[Jeckler]

HI, I'm Andy. I've been riding since the early 80's when I would steal my brothers Yamaha XS850 and later his Honda CB750F SuperSport and go for joy rides. I LOVED that bike. Sadly, it met its demise when someone cut my bro off while entering a freeway onramp and wiped it and himself out. I had to ride it home for him with the handlebars pointing off to the right and the headlight long gone. The Yamaha is where I learned how easy it could be to hotwire a bike, at the age of 14.
I had a 1981 Suzuki GS650G about 10 years ago and am currently riding a 1992 Nighthawk 750. I've been waffling on trying to decide on a new bike. I've ridden the Yamaha FZ's, Kawasaki Z1ks and Ninja 1k as well as the ZX's. I had my heart set on a Z1000. Then Suzuki announces the GSX-S1000 (and F) and now I'm leaning towards a N1k. My whole riding experience, with the exception of test rides at the motorcycle shows have been on naked bikes. Here in Phoenix, just about every road is arrow straight, and getting to the good stuff requires long jaunts on the freeway. I figured that since I've been thinking of putting a windscreen on the 'Hawk, that a faired bike wouldn't be so bad. Now to decide what year I want, which really means figuring out if ABS, KTRC and power modes are needed.
I do like the red/black color of the 11's. I also like that new bike smell, just not sure if I want the new bike payment.

 

[GaryK]

Welcome and enjoy

 

[ToNY97]

Welcome

I have the 2011 black/red and do enjoy the color. It's always a tough decision between features/year/payments.

 

[Mikey1000]

Welcome & I agree with your comment of the difficulty in deciding between new, with payments or slightly older with no payments. I tend to get new models but that's how I ride.

 

[sprockethead]

Welcome aboard and good luck with your decision. I have the 2012 and I've really been happy. The only thing I think I would really like that is only available in later models is ABS.

 

[luciano136]

If you have some choice in dealerships, see if they have any 2014 models left over. I found mine on clearance for $4k off, which basically brought it down to used price. I have ABS and the traction control modes; doubt I'll ever use the latter but hey, I'll take it

 

[Jeckler]

Thanks everyone. There are really only 3 Kawasaki dealers around here, and I'm pretty sure two of them are owned by the same company. There's a used 2011 I found on CL that looks promising, and it's priced right. I just need to figure out how to pay for it.
I like the idea of new simply because if I'm going to keep it long term, I'd like to know where every mile has come from and depreciation isn't as much as a factor.
Still debating...

 

[ToNY97]

Look for demos. Lower price and you know where the miles came from.

 

[maniak]

Don't forget to look for new left over model years. When I visited my dealer for new tires a month or so ago they still had new 2k13 and 2k14's on the floor (not all N1ks).

If you don't mind a drive, check out Performance Cycle in Tucson... Their site still shows a 2k14 N1k ABS. Maybe give them a should and see if they still have any 2k13's or any really low mileage ones (my 2k12 had 5k miles on it). When I was looking for mine I checked out RideNow (I'm assuming you checked them out in the Phx area) and found they were way over priced.

~Mark

 

[luciano136]

Don't forget to look for new left over model years. When I visited my dealer for new tires a month or so ago they still had new 2k13 and 2k14's on the floor (not all N1ks).

Exactly! That's how I got mine cheap.

 

[Pandru]

They're practically being given away on Craigslist right now

 

[Jeckler]

They don't do demo's around here. And I compare that to rental cars, no thanks. Locally, RideNow doesn't carry Kawasaki. I'm not sure if that's normal, or if there's some sort of Franchise agreement with the two Kawasaki dealers we do have. Last year I saw Performance Cycle (or some dealer in Tucson) still had a 2012. I'll see what they have now.
Actually, the two dealers each have a 2015 listed on CL at $10,744. Also thinking of looking into the Costco deal.

 

[Geldscheisser]

I think the electronics on the 2014 and later are worth it. I would also check eBay, if you are willing to travel to pick up your bike. Last fall there was a dealer in W. Va. (on eBay) selling the 2014 Ninja 1000 for around $9k or $2k less than I paid. I figured it would cost me an extra $1k in travel expenses to do it and worried it was a scam, but later saw a post of someone who had done it. I have also purchased used bikes, including a Busa, when they are like new and the dealer puts them on the showroom floor. Never had a problem. If you see a bike that is really clean and doesn't have any speed modifications, low milage, it's probably a safe bet. Much safer than buying a new Bimmer

 

[Jeckler]

Well, I found what I think is a screaming deal on a brand new Candy Blue 2014 for $9500 OTD. I'll be driving from Phoenix to Perris to pick it up on Friday.

 

[Jeckler]

Got my bike! I actually got it last Friday, but after a paperwork SNAFU on my part and the 3rd party MVD I tried using last Friday night, I finally got it tagged today.
Here's my old bike, a 1992 Nighthawk 750...

And the new one...