I hope Mother Kaw takes notice

www.motorcycledaily.com/04March10_CB1100Emerges.htm
:ohmy:

I love the retro stuff a little old with the new. I hope Ma Kaw does notice

if it looked more like this id get excited!

Mother Kawasaki feels she has addressed this by reintroducing the Z1000....and it's another colossal blunder (in a series of colossal Kawasaki marketing blunders)...whoever is running the North American market needs to be canned.

Mcdroid wrote:

Mother Kawasaki feels she has addressed this by reintroducing the Z1000....and it's another colossal blunder (in a series of colossal Kawasaki marketing blunders)...whoever is running the North American market needs to be canned.

You're absolutely right!! The idiots at Kawasaki think calling a bike "Z1000" somehow makes it similar to the KZ models when the new bike is not the least bit similar to a KZ. It appears that Honda actually UNDERSTANDS the attraction of the CB models; it's a damn shame the nitwits at Kawasaki don't share that understanding of the attraction of the KZ models. Obviously Kawasaki forgot what made their bikes so popular. Ed

That CB is wicked.

The CB1100 prototype didn't excite me when it was revealed some time back and this one less so. Regardless, unless it has two cylinders or is wrapped in plastic, Ma Kaw seems uninterested.

I've said it before and I'll say it now, until they figure out a retro bike that directly reflects the heritage of the KZ line, whatever they offer outside of cruisers, sport bikes or dirt bikes will be a sales dud. It almost seems as though the Big Four are resolutely embarrassed by the classic UJM era and are avoiding addressing it. Meanwhile, Triumph seems to be doing well with its Bonneville models and Norton is supposed to be on the resurrection track. The Italians have also gotten into the act.

If the Honda turns out to be a sales success the other three will scramble to catch up. Will their offerings be worthy or something hacked together. Time will tell.

Classic/vintage bikes are hot right now and have been for a few years. I'm convinced that there is a reason for that beyond nostalgia. The winner will be the first manufacturer to tap into that successfully.

I'll probably be crucified for saying this, but as consumers, we have done this to ourselves. Our bike magazines rave about every new standard that is introduced, and we greet it with lukewarm sales figures. Honda gives us the CB919, Kawasaki the ZRX and Z1000, Yamaha the FZ-1, Suzuki the Bandit, SV and later the B-King. Say what you want about the styling, but that Z1000 is about the most practicle, do it all bike that you could ever ask for. Heck if 25% of KZR members had ever bought a ZRX, then we would still be seeing them on showroom floors. If that thing doesn't look a dead ringer for an ELR, then I don't know what does. Now tell me that you wouldn't jump at the chance to have an ELR. Did you buy a ZRX?
They know what bike we need, but for some reason, we don't want it. They give us a motor that is tuned for the street, and we bitch that we didn't get the superbike motor in a naked bike. Never mind the fact that the superbike motor runs hot in traffic, is frenetic, tempts you into speeding tickets, and bogs under 4000rpm. They give us a bike with a 1000cc motor, huge power, comfortable ride, capable handling and braking for less than $10K, and we bitch that they used the cheap, conventional fork. Let alone, the fact that most of us can't ride well enough to use up the stock suspension on a Honda Ruckus. Hell MV Agusta gave you everything that you ever wanted in a standard with the Brutale. No holds barred 750, top notch suspension, italian trellis frame, decent price, 150mph, and we bitch about the wind blast. When was the last time than you saw an Aprilia Tuono on the road?

We want a chopper because we watched American Chopper and Biker Build Off. We want a Harley because we spent our whole life contributing to the American economy, and we'd be damned if we bought "Jap Crap." We buy the latest repli-racer b/c we're passionate about MotoGP, and we'll spend thousands, and all our free weekends at the track thrashing our new plastic fantastic bike, only to reduce the resale and run 30 sec. off the race pace on that track. Hell, we can't even buy enough exhausts for our beloved KZ to keep any of the major manufacturers interested in continuing to produce new pipes. So the best thing that you can do is go out and buy the Honda, but then, by the time that Kawi took notice, we'd all be tied up in bike notes with American Honda. Hopefully, all of the GS riders would go out and buy the 2011 KZ1143, and keep the ball rolling.

I say this as the owner of a 2004 ZX-10r, which I completly love. However, this could never be my only bike. No power below 4000rpm, 100 mph in first gear, turns in too fast for any legal speed corner, overheats in summer traffic. I bet that the average American would pick a different bike if it had to be the main transport for a family of four like much of Asia.

No, we won't crucify you and some of us may agree with you :laugh: . The point that I would make though, is that none of the big four have yet to find the marketing 'G' spot...I have been close, a number of times, to buying another bike (a new one at that) and have looked at all the Japanese manufacturers repeatedly over the past decade...yes, I have even gazed upon European and American manufacturers too....V-twins don't do it for me...never have, never will. What always is a deal-breaker for me is styling...I don't know who they have as designers, but they ALL must have been fans of Battlestar Galactica...virtually every model is very Cylonesque...apparently not many people like them either because most don't sell worth a hoot. The failure to sell, clearly, as testarossa pointed out, is not related to any performance issues (as most buyers will never approach the limits of their machine and the machines perform at a level far beyond what any KZ can do)...which leaves us with how they appeal visually. No matter what the various reviewers in the myriad of motorcycle magazines say, most are visually discordant and at the worst, plain butt-ugly. I find the lines of KZ's, GS's, XS's, and CB's to be far more attractive than most of what is available (I suspect I am not alone in that)...and until the Japanese marketers recapture the grandeur of days past, they will continue to move their product at an industry crippling pace.

I probably agree with testarossa. I don't know why the naked bikes don't sell. I'm young still and have never had an opportunity to buy a new bike, but when I do it will be naked. And if that CB1100 is out and Ma Kaw hasn't noticed, I will be buying a Honda, I always liked the CB599 and 919. And this new one makes me wet in the pants.

I must agree with T_Dub. Also i must say that Ma-Waw made a halfhearted attempt with the Zephyr. I think where they bombed there was with the name. I didn't even know about it until it was too late. They at least had it right with the 750 but they totally blew it with the 1100. Than they were just as far off the mark with the ZRX. They never seam to grasp the complete package idea. Honda seams to have grasped the CB concept, now if Kaw can replicate the "KZ" concept. I think that it will take Zook to start the GS before Kaw takes a notice. Than it will be too late again. The ting is that now they have a couple of years to do it to wait for the economy to bounce back. If they try it now they will flop again. People are loosing their jobs and taking pay-cuts. At this point it would be a disaster.

I notice in the comments on that article the first guy is complaining about it not having top notch forks etc. And thats where people miss the point of a universal Japanese motorcycle. It's the universal bit that made these bikes so popular. If you want better forks, upgrade them, if you don't like the rear fender, throw a fender eliminator on it.

If I get one of these CB1100's, I'll be modifying it for sure. Some rearsets, clipons and a cafe tail would make that look even awresome-er.