I'm a speed freak(straight line)...corners need some work
I'll be the first to say I have more balls than skill.
That being said, I can ride circles around a lot of people,and with this power I can finish way out in front.
The people who beat me(corners) are the ones who take hard blind corners on their liter class bikes while I sit back and create distance with my gopro running.
I talk to these guys afterwards and they have no clue what they just road through(heavy farm-dust/grass clippings/etc).
Point is...its our limitations and our environmental limitations. If i'm .25 seconds slower out of the corner, but I've done it without risk of crashing...I win.
I love to ride hard, but I love my bike and can't aford to wreck it when I can pull on the straights and walk away whenever I want lol.
Ride safe/hard/respectful (middle of nowhere is where I play)

Harv, that's why I'm not terribly concerned about the fact that the belly pan will scrape if you pitch her over far enough. If I am scraping the belly pan on public roads I'm doing it wrong.

* Last updated by: tooncinator on 3/27/2015 @ 7:46 AM *

Point is...its our limitations and our environmental limitations. If i'm .25 seconds slower out of the corner, but I've done it without risk of crashing...I win.

Amen to that! I feel the same way about crashing. It's not one of the possible outcomes I accept when I corner. It still could happen but if the risk is clearly visible, forget it. I can't replace the bike.

Those mods cost a lot of money and that makes risking a crash something I avoid even more. The end result is a faster bike that I am more reluctant to go fast on...most of the time.

^ HARVKOSO ... same for me: When I rode the Tail of the Dragon last year with 2 friends on their sport tourers they usually left me behind ... now they do both have WAAAAY more riding experience than me ... but part of that was their willingness to shoot thru blind corners, right-handers, steep rock wall on the inside, sometimes gravel at the base from the rock wall crumbling, sometimes wet from water seeping out of the wall, no idea whether a Harley rider coming the other way had over-shot his turn and coming head-on into our lane, etc etc. I said to them during one lunch: "Man you guys are crazy hauling arse thru those blind corners!", and they responded, "That's part of the fun of it."

Hmmm ... well ... I do not share their same risk tolerance

Rider skills...yes.Out riding this bike or any other fast bike,so many variables.Like you say,in your corners and all.Not wanting to wreck your baby.Same here.These bikes are capable of extreme performance.You MAY outride it at any given time.That's the joy or complete sadness with these birds.Every corner is different.Even from one ride to the next.Even in the SAME ride coming back,taking the same turns and corners.They become different.What IS outriding a machine this capable?No one really knows the limits for these.That's the thrill of street riding.Or tracking one.Or dragging one.Modding ups the ante for sure.Creates a whole new set of skill learning."just when you thought it was safe to go into the water"....

Having a bike like these,it's not 'just another motorcycle'.It takes commitment.You have to be 'on' at all times.You have to love your bike.Love the feeling of the 'explorer' spirit.That's what we are really...explorers and pilots.Pushing,testing.Always trying to make that next ride a bit more thrilling.A bit more 'one' with our machines.

Crashing one of these for the sake of "I can ride through my blind corners and come out the other side" is to me NOT an option anymore.I want to keep riding as long as possible.Using some prudence is the right thing for me.Even though I believe the bike could do so much more.I've no intention of trying to 'find the limits' with mine anymore.So I can say,"yeah,crashed again" from the hospital bed...IF I was to survive another one;)Which I seriously doubt.

* Last updated by: Grn14 on 3/27/2015 @ 8:05 AM *

I do not share their same risk tolerance

“That's the good part of dying; when you've nothing to lose, you run any risk you want.”
- Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451

True enough for the situation when it's at hand, but nobody aspires to die.

* Last updated by: Rook on 3/27/2015 @ 8:17 AM *

[quote] HARVKOSO ... same for me: When I rode the Tail of the Dragon last year with 2 friends on their sport tourers they usually left me behind ... now they do both have WAAAAY more riding experience than me ... but part of that was their willingness to shoot thru blind corners, right-handers, steep rock wall on the inside, sometimes gravel at the base from the rock wall crumbling, sometimes wet from water seeping out of the wall, no idea whether a Harley rider coming the other way had over-shot his turn and coming head-on into our lane, etc etc. I said to them during one lunch: "Man you guys are crazy hauling arse thru those blind corners!", and they responded, "That's part of the fun of it."/quote]

Riding like that 'for the fun of it' is all well and good but the sad thing is you could end up wiping out someone coming the other way. I can't honestly sit here and flame anyone who rides like that 'cos I've done it myself in my younger days and , yes, at the time it was a real buzz but I look back on some of the near misses I've had and wonder how I'm still breathing. Age certainly makes you more aware of your own mortality, at least for me it has. JMO

^+1

This was a good topic. My 2 cents.. I believe you need common sense and skill when riding hard period. Im probably the tallest guy on this forum standing at 6'7.. and this bike is great for me. I put mods on Madonna because i wanted her to be quicker and liter with a better response when hitting the throttle.
My skill level is moderate but my common sense is high. I do ride hard sometimes pushing the limit as far as i feel i can safely go within my skill range. Im constantly getting better but even so there are risk im just not willing to take. I have a family and kids that depend on me and as much as i would love to try and out ride this zx14r common sense always kicks in and each risk is quickly examined b4 i make a move. Some riders will take bigger risk than i and im good with that.. like sum have mentioned enjoying the thrill of riding also means coming home safely and parking her and doing it again another day.

To put a little holistic spin on this, I have begun to get the sense when I ride that I am not making decisions based on my own risk, but almost like the bike is protecting itself. That kind of sensation helps me be confident, not preoccupied with thoughts of crashing, etc, because it's like my mind is taken out of the equation. It's just a feeling, and a bit of an odd one when I put a name on it. Something about being at one with the machine?

* Last updated by: tooncinator on 3/27/2015 @ 10:42 AM *

Over here the Police run a scheme called Bikesafe. It's a one day tuition/riding skill evaluation event with one Police rider to two 'students'. It comprises a couple of hours in the classroom with videos and discussion of different riding scenarios you're likely to encounter followed by the rest of the day out on the road. It's not a pass or fail event, just an honest appraisment of your riding and observational skills accompanied by advice and praise where due. I was very sceptical at first but enrolled on the advice of a friend and learnt quite a bit, particularly on road positioning and observation even after 30+ years riding experience. It's not just about cruising along right on the speed limit either. One 'fault' that can be picked up on is not making an overtake when an opportunity presents itself. It's very easy to pick up bad habits over the years which you come to regard as normal and I was no exception. They may not be very 'street cred' but I'd recommend such events to anyone. JMO

* Last updated by: pegscraper on 3/27/2015 @ 11:18 AM *

Outride seems to be a highly subjective term.

What exactly are we trying to do? Are we using the bike for its intended purpose?

For cornering and sport riding, I can take this pig all the way to her cases and wish for more lean angle, sliding both ends. But that's not really what the 14R was designed to do. I can outride the bike's cornering abilities.

On the other side of the coin, however, I can't launch or drag race for shit. That IS the bread and butter for the 14R, and I have a lot of respect for folks that can translate every last horsepower to forward motion. I cannot outride this bike's drag racing capability.

That leads me to believe that I cannot comprehensively outride this bike. I'd imagine most of us have similar situations, where we have our individual strengths and weaknesses with riding.

* Last updated by: TRAILBOSS on 3/27/2015 @ 10:46 PM *

"That leads me to believe that I cannot comprehensively outride this bike. I'd imagine most of us have similar situations, where we have our individual strengths and weaknesses with riding"...true that;).This bike has so much available...I'd probably crash before she actually got to her limits.I wonder how well this bike would do at the Isle Of Man with a seriously skilled rider aboard.

* Last updated by: Grn14 on 3/28/2015 @ 7:37 AM *

No of course not and I could care less. Silly question I could saw the same thing about my Accord.

[quote]I wonder how well this bike would do at the Isle Of Man with a seriously skilled rider aboard./quote]

Better than you might imagine. The weight and soft suspension would be suited to some of the bumpier sections of the course and the long 'straights' at Sulby and the Mountain Mile could be it's forte but one of the new SS 600's would beat it round IMO.

Yesterday I left my work early. As a result, usually conjested freeway entrance was pretty much open except a guy on Hyundai. For some reasons, he thought he could race with me (the entrance is bit of uphill and long straight line). I wacked the throttle at the 2nd gear and the engine reved up to 9K rpm for the 1st time. That was a hell of accelration. And of course Hyudai became a dust in my mirror. I closed the throttle as soon as I merged into the freeway. I was lucky as there was no cop. What I realized was I was only on the 2nd gear and still had 4 more to go. There is No way that I can use ZX's full potential on street without losing my license or getting into an accident. I have been riding over 40 years and never had this powerful bike before. When I rode Kawasaki Mach III back in 1970's, I thought it was crazy fast ,but ZX?? Not even a comparison. Ride safe, brothers!

I've never tried drag racing so that would be a big NO I can't outride a zx14. As far as aggressive street riding goes though, on my gen1 the stock front suspension was so weak that out riding it was pretty easy to do. Hard on the brakes would bottom the forks out, charge to hard into a corner and feet, pegs and fairings would scrape. But since I've installed ohlins suspension front and rear and got them dialed in there's no way I have the talent to push my bike to it's limits, but I do my best every time I get a chance. I installed vortex rearsets as well to stop the peg and feet dragging problem. I had a GSXR 1000 before the 14 and I am definitely closer to the limits on the 14 than I was on the GSXR. The 14 is so much more forgiving than the 1000.

wfox14 do you think it was the bike or you with the stock suspension bottoming out... Kind of forget your stats but when I was 240 probably with gear on I had no problems braking so hard my front tire chattered a few times and my suspension is quite adequate and up to the task.

Is that a Gen 1 thing? Or do you think it was something wrong with your bike? Or are you a "large and in charge" type of guy?

BTW been back on the weight loss trail again...nearing 200 lbs mark. Down 15+ for the year now!

* Last updated by: VicThing on 3/28/2015 @ 10:44 PM *

Is that a Gen 1 thing?

Congrats vic on the weight loss. I weigh 205 at the moment. I'd have to look through my notes to see what I weighed when I did my suspension over, but it would be within 10lbs of that. I just couldn't get my bike balanced front to rear, the rear shock was able to get proper sag and the front not even close.Who knows maybe I had a faulty set of springs in the front.
I recently see here that your not crazy about suggestions from non professionals, but here it goes anyway lol. You mentioned front tire chatter while on the brakes and sometimes that can happen because your out of suspension travel. A simple test to do is to install a zip tie around your front fork and slide it up to the dust seal, go do some hard braking and see how much of your suspension travel you're using. Please keep in mind I'm a carpenter and in no way a professional bike mechanic so most times my advice is worth what you paid for it.

The one thing I miss going from a ZX to a ZG is I can no longer pass a string of 8 cars that are going the speed limit during an 1/8 mile dashed passing straight and be back in and needing to air brake before the turn. :)