Traded in my 07 for a new 2012 last week and I finally got a chance to get out on it the last couple days and I thought i'd give my impression.
I'm keeping out of the upper rpm's till I get at least a couple hundred miles on it, but I can say it has considerably more low end power then my 07 did. It's not to much power though. I was a little concerned that it could be to much down low and be a pain in the ass to ride around town, but its not. It's actually a very easy bike to city ride. The FI seems flawless. Very smooth power delivery.
The brakes really needed a number of stops to get pads seated, but they really seated nice. Very strong.
The ergo's are the same as the 07 so I felt right at home. I had a Corbin on my 07, and though the new one has a much better stock seat then the old one, it's no Corbin. Not bad though.
What really suprised me about the new 14R was how well it handled. Turn in is really nice, and it seems real solid at lean. It has a very nice suspension. Firm, but not jarring at all. With all my sportbikes, I tune the suspension to the Sportrider settings, crank up the preload (because i'm 220lbs), and fine tune from there.
All in all, I think my expections have been blown away. I really couldn't be happier with it. Kawasaki did a great job. I cant wait to get some miles on it and sample some for the real power it has.
