Jump to content

Z1000SX 2014 - 8 months on


XmisterIS
 Share

Recommended Posts

After having owned my Z for 8 months, i can confrim that it is an all-round cracking bike. I've split my review into bullet points for ease of reading:


WEIGHT: As far as litre sports tourers go, it's pretty light! I came from the SV650, which is only 30Kg lighter, yet has half the power and a little over half the torque. The Z is very flickable yet feels very nicely planted on the road. You can ditch about 10Kg by replacing the cans and headers with arrow or akrapovic.


COMFORT: It's a comfortably sat up riding position and the windshield is very effective. I find i can just relax and let the bike eat up the miles. The seat is a bit hard, but you get used to it.


HANDLING: This is what really sold the bike to me in the first place. The handling is amazing. The power delivery is smooth and forgiving and it drops effortlessly into corners. It feels very stable even cornering at high speed with a big lean angle and will flick between the turns quite readily. It pulls like a train in every gear and even though it is quite forgiving, it accelerates fast. Very fast. A heavy hand on the throttle in any gear will bring the front end up, unless you have the traction control switched on - and even then the front wheel does like to bounce around! The upside to all that torque and bhp is the power band. It will accelerate quickly and smoothly up to about 7000 rpm, and then it goes like a rocket. It feels amazing and it's what makes me love getting on this bike. You want to overtake? No problem. Just lean forward, open the throttle and go. It will not run out of grunt. My only complaint is about the tyres. It comes with Bridgestone Battlax as standard, but I do not like them! They are wearing down quickly and have always felt a bit sketchy on ruts, etc - they do track quite badly, although they grip well on corners. I have been told that this is genuinely due to the tyre and not the bike, so I will be replacing them with Pilot Road or Pilot Power. I only ever put Pilot Road on my old bike and I would swear by them.


FUEL ECONOMY: Because the powerband is quite high up the rev range, it's like riding two bikes. Keep the revs below 7K and it just sips petrol and behaves politely. Crank the throttle open, and all of a sudden it is a screaming hooligan that drinks petrol! And is fun to ride ... :angel12:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I've always had a soft spot for big zed's. When I bought my DAF model a few years back I was looking at the SX also. Does it have a bigger tank range? As my zed's fuel range was diabolical but I put that down too the gearing, sixth needed to be much longer and it felt very 'revvy' at motorway speeds instead of cruising. Yeah the handling was really really good as was build quality and I truly miss that bike and always find myself looking at them on eBay again. I'd deffo have another.


Glad you like yours mate.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The fuel economy is better than the daf because it's got taller gears. The SX truly is a touring bike whereas the DAF is more for hooning around on - although because they are almost the same bike, the SX is perfectly capable of hooning, if you want it to! Motorway cruising speed in 6th is about 4K revs at 70, which is barely ticking over, hence why it just sips petrol at sensible speeds. As for tank range, I can get about 170 miles out of a tank, much less if I am riding in a spirited fashion ;)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 11 months later...

I have the 2017 version , which I believe is basically the same as yours but with more rider assists like the IMU which basically works out lean angle wheel speed front and rear grip etc, which instantly adapts cornering abs to be able to break hard mid corner without losing the front end or the bike standing up. brilliant invention made by bosch. it's the future in bike safety. which just adds to making the sx the perfect alrounder. highly recommend

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I recently took an SX out for a test ride. (love the look of them!)

Unfortunately the riding position is too sport focussed for me. I'm 5' 7" with an inseam of 29" and I felt really cramped up. I ride an 09Tracer and the upright position suits me at my age [emoji23]

I felt pretty deflated when pulling back into the dealer. It's a great bike and I was sorely tempted but I had to walk away [emoji20]

Then the sales guy Chris pointed me over to a bike I never even contemplated before....

So I took it out for a test ride a few days later.......

I pick it up on the 11th [emoji2]

Before I tell what bike it is, I just want to point out that my opinion differs to XmisterIS in that the SX isn't truly a touring bike, it's a compromise and is placed in the sport touring category. For me it is more biased towards the sport side of the bike than touring. My knees started to ache after an hour of being bent up so high.




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Oops. I seem to have forgotten to add that bit [emoji23]

It has the same engine but tuned for torque lower in the rev range. It's the 2017 Versys GT in black. Now that to me is a tourer. I much prefer the upright position and the pegs are placed a bit more towards the front wheel than the Tracer so even easier on the knees.

Pick it up on the 11th.



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Oops. I seem to have forgotten to add that bit [emoji23]

It has the same engine but tuned for torque lower in the rev range. It's the 2017 Versys GT in black. Now that to me is a tourer. I much prefer the upright position and the pegs are placed a bit more towards the front wheel than the Tracer so even easier on the knees.

Pick it up on the 11th.



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Nice one Deso :D

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

 Share

  • Welcome to The Motorbike Forum.

    Sign in or register an account to join in.

×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

Terms of Use Privacy Policy Guidelines We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.

Please Sign In or Sign Up