Z900 or Z900 SE - help me decide

[zed9]

Originally Posted by rcannon409

Guys, please dont ignore what Kevpro said in his post.  At 250 lbs, it doesn't matter what color your stock suspension is.  Your bike does not have the correct springs and damping for your weight. Kawasaki or anyone else doesn't design suspension for people who are over or under the average weight.

Even if you buy the SE version the Ohlins shock isn't going to give you performance suspension until it has the correct spring and damping for your weight.

Its no ones fault. When they build these bikes they have to use suspension settings that cover a massive weight range.  It would be like us having to design a work boot that would fit any foot.  If you had to do that it's not going to fit anyone perfectly, but we could all get by.

Yup. These are lightweight machines where your body weight can easily equal 50% of what the bike weighs. It is impossible for the manufacturers to fit one spring rate that works for all riders.
If this were a 3500 pound car, then a 250 pound man will have little effect overall on suspension performance. It’s easy for the manufacturers of automobiles to determine one spring rate for a particular model.
Not so with motorcycles.

I have three motorcycles and all have been re-sprung and re-valved for my weight, the bike’s weight and my riding style, which is 'sometimes aggressive' road and not track. Tho it would work well on track, the focus is road.

For a 250 pound man, the z900 is woefully under-sprung. It will work fine in most instances but pushed as hard as the engine is capable and things will get out of control.

[zed9]

Originally Posted by 10m3guy

I did 4 track days on my 2017.  The bike was not holding me back but I am pretty sure I was holding it back..... lots of fun and totally fine for an occasional track day.
   

I don’t know if you are aware of this Z Cup race series. They are all z900. Their suspensions and exhaust have been upgraded but per the race rules, the engines are all stock as well as the brakes.
They seem to be going pretty fast.

[rcannon409]

Zed9, I want to see a z cup bike vs a bagger race bike.  Racing was more interesting back when we had different bikes and ideas competing with each other.  For me, designing a zx10 or r1 and having it perform well on a racetrack is more expected vs exciting 

 Your explanation is a good one and it also explains why the electronic semi active suspension isnt ever going to be right for a motorcycle.  Once you base auto-adjust around  a compromised spring rate, you'll never have much, no matter how much it costs. As you pointed out, the car works because it's phisical weight stays @ the same.

 Most people do not spend the extra money having the suspension sprung and valved for their weight. I don't blame them.  At best, a few will pay a few extra dollars for the Ohlins option, which is rarely available.

With that in mind, most have no idea what a well set up suspension system does for a motorcycle.  Is stock good enough?  Probably, but we would buy ninja 400's if we wanted good enough. 

At this point it's asking  a lot to suggest someone spends 1000.00 minimum because someone online said the improvement is amazing.

I spent 350.00 having my stock ninja 1000 shock revealed and resprung.  The shock is about as low quality as you would dare install on a motorcycle.  After it was set up properly, it was very good.  Not as comfortable as the Penske I ended up buying.  Like any mod system we come up with, this is addictive, interesting , and expensive.

[zed9]

Originally Posted by rcannon409

Zed9, I want to see a z cup bike vs a bagger race bike.  Racing was more interesting back when we had different bikes and ideas competing with each other.  For me, designing a zx10 or r1 and having it perform well on a racetrack is more expected vs exciting 

 Your explanation is a good one and it also explains why the electronic semi active suspension isnt ever going to be right for a motorcycle.  Once you base auto-adjust around  a compromised spring rate, you'll never have much, no matter how much it costs. As you pointed out, the car works because it's phisical weight stays @ the same.

 Most people do not spend the extra money having the suspension sprung and valved for their weight. I don't blame them.  At best, a few will pay a few extra dollars for the Ohlins option, which is rarely available.

With that in mind, most have no idea what a well set up suspension system does for a motorcycle.  Is stock good enough?  Probably, but we would buy ninja 400's if we wanted good enough. 

At this point it's asking  a lot to suggest someone spends 1000.00 minimum because someone online said the improvement is amazing.

I spent 350.00 having my stock ninja 1000 shock revealed and resprung.  The shock is about as low quality as you would dare install on a motorcycle.  After it was set up properly, it was very good.  Not as comfortable as the Penske I ended up buying.  Like any mod system we come up with, this is addictive, interesting , and expensive.

All in, I spent less than $750 bucks to have my entire suspension resprung and revalved and even the clickers and preload set up for me at Daugherty Motorsports in Indiana.
That is about the cost of a mid grade shock alone.
Daugherty did another bike for me as well. Jamie is great. Not a scratch or mar on anything.