2011 Kawasaki Ninja 1000 Lands in America

[JSharp]

Re: insurance, the best quote I've gotten so far is $1072/year + $1000 deductible through Progressive. I'm 41 with 23 years riding experience and no accidents/tickets for a looooong time.

Needless to say, I'm still shopping.

That's roughly the same rate I was quoted by Progressive.  

Try State Farm. I'm paying $309 a year for $500 deductible. I did have to insure one car with them to get that rate. I'm 54, home owner, no accidents or tickets in decades and I've been riding since I was 17.

[GuitarX]

Hi all,

Just in case anyone is following the Ninja 1000 Experience, they posted more of my blog entries, pictures, and videos.  My entries are under "Gary Rosen".

cycleworldkawasakininja1000experience.c om

Thanks for putting up with us!

[GuitarX]

More blogs, pictures, and videos of my Kawasaki Ninja 1000 experience...if anyone is following!  

http://www.cycleworldkawasakininja1000experience.com/ninjaexp_Rosenblog.html

[Castaway]

This marketing initiative by Kawasaki is pretty interesting - it seems to be the dawn of a new style of promotion, getting riders to do 'grass roots' marketing through blogging and forum posts. It may not be a new thing - maybe something similar was done with cars, or radios, in the past (getting product to users who then promote the product through their desire to share user experience), but the advent of social media sure bumps up the effectiveness.

I admit that I tend to be cynical about marketing in general, but I'm not sure this method is bad, except that the consumer/marketer may not be as objective as, say, Consumer Reports, or Motorcycle Consumer News in this case.

[GuitarX]

This marketing initiative by Kawasaki is pretty interesting - it seems to be the dawn of a new style of promotion, getting riders to do 'grass roots' marketing through blogging and forum posts. It may not be a new thing - maybe something similar was done with cars, or radios, in the past (getting product to users who then promote the product through their desire to share user experience), but the advent of social media sure bumps up the effectiveness.

I admit that I tend to be cynical about marketing in general, but I'm not sure this method is bad, except that the consumer/marketer may not be as objective as, say, Consumer Reports, or Motorcycle Consumer News in this case.

Hey Castaway, thanks for the comments.  It's definitely a very interesting method of marketing.  Something the small companies probably couldn't afford to do.  These days most bikes don't "suck" so it's a fairly safe bet that most people will like the product in most ways.  I'm cynical about marketing as well (don't even have cable anymore because of all the commercials on television).  I actually think you get a pretty honest view of the bike in this context.  Most riders are very opinionated and not always too open to the latest, greatest thing.  I was very fond of my VFR800 and am likewise with my VFR1200.  I'm not going to sugarcoat my thoughts on the Ninja 1000 just because I'm riding it for free.  It's not like they told us to be gentle with our opinions, and they're not going to take it away from me if I say the wrong thing.  So far they haven't edited my blogs at all.  

The N1K's a very good bike and I've tried to honestly portray that in my blogs.  Is it perfect?  Of course not.  I'd like a little more power (we lose a lot at the higher elevations in Colorado).  I'm not a big fan of that windscreen.  I don't love the OEM tires although they haven't let me down in any way yet.  I'm not a fan of the single low-beam.  I'd love for it to come with hard bags as standard.  But could I live with this bike as my own for a long time?  Hell yeah I could.  It's a great machine and I like all the important stuff about it.  I guarantee I'll miss its combination of comfort/power/handling as soon as I have to give it back.

[shrogers]

Interesting marketing, and I think helpful.  Bearing in mind that the guest bloggers are likely to be favourably disposed toward Kawasaki for the opportunity to ride the bike for 90 days, the viewpoints of these nonprofessional rider-journalists seem helpful.  I've test ridden an N1K and haven't seen any posts that were inconsistent with my brief experience.

[garry]

I just read through the various author's blogs and can't believe how few miles have been on the bikes. Well, one guy is at 2100 miles after a monster 4-day trip, which is respectable. They've had them a month and are only getting to the 600 mile service now. WTFF? 600 miles is one decent weekend ride. Get out there and RIDE THE DAMN THINGS. That's the point, isn't it? Ride a lot, write a lot, and build some buzz? If someone gave me a free bike for 90 days I'd try to have 10K miles on the thing when I turned it back in...

[Dan K]

I just read through the various author's blogs and can't believe how few miles have been on the bikes. Well, one guy is at 2100 miles after a monster 4-day trip, which is respectable. They've had them a month and are only getting to the 600 mile service now. WTFF? 600 miles is one decent weekend ride. Get out there and RIDE THE DAMN THINGS. That's the point, isn't it? Ride a lot, write a lot, and build some buzz? If someone gave me a free bike for 90 days I'd try to have 10K miles on the thing when I turned it back in...

What he said.

[shrogers]

Picked up my red one yesterday.    

[Last1Out]

I'm curious as to how sales are going for the 1000. Just got an ad pricing it at 8,699, down from 10,999. Seems awful early for a new model to drop that much that fast.

Is that about right for this bike?

[Castaway]

That's roughly the same rate I was quoted by Progressive.  

Try State Farm. I'm paying $309 a year for $500 deductible. I did have to insure one car with them to get that rate. I'm 54, home owner, no accidents or tickets in decades and I've been riding since I was 17.

Having just received my yearly insurance coverage package from Geico, I've been looking around a bit at competitors. It turns out that Dairyland is about 1/2 for the same coverage, for me. Who knew? I'll be switching.

[shrogers]

I'm curious as to how sales are going for the 1000. Just got an ad pricing it at 8,699, down from 10,999. Seems awful early for a new model to drop that much that fast.

Is that about right for this bike?

Sign of the times.  Most dealers are probably having cash flow issues.

[garry]

I'm curious as to how sales are going for the 1000. Just got an ad pricing it at 8,699, down from 10,999. Seems awful early for a new model to drop that much that fast.

Is that about right for this bike?

Seems like a pretty huge discount for a new year model. There must be some factory to dealer incentives going to push it that low. Or the dealership will rape you on additional fees when you go to do the deal.

[HouTexNinja1000]

Hi all.  First post here.  Just bought a 2011 Ninja 1000 and have been reading this thread with interest.  I pretty much agree with all that's been said including GuitarX's test rider blog.  Love the bike so far, however, I have a couple of comments.  First, I am experiencing a significant amount of heat coming at my ankles and shins, especially on the left side.  I am in Houston, Texas and it's pretty hot here now--in the upper 90's.  Wondering if anyone else is feeling the same in a similarly hot climate.  It's not a killer like on a '03 Gen I FJR1300 I had where it would cook your inner thighs, but I am a little disappointed that so much heat is getting past the faring onto the rider.  The other thing is that I am only getting about 38 MPG so far and I am really babying it during the break in period, so I am expecting that the mileage will not improve that much.  At this point, it's hard to believe that GuitarX got as high as 57 and averaged 42.  What other mileage experience is out there?

By the way, I was able to buy the bike at about a 12% discount off MSRP with no transportation or dealer set-up fees.  Just a sign of the times--the motorcycle business is pretty slow right now.

[JSharp]

The heat is typical and so is the mileage. The lower part of your legs will get warm, more so in the back than the front. My bike gets 35-37MPG and looking at assorted message boards that's common. I have no clue how anyone got 52 MPG on that bike but maybe on a long run at a steady speed it would do it.

[jbird666]

I got 45 one time..........that was after break in...55 to 65 mph.

[JSharp]

I got 45 one time..........that was after break in...55 to 65 mph.

I saw almost 39 once. That's as good as mine has ever done.

[jbird666]

Ya funny the funny thing.....it was 2 up with my v35's filled to the gills with stuff.

[7 Aces]

Hi all.  First post here.  Just bought a 2011 Ninja 1000 and have been reading this thread with interest.  I pretty much agree with all that's been said including GuitarX's test rider blog.  Love the bike so far, however, I have a couple of comments.  First, I am experiencing a significant amount of heat coming at my ankles and shins, especially on the left side.  I am in Houston, Texas and it's pretty hot here now--in the upper 90's.  Wondering if anyone else is feeling the same in a similarly hot climate.  It's not a killer like on a '03 Gen I FJR1300 I had where it would cook your inner thighs, but I am a little disappointed that so much heat is getting past the faring onto the rider.  The other thing is that I am only getting about 38 MPG so far and I am really babying it during the break in period, so I am expecting that the mileage will not improve that much.  At this point, it's hard to believe that GuitarX got as high as 57 and averaged 42.  What other mileage experience is out there?

By the way, I was able to buy the bike at about a 12% discount off MSRP with no transportation or dealer set-up fees.  Just a sign of the times--the motorcycle business is pretty slow right now.

I've been getting the heat also, though mostly at low speeds. Once I'm above 25 mph it's not an issue. As for the gas mileage I'm getting 38.7 and am tracking my fuel mileage on Fuelly.com. You can check out my stats at http://www.fuelly.com/driver/Redkamel/ninja-1000.