C) Tuning. Yes, you can do that for slipons and maybe with the new bike, that's a must. Slipons didn't need tuning back in the day but if they do now,, yeah, you better do it. Dyno tuning cost about $300 in 2009. You could buy a Power Commander with a map for a bit less. If you want Grave's slipons or Brock's, buy your Power Commander from Grave's or Brock's and have the map they dyno tuned for your exhaust and your bike. It will be 99% identical to whatever a good shop will custom tune but you'll pay the shop for the PC and then the dyno runs....and mind you, this is for a set of slipons that primarily enhance sound and weight loss, not power. Heck, buy a used ECU for the same price as a Power Commander and send the used ECU through the mail to be flashed by one of the highly reputable tuners. Power Commander's are old news now. I guess they're still used on top of a flash but so is Woolich software. If the tuner isn't familiar with Woolich by now, I'm a little skeptical about what they are familiar with. It could be perfectly fine but I'd just trust in a map from a highly recognized tuner over a dyno tune from a relatively unknown shop that's going to cost you more.

...people have their own preferences that are different from mine but would you at least take my perspective into consideration?

Dan and I both agree that the 2024 is strong at lower revs but it goes apeshit crazy at about 8000 rpm. Maybe they did do some tweaks to the bike in the last couple years. I thought it was TC limiting the power but Dan says the same thing happens with TC off.

* Last updated by: Rook on 5/31/2025 @ 6:34 PM *

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...and regarding Dan's Injuries, the shoulder blade cracked in two. He came around a corner and there were several deer on the road. He took the ditch rather than try to ride through them. The bike went down in the grass at speed. Dan slid into a tree impacting with his back. It is healed but he still has considerable pain from it and will for a long time. He's interested in assuming a supervisor position at work which requires no physical work at all. It pays about twice as much too. I think he's a good candidate. ....I'm going after any supervisor job I hear about too even if it's the night shift which Dan and I currently work. Even though the night shift is cramping my style in the motorcycle department, I'd buy another bike if I could double my income. Probably S1000RR or a Panigale.

* Last updated by: Rook on 6/1/2025 @ 7:19 PM *

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Good to hear he's recovering.

The best part about your bike over his is..............drumroll please..........yours has never been crashed.
I'm glad he's doing better, but injuries when you're a "little older" don't usually heal as well or as fast.

And yes, I'm still waiting. Summers coming and every day there are more bikes listed, and the price of them (well most of them) seems to not be rising, at least before it gets 85 degrees and 13 hours of sun.

There is an almost new KRT listed at the same dealer that has the 2 new ones, for a thousand bucks less (OBO), with only 175 miles on it. Don't know the story, but it's 1 of probably 2 possible choices.

Reason 1) He gets it home and the woman said "no."

I already told my GF if she says no, I'm going to pick the bike over her and she's pretty hot. She laughed and said she would never tell me no. Now she wants to learn (not on a zx14) so I'm probably going to need to get her something she can learn on, a KRT636 or a KRT400RR (JKJK). Low seat height and lightweight will be most important.

Reason 2) He gets it HALFWAY home and scares the everlovin beJesus outta himself.

Either way, that used one just dropped the value of the new ones (because it said OBO) and the new ones are very soon going to be 2 year old by model year. No dealer wants a two year old new model sitting around. It's bad for business. Once that happens, I'm offering $14,000.

I remember the local Suzuki dealer had a brand new GS1100E or ES that was two, almost three model years old sitting in the showroom. They only wanted like $2200 for it, but again, being 24 I could not afford the insurance. I think it was an '84, whichever one was the last year of the 8" round headlight before the GS1150 came out and killed the 1100, even though the 4 valve 1100 was a stellar bike.

My first bike in 1978 was a GT500A Suzuki, the first year with a disc brake. I have a soft spot for Suzuki's, and yes Rook, your Hayabusa is really sexy, (your zx14 is, well was amazing) but my first new bike was a Kawi.

But those GS1100's were no slouch at the time.

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Technically, everything is OBO. You can offer $14k for a brand new one and if they don't take it, offer $13,750 for the 175 miles one. If they refuse you, you can always go back and make your offer again. If they sell one of those bikes or two, they might be less willing to budge on price.

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Technically, everything is OBO. You can offer $14k for a brand new one and if they don't take it, offer $13,750 for the 175 miles one. If they refuse you, you can always go back and make your offer again. If they sell one of those bikes or two, they might be less willing to budge on price.

Rook, that's all fundamentality true. Just like new car dealers, bike dealers are less willing to take a lower offer for a new bike (because they paid more for it) than a used bike. There is usually more margin, usually, on used bikes than new ones. Why would a dealer pay anything close to what a new bike costs them from the manufacturer for a used bike?

Used "like new" bike (or car) buy-back prices from a branded dealer are brutal.

If you're going to sell a slightly used bike for whatever reason, and you want to get most of your money back, don't go to the branded dealer. You're better of trading it in or selling it to a secondary dealer, selling it on Craigslist or Facebook Marketplace.

However, there comes a time when the dealer justs wants to get the "new old stock" off the floor. Those two new bikes have been listed online for over a year. Now there's a used one. YIKES!

I'm patient. Time's a comin' for a dealio and I'm their huckleberry.

EDIT: I got so excited i forgot to finish.

The 2026 bikes are already released. Deposits are being taken. Those 2 bikes will soon be TWO MODEL YEARS OLD sitting in the showroom. Gotta love the underdog, especially when it's an overachiever.

Ok another story of how I should have worked more overtime and bought my dream bike which is directly related to this experience.

Back in 1984, the dealer I bought my GPz from had an '82 KZ1000ELR sitting new (first year), for about $1000 bucks less than it was when "new." The problem was the GPz1100's had digital fuel injection, were faster and they weren't green. I personally loved the green. That's kinda why I want a KRT.

Also in 1984, the GPz900R was released. It was the first water cooled, 16 valve DOHC motorcycle. It was also the quickest production motorcycle in the quarter mile. Jay "Pee Wee" Gleason (MHRIP) got one to a corrected 10.55 seconds. (ffs 600's can do that now, ZX14r's are a full second faster) Between the old air cooled 1100's Kawasaki was literally giving away and the 900r the "old" KZ1000 didn't stand a chance.

Stay tuned next week for how I fk'd up and didn't buy a new first year XR1000 (same dealer) for almost 50% off. It had the factory "100HP kit" with the forged pistons and all the extra BS. Worth about 5 times what I could have bought it for, not that I'd sell it.

* Last updated by: D1GP on 6/6/2025 @ 10:31 PM *

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Those 2 bikes will soon be TWO MODEL YEARS OLD sitting in the showroom. Gotta love the underdog, especially when it's an overachiever.

Good luck. I don't make that much money but I make enough to not worry about a thousand bucks or two or three. If you don't get what you want, there's others. Color doesn't mean anything. You might want to go with a 2023 or newer for a couple extra ponies. It really doesn't matter though. a gen1 easily blows away anything on the street. For me, I don't have time to think about it so I just bought a new one. If there's one better, it won't be much better unless they make a a Gen3. I'd buy that too.

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Good luck. I don't make that much money but I make enough to not worry about a thousand bucks or two or three. If you don't get what you want, there's others. Color doesn't mean anything.

Sorry for the late reply. The powers that be let the Program Manager go early this week and I've been busting it to get everything together. Also he didn't train me in everything he was supposed to, and I may be taking over his department. Which is more work, however it is a serious bump in pay. But, and it's a big but, even a $1500 reduction is a free (nice) helmet and at least a decent new riding jacket. I look at things differently than most people do. That's why I'm good at my job.

If you want to know the least expensive way to do something, ask the cheapest bastard you know, and I am that guy.

I work in industrial site management and even small savings when stacked up, becomes significant. Like saving 10% on paper towels. Some of the places buy $80,000 a year in paper towels. If you're in the black, that money saved is profit. In this case, $1000 saved is essentially a free Bell helme and a nice lunch.

If you're already going to buy (insert product here) why wouldn't you save even 5%?

I've got patience and summer, it's a commin'.

You are dead right on color. I'm not as fixed to color as I was when I started this journey.

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only thing is, if you hold out too long, someone else will buy all of them out from under you. Personally, I'd buy new. It's a few thousand bucks out of your whole friggin life. I guess it depends on how committed you are. I don't make a lot of money, actually kind of less than would be expected at my age but the 17k was worth it because that bike will be with me until the end. You have time though. I do not believe the 14R is going away for a while. You can do it any way that suites you. That's probably what you'll end up doing over the years of ownership anyway. Me, I'll mod the hell out of that bike. Was it worth the few thousand of buying new and not worrying about what some other dipshit did to it? Yeah. Nothing against used bikes but that adds layers to to owning it yourself and lots of risk too. I just don't play that game unless it's extremely worth it. Buy it, own it, do what you want with it. Don't expect someone else to pay much for it after you've had your way with it. You should just keep it for life.

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