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A wonderful post, Vishal, thanks for sharing the experience. And good decision on the Z800, you can't go wrong with the Japs. I used a similar approach of doing all the research and then letting the test ride decide. Nothing convinces like a test ride does. When you ride THE one, you just know it....albeit in my case the wife just knew it too!

Cheers,
Sting

I recently bought a Z800 (about 3 months ago) and went through some research and reading to finalize it. As I was reading some other threads on the Z800 and recently launched Versys 650, I realized that there was no comparo of the naked superbikes available in the market. I thought I would pen down what little reading and logic I used to arrive at my decision if it is going to help others.

To provide my background, I had stopped riding bikes about 10 years ago and last year I wanted to get back to riding and bought a slightly used Ninja 650 (666kms in 6 months). I rode this for about 6 months and was extremely happy with it in all respects except one. My group of riding buddies all ride litre class bikes (R1, ZX10R, CB1000R, FZ1, etc.) and I realised that I was lagging behind quite a bit when we did our usual Sunday morning rides. Also, after riding for about 6 months on this, I was itching for an in-line 4 just for the pure joy of the acceleration and the scream of it.

I had some conditions that I had before I bought a new bike –
1. It had to be a bike that I could ride to office at least a couple of times a week
2. It had to be something that could at least stay at the very least at the back of the pack when riding with buddies
3. Reliability and cost of running were also an important factor and hence in-directly had also made up my mind to get a new bike and not a used one

The choices I explored –
1. Kawasaki Z800
2. Kawasaki Z1000
3. Honda CB1000R
4. Yamaha FZ1
5. Triumph Street Triple
6. Triumph Speed Triple
7. Ducati Monster
8. Ducati Hypermotard

Choices at the back of my mind but did not explore in detail –
1. Triumph Tiger
2. Suzuki GS1000

Let me first eliminate the bikes that were at the back of my mind. The Tiger (though very highly recommended by owners and friends) was left out as I felt it was too big for me to ride to office during the week. I only heard horror stories of Suzuki sales and service in Bangalore and straight away, I did not even venture near the showroom.

Kawasaki Z1000 – Ticked all the right boxes. In my personal opinion, the headlights felt too sleek and narrow but I could live with that. Where I had a problem was with the price. I felt that 6 lakhs more than the Z800 for 2 kgs weight savings and 30 bhp extra did not cut it for me. But if you ride one, you will love it.

Honda CB1000R – Two good friends of mine have this bike and it ticked all the right boxes. It was a little over my budget and also the design has not had a single change since 2009. This led me to think that an update was in the works and I would struggle to sell this later.

Yamaha FZ1 – Again like the CB1000R, a friend of mine owned this. But there were two things playing at the back of my mind. It was expensive at about 15.5 lakhs and also considering that the FZ09 was available abroad, it was a matter of time before this was replaced with that (and it seems to have already happened with the recent launch of the FZ09)

Triumph Striples – The entire Triumph fiasco was sitting at the back of my mind. But when you ride the Street Triple, the seat is so much more comfortable, the lesser weight is so evident especially when you want to weave in and out of traffic and low down torque is also quite evident due to the triple cylinder engine. Ticked all the boxes for me and was a very close second choice to the Z800. The price diff of 50k was what swung it towards the Z. The Speed was again out of the budget range.

Ducatis – I was in love from a long long time and it was the Ducatis that I was originally eyeing for. The Hypermotard is one crazy bike and a hoot to ride. It has everything that you could want. The Monster 821 again is such a good looking bike, even standing still. The price at which they were selling is also something that just makes you want to own the bike. When I weighed these with the Z800, the only places that the Z scored over this was – in-line 4, less conspicuous, easier to run and maintain. Even with the above, I would have still thought about the Hypermotard but once I sat on the bike, I quickly realized that it would be tough to manage that height in daily traffic conditions. The Monster was still very tempting but didn’t want to go from one twin to another expensive to maintain twin.

Special mention – Though I did not have this option 4 months back, I think the FZ09 is a bike that ticks everything for me. If I had this available, I would have blindly booked the same. I would highly recommend that you take a look at this bike if you are in the market for a naked superbike.

Good stuff Killjoy!
The Z800 is a good motorcycle. And an excellent choice.

As you, I only love the Hypermotard from the Ducati stable. Hooligan machine. The new displacement should reach our shores soon. Hyperstrada which is basically a Motard in a more civilised avatar is easier to manage due to its lower seat height. Should be a good option too.

The MT09 is similar and as what reviews state, with new improvements, it's a peach of ride. I hope Yamaha does well with this bike in India.

Cheers!

Yep, thought of the Hyperstrada but did not feel it was justified with the extra 1.7 lakhs for it. Would rather just install the seat (23k) and windscreen (13k) from it.

I actually also missed two more bikes in the fringe. The ER6N which I did not go for as I was moving from the Ninja 650. The other was the Ducati Scrambler, while this would have been an excellent city bike, I would have had a tough time riding it hard on the highway...

Recently launched Versys 650 hooked me into Super Bike fever. Enquired here at cochin and after getting negative replies regarding TD, went to Khivraj Kawasaki which caters only Z800 and above.

Had a TD of both Z800 & Z1000. The staff and owner at Khivraj Kawasaki was extra courteous and was willing to give me TD of Ninja 1000 & Versys 1000 too. Will be going for one more TD before committing myself to Z800. Colour option available as of now is black with either green or candy red as second shade. So to get traditional Kawasaki green & black colour additional 25K would be required :Frustrati

I found during the TD, Z800 is much more forgiving compared to Z1000 which I stalled couple of times during traffic signal stop. I felt Z800 is much better to handle even in dense traffic situations. Surge of power hits you after 4000rpm while in case of Z1000 it spools as low as 1500. But taking U turn is really a headache and literally dropped the bike in stand still scenario and needed the help of a bystander to get it up right., will have to relearn the art as was used to <350cc bikes till now.

What should I look for in the second test drive? Also how to ensure the bike is 2016 manufactured one? The owner told me he can get me 2016 manufactured one within 10 days. Can Wildon be help with bikes also?




I believe MT09 is a three cylinder. Also cost wise would be much premium than Z800.

If your usage if primarily city, I would also ask you to check out the Triumph Street Triple. If you can stretch your budget a little, then the FZ09 is a super bike too...

Both are inline-3, I believe. FZ09 has killer looks, but price difference of 1.5 lakhs is too much.

Also as you might have noticed, there has been a spurt of reported cases of street triple engine stalling.

Dont forget the Benelli 899. Nothing compared to Z800 and other offerings in this segment when it comes to package. No electronic aids, abs nothing.

The only difference is the 120 BHP getting rushed into the wheels before 9K RPM. This is by far the meanest of bike in this segment. There is no question to me that its a beast and if i were to spend that much i would consider Benelli 899.

If the triples were not detuned, they would be the first choice.

As you've rightly pointed out , lack of ABS is huge '-'ve.

So most probably would be Z800.

Does it have slipper clutch? Because have seen conflicting views regarding this in different threads & sites.

Did you check out the GSX-S1000? The motor is biblically good with great low-end grunt and fierce top-end as well. Sounds great, handles well and is apparently easier to ride than the Kawasaki Z1000 :thumbs up

The Z800 does not have slipper clutch
Yes, I read about the Triumph stalling issues but I myself have used a friend's Triple over an extended period of time and never faced this issue
The FZ09 is a complete package and I think will be much quicker and easier to handle than the Z800, please do a test ride before deciding
The Suzuki I think is again in the higher price bracket.

I enquired with the Yamaha dealer at cochin. They say tentative date for launch may be during Diwali time and that too is not final.

Price wise as reported by some online sites it may be 10.20 Lakhs Ex showroom delhi itself. So in net it will cost about 2.5 lakhs more than Z800:Frustrati. Which is way above my current budget.

BTW, It look cool and weighs around 40Kg less to Z800. I don't know where the Kawasaki is putting all it's kilo??:uncontrol

Sorry for consecutive posts.

According to the info on the fuel lid Z800 requires 95RON. Sales guy @ Khivraj told me they are using normal fuel and thus no issue. What's the take of owners. I read from another site, that Kawasaki changed service interval from 10K to 6K in India due to this issue!

The bike feels a little rough. But should not be much of a concern.

Irrespective of which manufacturer you go with or what they say, ideal service interval for India should not be more that 5k. Anything more in my opinion is bad for your motorcycle.

Way out of my budget. It would cost 15Lakhs OTR. At that price range Z1000 also is a strong contender.

If I had such leeway, then would have gone ahead & waited for FZ09.