Heh - well. Something that ive only known from riding it.... Its small, really small - sitting on it my leg is slightly bent and foot flat on the floor, which is perfect for me...it is, smaller than the RSV4 and that's saying something! Front end feels planted, solid, does give me confidence in corners. Doesn't feel the weight that it is. I can only guess that's from a low centre of gravity.... Ive got a whole load of stuff on order for it bar the exhaust - I cant make a decision on that....im split between single pipe exit or dual....dual while looking "balanced" seems a little old stylee, dunno, I do like the vance and hines twin exit brawler pipes and the Austin pipes but also like the arrow single exit system...dual exit arrows along with akra duals are out as theyre just too big, and, if I got the arrow single exit system id probably cut the rear pipe down by a few inches as well....see, its all about "the look"!
Just throwing this thought your way to add a bit more decision making, can you get a dual exit pipe but mounted on one side only as in the SF ?
Nah - I don't think it lendsl itself to that look....I don't thing that config is available also....the SF can get away with that look as that's how it was designed....my old 04 zed years ago looked way better with a single sided titanium akra on it...im kinda leaning that way pardon the pun.... I don't want to try to make it look like the SF - the SF has its look and anything that copies it would look crap I think...
It was just a thought, but I do agree that naked bikes look better with a single or double pipe just on one side.
Yeah - I think im going to go for the single exit arrow system and the cut it down, to try to match the asthetic of the bike - the whole thing is short, stubby and fat, so the pipe should mirror that...thanks for the suggestion though.
The SF has a single-sided swinger, the Z doesn't. If the look matters, then anything which makes it less busy would work for me. The Austin Racing twin stubbies look pretty good. Bet they sound nice too. Kawasaki Z1000 2013-2015 Slip-On Exhausts - austinracing
They do gimlet....but....and its a big one...the Austins will connect to the stock headers....the cat cannot stay on there ( its against my religion!).... I've been chatting with rich at Austin and he can't guarantee that they'll connect to the arrow headers...so I with take a chance or play it safe... He said there's no reason why not...but its my risk...
My options: Get the Austins....buy the arrow headers with the twin exit...and run the risk of them not fitting....this the most expensive option...700 for the Austins and 500 for the header... Get a whole single sided system 700 in total.. Or alternatively get the twin exit headers and Vance and Hines brawler tail pipes....much cheaper...mate can get me a new set for 200 but the Austins look the best... Or the final option...by the single exit header (450) and find something from ar that fits...
I wonder if we will be riding these in a few years and lamenting never being able to achieve "the look". Looking at your reflection in shop windows at traffic lights may even become a thing of the past Cupid!!!
I think part of it is down to my personality and over years have obsessed about looking after stuff....I mean...I've got a 6 month old bike in the garage and this morning thinking...." I'm gonna have to half strip this down to get even remotely started"
I used to get up at the crack of dawn on Sundays so that I could take the exhausts and silencers off my Jota and clean under the crankcase with a tootbrush before riding to Box Hill. It was a standing joke among my mates who owned oily Brit bikes and couldn't be arsed. Of course, that was nearly 40 years ago. Don't worry, as time pressures grow and real life, sadly, gets in the way, the "need" to fettle and fanny about recedes in my experience in favour of spending a few hours actually riding the bloody thing! Nowadays I regard every hour I spend cleaning as an hour wasted because I could be riding. Still clean to a basic standard though.
Well, I like to get it to a point where, if you clean it, it looks clean....pretty well...which will involve for me changing the fixings to start with for stainless or titanium...and maybe getting stuff initially powder coated that wasn't - it just makes the actual cleaning job easier in the future.... When I took the motor out of the KTM525 it had had a life of being dumped into puddles and swamps much deeper than itself....I took the motor out, gunked it, jetwashed it....and hey presto it looked no different....now after coating and a grand later....all I need to do is give it a quick clean with a rag and it look like new....that's what I mean....
