So I rode a Meanie *gasp*

[neebelung]

Originally Posted by sthrnrider

thanks for the review im picking up an R6 this weekend

Congrats!! My next ride will (99.9% sure) be an '08 R6S (Raven).

[bross]

Originally Posted by seadood228

Personally I think the difference is like night and day... but perhaps I'm just used to braking hard.

Have you replaced your pads? I replaced mine on the meanstreak and the dealer gave me organic pads. Now those were bad, they were mushy and had little stopping power. I yanked those and put on some sintered pads and braking was good again.

[JoyRider]

Originally Posted by sthrnrider

you really wanna mess with him just mention the zx14 lot bigger than the busa IMO or to rally get to him mention how fast the buell firebolt is off the line if he keeps up with the bikes hell know what your talkin bout


thanks for the review im picking up an R6 this weekend

Na...he just is NOT a cruiser guy so I really have to tell him that "Yes the Meanie is suppose to do this or that and he is really OK with it", I'm just happy I don't have to fight for seat time on my Meanie with him. Everything is good in our world.... he rides his and I ride mine.

[neebelung]

Originally Posted by JoyRider

Everything is good in our world.... he rides his and I ride mine.

as it should be.

[Tod]

I could see you on a Beemer.

[bross]

Originally Posted by Tod

I could see you on a Beemer.

First Becka, now Nee...

[optiato]

HUGE difference in braking between my 900 and my Duc. The 900 just meanders to a stop compared to the NOW stopping of the Duc.

Of course, the Ducati is a 400 pound bike with dual front disks... compared the what, 600 pound 900 with a single disk.. and a skinnier tire.

Night and day!

[neebelung]

Originally Posted by Tod

I could see you on a Beemer.

Ohhhh believe me, if the nearest dealer weren't 90 miles away, and I wasn't so worried about the cost of maintenance, I'd have one. I rode the F800ST last year, and looooooved it. SO much fun. I'd love to have one for long-distance/touring.

[jukief]

Nee, you should have ridden a V2K. No one who's ridden one so far has been able to resist buying one.

I'm just the opposite from you. When I ride Alan's FJR, I have a horrible time finding the pegs. I'm used to floorboards! And I love them. Talk about comfortable, especially on long road trips. Between my floorbaords and my highway pegs, I can ride all day and never feel the slightest bit of discomfort in my legs. I have lots of options for moving my feet around to get comfortable.

[Big Bri]

I've got both a GSX-R 600 and VN900 and let me tell you difference in braking is night and day.

The biggest reason is the 900 is 150-200 lbs heavier and only has 1 rotor on the front wheel. I wasn't able to do a burnout in my vn900 because the front brake wasn't able to hold the bike back, while on the GSX-R its a piece of cake.

I imagine if a second rotor was put on the front wheel braking distances would go down dramatically, but at the same time, cruisers are meant to be driven like cars, with the rear brake, and not like a sportbike at all. But in an emergency situation it would be nice to be able to stop a lot faster.

[Rainbow]

I found the more forward pegs took a bit of getting used to when I was checing out of various ones before settling for the Meanie. My first modern crusier experience was on a M50 and I put my feet out to where I thought the pegs should be and there was nothing there! I had to stop to look for them and found them further 'ahead' than I was used to. As for brakes on the Meanie - I find mine awesome. They have more stopping power than any other road bike I have ridden. Mine is a 2002 Meanie so that had the 3 pots on each side and big discs.

Meanie's grow on you. And it is fun!

[bross]

Originally Posted by neebelung

Ohhhh believe me, if the nearest dealer weren't 90 miles away, and I wasn't so worried about the cost of maintenance, I'd have one. I rode the F800ST last year, and looooooved it. SO much fun. I'd love to have one for long-distance/touring.

I keep hearing that about BMWs, but I'm sure not finding that. My total maintenance cost for this year: one set of tires and an oil change, that's it. I do all my own maintenance so I did the valve adjustment and throttle body sync, but it's so easy on the boxers with the valves right there to work on.

I also did the maintenance on Jodie's F650GS and the first time I did an oil change, I thought "Holy crow!" how many screws are there to take off on this thing. But after doing it a few times it only took me probably 30 minutes longer than on my meanstreak.

Parts cost so far has been the same as any of our other bikes and with the boxer maintenance is easier than anything I have worked on. Paying a dealer, you may pay more, I'm not sure of the valve adjustment interval on the new F800s, Jodie's F650 was every 10,000kms.

The RT is actually pretty boring to own, I just fill it up and ride.

[emaldona]

Originally Posted by neebelung

Yes, you read that right.... I actually threw a leg over something OTHER than a sportbike for a change.

This past weekend was Daytona Biketoberfest. Our favorite part of Daytona bike events are the demo rides at the Speedway... what better chance to ride just about any bike out there (especially since Kawi brings out the whole line-up... supersports and all!)

So Chris and I meander down to the big green tent, and decided what the heck, let's try out the Mean Streak 1600. He ended up getting the special edition one (the matte black with red... *drool*); I had a red one.

First off, I was nervous... I mean this is what, about an 800 lb monster of a machine (compared to my 450 lb 600cc?). But I saddled up, and tried to get my bearings. While it was a little heavy on the initial stand-up/balance, I was surprised that at-speed, it didn't feel the least bit heavy or bulky.

So we head out.... I was SOOOOOO discombobulated. I'm not accustomed to having my feet out in FRONT of me, and I kept having to LOOK at my feet to make sure they were sqaurely on the pegs ... Just a very strange sensation. We hop on I-95 and get up to 'cruising altitude.' While there was quite a bit of wind buffetting (which I noticed on my legs more than anything), it was very smooth, and plenty powerful at highway speed. I did have to get used to shifting at MUCH lower RPM's, as it redlined at 6K (mine redlines at 14K), but it had a nice sound, and was surprisingly comfy. I gotta give props to the big fat grips -- if I could have something like that on my bike, I'd be in heaven. Literally NO hand fatigue at all.

We got off the freeway and meadered around some backroads, a few sweepers, etc.... overall a nice ride, though the foot positioning was still very alien to me.

Really my only complaint about the bike is the BRAKING. Holy cow. There were at least two occasions where I felt sure I was going to rear end the ride leader ahead of me, as the brakes were just CRAP. Maybe this is normal for a machine of this size/weight, but it definitely took some adjusting to. Emergency braking would be a scary thing, if the situation arose!!

All in all, a nice bike... Very pretty, nice gauges, and good power.

But it confirmed for me that I'm simply not a cruiser kinda girl... *shrug* Still, I can see what the allure is... it's a nice change of pace to be able to look around at the road a bit more.

I had the same feeling when getting used to the meanstreak footpeg position since I was accustomed my ninja. Now I have a CBR954RR and a meanstreak. I can hop right off one and onto the other and not have to think about foot placement. It comes naturally now.

As far as the brakes go, the meanstreak brakes are the best I have experienced on a cruiser. My meanie is an 03 model with 6piston front calipers so that may be part of the reason. Another thing to remember is that the rear brake on the meanstreak is more effective that rear brake on a sportbike because there is a lot more weight on the back wheel. Did you ever notice how big the rear rotor on the meanstreak is compared to that of a sportbike? It is nearly twice as big and has a 4 piston caliper! A rear setup like that on a sportbike would lock-up all the time. I user the rear brake a lot on my meanie while almost never on my CBR. I think there might have been something wrong with the brakes on your test bike if it scared you that much.

[vn2kbob]

Just got pic from Son who races his Gixxer at Miller Motorsports Raceway in SLC, UT. Thought it might be of his fantastic silver/grey 600......oh no! It was a pic of his new 2008 Kawasaki Mean Streak Special Edition. He took one test ride and was so impressed that he bought it right there. But he loves Kawi cruisers since he and his wife have put some time on my VN2K. What's really cool is that once he said after a great track day that he'd never own a cruiser. I'm gonna take a wild stab here and guess that his Gixxer will be on the auction block. He's totally stoked about his new Meanie SE.... Heh, heh! Bob