Kawasaki FINALLY has a bike that wasn't designed by Forrest Gump!

Venumb · 07-07-2009, 06:37 AM

'09 Ninja 650R

The wife and I really dig the way this bike looks now. We almost bought an '08 but will hold off a little and see if we can score a nice low mile used '09 at a decent price.

Looks good in black too!!!

Blitzkrieg · 07-07-2009, 02:39 PM

I'm hopelessly old school when it comes to gauges - I HATE digital, spectrograph, bar-graph gauges with a vengeance.

I want an analog tach and an analog speedo.

My Carrera has an analog speedo with a digital display at the bottom and I can handle that. :-)

The tach on the first year zx-10, that LED crap that does bars around the gauge? I almost pushed my buddies new zx-10 off a cliff in California the first time I rode that bike for an extended period of time. Drove me nuts.

I guess I'm set in my ways LOL.

OutsiderZX12R · 07-07-2009, 03:48 PM

I agree with brother Blitz on this. The gauge cluster on my Z1K is taking some getting used to. One thing I do like digital though is the temp gauge...

I don't think instrument clusters get any better than the original 2000 ZX12R...

Venumb · 07-08-2009, 02:18 AM

I agree about the gauge cluster but think the rest of the bike was very tastefully updated. Even the chain adjusters look like they were sculpted in Italy..ok..maybe not that nice..but an improvement over the 1st gen 650R.

2008 model

2009 model

2008 model

2009 model

Blitzkrieg · 07-08-2009, 10:49 AM

Agreed. They did well in the evolution not revolution department. :-)

Vertigo1 · 10-07-2009, 02:31 AM

I love my '09 650 =) (red)



07-07-2009, 06:37 AM	#1
Venumb Senior Member From: Perry County, PA Joined: Sep 2002 I Ride: 2001 ZX-12R I Race: Guess? Posts: 815	Kawasaki FINALLY has a bike that wasn't designed by Forrest Gump! '09 Ninja 650R The wife and I really dig the way this bike looks now. We almost bought an '08 but will hold off a little and see if we can score a nice low mile used '09 at a decent price. Looks good in black too!!!



07-08-2009, 02:18 AM	#4
Venumb Senior Member From: Perry County, PA Joined: Sep 2002 I Ride: 2001 ZX-12R I Race: Guess? Posts: 815	I agree about the gauge cluster but think the rest of the bike was very tastefully updated. Even the chain adjusters look like they were sculpted in Italy..ok..maybe not that nice..but an improvement over the 1st gen 650R. 2008 model 2009 model 2008 model 2009 model Last edited by Venumb; 07-08-2009 at 02:55 AM.

Thread Tools
Show Printable Version Email this Page
Display Modes
Linear Mode Switch to Hybrid Mode Switch to Threaded Mode



07-07-2009, 02:39 PM	#2
Blitzkrieg Senior Member From: West Of The Mississippi Joined: Nov 2001 Posts: 7,910	I'm hopelessly old school when it comes to gauges - I HATE digital, spectrograph, bar-graph gauges with a vengeance. I want an analog tach and an analog speedo. My Carrera has an analog speedo with a digital display at the bottom and I can handle that. :-) The tach on the first year zx-10, that LED crap that does bars around the gauge? I almost pushed my buddies new zx-10 off a cliff in California the first time I rode that bike for an extended period of time. Drove me nuts. I guess I'm set in my ways LOL.



07-07-2009, 03:48 PM	#3
OutsiderZX12R Senior Member From: Ahead of the FUGLY BUGLIES Joined: Dec 2001 I Ride: 2003 Z1K I Race: 2003 Z1K Posts: 17,199	I agree with brother Blitz on this. The gauge cluster on my Z1K is taking some getting used to. One thing I do like digital though is the temp gauge... I don't think instrument clusters get any better than the original 2000 ZX12R...



07-08-2009, 10:49 AM	#5
Blitzkrieg Senior Member From: West Of The Mississippi Joined: Nov 2001 Posts: 7,910	Agreed. They did well in the evolution not revolution department. :-)



10-07-2009, 02:31 AM	#6
Vertigo1 Junior Member From: Oxford, NJ Joined: Sep 2009 Posts: 4	I love my '09 650 =) (red)