Hi everyone my name is mike im living in georgia stationed at Ft.Gordon im picking up my bike at the end of the month. i was wondering if you guys can give me any advice to make my first ride smoother the biggest bike ive ever rode was a 600 and i was not a serious rider. But i love bikes and im a big guy. Please give me any advice besides don't buy it rookie or your not ready please. Thank you.

Welcome! I'm new too....just got my 14 a week ago and have over 1000 miles on it and another 2000 coming up in the next week or so. The bike is awesome and a great ride....tons of power and handles nicely and is real comfortable up to about 400 miles....after that it is squirm time. I'm exploring the power very carefully....I still need some practice and more experience with the bike before I really feel confident and comfortable....and safe. I recommend starting out carefully or it might bite you. My previous bikes would never pull the front end up without a lot of help....this bike just needs a twist of the wrist and it is up. All in all...an amazing machine and I think you will be happy with the purchase!

Thanks man im going to try to take it slow like im jumping on a 600 for awhile i cant wait to ride that beast. I've never been more excited in my life.

G'day fla4life00 and welcome to this great forum!

The ZX14 is a very easy bike to ride but as birdman said, just be sensible and give the most powerful production motorcycle in the world due respect.

In some ways you may find it even easier to ride then your 600cc, as due to the bikes extra weight it will feel more stable and "planted" on road. It also has such a smooth engine and gearbox that it's quite easy to smoothly glide through city streets and mountain ranges alike, even at impressive speeds.

Also if the police in your areas are hard on speeding, watch out because this bike cuts through the wind and with stock pipes is so quiet and smooth you'll be travelling at licence-buring speeds without even realising it if you're not careful! Lots of fun but again, being sensible about using all that power will pay off in the long run.

Enjoy!

Good advice from all.

The only thing I would add is to relax on it. Countersteer it into a turn and let it do what it wants to do. Don't ever tense up on the handlebars during normal riding, and give it some throttle coming out of the turn, but not too much until you get used to it.

If you ever get into a turn too hot, just lean it over further -- even if it's further than you think you can. Don't panic, and it'll get you through OK.

Happy riding! -bg

I think the best advice anyone can give you is the same advice I heard when I walked out of the showroom to climb on fir the first time:

Learn to be "smooth" with throttle application.

The pull on this thing can REALLY take your breath away - even pulling slightly more than you thought you did can make it pull noticibly harder.

Good luck, enjoy, and ride safe,
-Dennis

First off welcome to the family. I also came from 600, it was actually a 636 the Kawi 6r. To be honest it is a different machine, but not all that different. It certainly likes to strech it legs and it is a big bike, but to me it is a much more stable platform.

I do agree with dennis as being "smooth" is very important with this bike. You will find slamming the throttle on this bike will result in either a spin or a wicked launch resulting in the front end lifting. I find that since I ride the baddest bike in the world I dont need to prove anything.

I also rode stock for a year, but now I have upgraded to new slipon M4s and a Power Commander. I am glad I learned about the bike in stock form as it made me appreciate my upgrades even more. All the best and ride safe. Also thank you for your service to our country which allows us to enjoy these great machines.

Even though I'm still new to the forum, I would also like to welcome you to the family. This is all excellent advice and I agree wholeheartedly with all of it. The only thing I would like to add is to slow down if you get caught in the rain. I don't intentionally ride when the roads are wet, but I have been caught in the rain a few times (thanks to some sneaky rain clouds).

Like hamr56, I would also like to thank you for your service to our country. I am a veteran and have spent some time at Fort Gordon as well. I am currently working in Germany supporting our troops; many of whom have been deployed several times. I am proud of all of you.

Hey man, I never rode anything as small as a 600 (since my Yammi 100 when I was in 6th grade) so if you take it slow, use common sense and grow into the bike I believe you will be just fine. People who are learning on 600 cc cruisers probably have as much or more to worry about with the weight of some of those bikes.

Rook

all this is good advise, i'm also new here and new to the 14. i came off a m109r suzuki which was fun to ride but is a totally diffrent ride. this bike needs you to get used to it and let it lean when it needs to, i found out the hard way, so just relax and let it do what it does. like bgordon says, thats good advise. what i found out was the suspenion needs to be set up right to help your ride out, anyway lots of luck.