Kawasaki Er6n

[rickschoppers]

OK Guys............You have me hooked on the ER6n and now it is just a matter of time before I buy one. Being an old Harley rider from the states, I had been looking at used Harleys and the price was hard to swallow. Now that Kawasaki has decided to bring a big bike into the Kingdom at a resonable price, they have convinced me to join the sportbike crowd. I was looking to do some touring and also have a bike my lady can ride that was not too big. Have any of you turned over your keys to your lady yet to see how she does? I will probably not want to let her for awhile until I have had my fill, if that is possible.

From what I have read, everyone seems to be very happy with their choice and I am sure I will be. Have any of you bought your bikes in Udon or nearby? I am wondering what the supply is like. I will be arriving in 2 weeks and will be making a direct trip to try and ride one of these bikes. My purchase plan is about October of this year, so maybe the supply will be a little better by then. This has been a very enjoyable thread and hope you guys keep it going to give me an idea of the progress with your bikes. I built customs for years hear in the US and now am beginning to wind down, but will never loose the desire to ride. This seems like a pretty light bike compared to what I am used to and should be fun.

Good on ya Rick- Harley's are cool, but riding in Thailand it's quite useful to have a bike with good brakes and handling to help avoid all of the hazards that we find here in the Land of Smiles.

The ER-6n isn't really a sport bike- the ride is softer and the seating position is more upright than most modern sport bikes, and this makes it a great bike for touring.

As far as your lady riding it- it's a very easy bike to ride, it is light and narrow and some call it a perfect learner bike. But I wouldn't recommend the ER-6n for someone who has never ridden before. The ER-6n is rather tall and with 72Hp and gobs of torque I could see a beginner getting in over their head rather quickly.

I think by October perhaps the supply will have caught up with demand. Also, by that time Kawasaki will be selling the ZX10R and ER-6f so that might take some demand off of the ER-6n.

FYI Kawasaki does have an Authorized Big Bike showroom in Udon. I can't read Thai but here's a map to the Udon dealer:

Hope you can figure it out!

Happy Trails,

Tony

[rickschoppers]

Tony,

Having some problems with my computer, but just wanted to thank you for your reply on the dealer in Udon. It will be my first stop when I arrive on March 13th. I have looked at the ER-6f, but I wonder what the price difference. The naked look is one of the things I liked. By October I would think the dealer will have improted a faring for the N model.

Please keep me posted on the progress with your bike and maybe we will see each other in Udon or Bike Week.

Thanks Again,

Rick

[BigBikeBKK]

Tony,

Having some problems with my computer, but just wanted to thank you for your reply on the dealer in Udon. It will be my first stop when I arrive on March 13th. I have looked at the ER-6f, but I wonder what the price difference. The naked look is one of the things I liked. By October I would think the dealer will have improted a faring for the N model.

Please keep me posted on the progress with your bike and maybe we will see each other in Udon or Bike Week.

Thanks Again,

Rick

Cheers Rick,

There are a lot of aftermarket fairings available for the old 2006-2008 ER-6n, but not so many yet for the new 2009 ER-6n. The few I've seen I've not been impressed by. I've been working with a shop in Bangkok on having a custom screen made for the ER-6n and I'll post pics if we're successful.

ER-6f should not be significantly more expensive than the ER-6n. I imagine 20-30K higher, not more, but we'll find out for sure some time after the Bangkok Motor Show as Kawasaki Thailand has not yet determined the price.

Happy Trails!

Tony

p.s.

You have by far the best avatar on ThaiVisa! Love it!

Edited February 16, 2009 by BigBikeBKK

[Ithailian]

I second that ... best Aviatar award for Rick.

It's god dam_n hypnotic ... my girl just smacked me to break me out of the trance I was in. Wow.

Is she saying "more choppers" ... or "mah chorp pus#y"

[Bard]

She obviously say f u c k my pussy

[Bard]

Since we're all talking about it, here are some details pulled from the Dec '08 and Jan '09 Fast Bikes mags. Fast Bikes is a UK based mag that leans more towards sports bikes.

Reg your quotes from ER6n and FZ6

Here is a quote about the FZ6 "Take it from Cycle World* Magazine - “For a more advanced rider looking for a bike to do it all, there is no other choice.”

However the gripes against it is that it is not a beginners bike, way to much high end power surge from the R6 engine and therefore hard to control for beginners when they pass 7000 rpm.

The ER6n 2009 model I have now read bloody 8 magazines during my time offshore, has good comments, from what I can gather of intelligent review is that the weight increased compared to the last model to over 200 kg empty. Due to all the extra rubber, they needed to reinforce the frame (donno why) hence the extra weight in it. It is called beginner friendly bike with controllable and predictable power. It has some gripes and some good points but overall a good bike.

If you like naked bike it is in Thailand the only sensible choice in value, if not there's lot of goodies in poor value. If you don't like naked but want fairing then wait for the ER6f if you want value.

If like me you want high end surge, or you like a certain bike a lot... you don't give a shit and buy what you want sensible or not, I'm a biker not a bean counter...

It is great that ER6n is released at it's price, it opens up more serious motorcycling for much more people in Thailand, which will increase the amount of big biking, and hopefully manage to change some of the stupid rules in Thailand in the future. We need Thai bikers on big bikes, they are the only ones who can manage to put forth to change the leftmost lane crap to the lawmakers.

The Ninja 250R, D-Tracker, KLX 250 and ER6n is a way to get more people into bigger bikes, which in my humble opinion is a very good thing. I see already that Thai's on bigger bikes are generally much better in using protective gear, when the common youngster see the cool bikers do it, maybe it changes some of there minds a bit.

I am looking forward to try Tony's ER6n when we do SSR.

Cheers Bard

[rickschoppers]

She obviously say f u c k my pussy

OK Guys............Since you liked the Avatar, I will give you something else to look at. This is one of the bikes I built and now have for sale here in the US. It got into Hot Bike Magazine and won some awards at bike shows like Easyriders which is big here. I don't think the ER-6 will win any bike show, but will definately be more fun to ride.

Happy Riding!!!!!

Rick

[LivinLOS]

It is great that ER6n is released at it's price, it opens up more serious motorcycling for much more people in Thailand, which will increase the amount of big biking, and hopefully manage to change some of the stupid rules in Thailand in the future. We need Thai bikers on big bikes, they are the only ones who can manage to put forth to change the leftmost lane crap to the lawmakers.

The Ninja 250R, D-Tracker, KLX 250 and ER6n is a way to get more people into bigger bikes, which in my humble opinion is a very good thing. I see already that Thai's on bigger bikes are generally much better in using protective gear, when the common youngster see the cool bikers do it, maybe it changes some of there minds a bit.

You know, I also think the tiny little KSR is doing a lot of that too.. It might seem counter intuitive that a dinky little pit bike would be a gateway drug to more real bikes but I see that a lot around me and noticed 100's of em up in CM.. Here we have 'Phuket bike' ksr modification shop, and having been in there a couple of times over the last week (looking for a temporary dirtbike fairing / headlight) it is flat out busy with guys working on, modding and hotting up those machines. Even spilling out of the shop and working on them in the street, its busy !!

I actually sat on a jacked up suspension one with wider bars that made it large enough to consider (I wouldnt mind a hotted up one to replace my wave.. I am just a kid at heart) but the level of enthusiasm the Thai guys are showing in that scene is something that can only help grow into real bikes.

[Bard]

Hmm I think you're right there Livin, the KSR has definitely ignited more interest in bikes, like a first temptation, and I am glad more and more Thai's find Sport bikes more interesting than only "choppah" due to Carabao.

Cheers Bard

[12Gon]

Hello!

I seen that it has been quite some talk about the break in in this and other treads, so I started a separate tread about the subjec, hope anyone doesn't mind!

& feel free to share your thoughts here! thaivisa.com/forum/Break-Brainstorming-t243617.html (I'm not yet allowed to post URL's)

Regards/

12Gon

[neverdie]

Regarding the er6n verses the er6f....in Oz the f is only $270 dearer than the n, which roughly equates to 5,000 THB....I'm wondering what it will be worth here.

How many of the n fellows would trade to an f just to get a fairing? I use to like the looks of the n more, but the f is growing on me. Are some of the n guys here suggesting at 150km/h they wish they had a fairing/screen to help with the buffeting?

How would an aftermarket exhaust (end can) go on the f?, not sure if the faring decreases the room available by much?

[rickschoppers]

Regarding the er6n verses the er6f....in Oz the f is only $270 dearer than the n, which roughly equates to 5,000 THB....I'm wondering what it will be worth here.

How many of the n fellows would trade to an f just to get a fairing? I use to like the looks of the n more, but the f is growing on me. Are some of the n guys here suggesting at 150km/h they wish they had a fairing/screen to help with the buffeting?

How would an aftermarket exhaust (end can) go on the f?, not sure if the faring decreases the room available by much?

I would agree with you on the f. Like you said, the price difference in only about $285 in England, so I am hoping when it is released in Thailand they will keep the same difference. The faring will definately help with buffeting at higher speed along with a little better gas milage. I will wait to make my final decision on which I buy after riding both and seeing what the price diff is. I still like the naked looks, but I am planning to do a fair amount of touring, so the faring will help keep fatigue down. Tony, what do you think? Will you be buying an f when they become available later this year?

Ride On,

Rick

[neverdie]

She obviously say f u c k my pussy

OK Guys............Since you liked the Avatar, I will give you something else to look at. This is one of the bikes I built and now have for sale here in the US. It got into Hot Bike Magazine and won some awards at bike shows like Easyriders which is big here. I don't think the ER-6 will win any bike show, but will definately be more fun to ride.

Happy Riding!!!!!

Rick

Young Rick,

Im not really into that style of bike but having said that, THAT IS ONE AWESOME looking machine. I can't imagine hopping the speed bumps down my soi on it tho...wow its very low. What powers a machine like that? It looks a million bucks, what sort of coin do you have to part with to get something like that. It would be a great kick back cruising thing, bet it sounds alright too.

Whos the bird....did you trade from the farang one to the one in your avatar....or do they share your company.....u dirty boy

Edited February 17, 2009 by neverdie

[rickschoppers]

She obviously say f u c k my pussy

OK Guys............Since you liked the Avatar, I will give you something else to look at. This is one of the bikes I built and now have for sale here in the US. It got into Hot Bike Magazine and won some awards at bike shows like Easyriders which is big here. I don't think the ER-6 will win any bike show, but will definately be more fun to ride.

Happy Riding!!!!!

Rick

Young Rick,

Im not really into that style of bike but having said that, THAT IS ONE AWESOME looking machine. I can't imagine hopping the speed bumps down my soi on it tho...wow its very low. What powers a machine like that? It looks a million bucks, what sort of coin do you have to part with to get something like that. It would be a great kick back cruising thing, bet it sounds alright too.

Whos the bird....did you trade from the farang one to the one in your avatar....or do they share your company.....u dirty boy

The bike has air ride and once the key is turned on, it comes to about 4 inches of ground clearance. You do need to be careful on the speed bumps though. It has an Ultima 100 HP V-twin with a 6 speed trans. The asking price is $65,000.00 and will take someone with serious money to afford. We have a lot of sports celebreties here in Phoenix, so there is some money around. It would probably never sell in Thailand even if it was legal, but in Europe it may go fast since they like to pro-street stuff.

Thanks for Looking,

Rick

[neverdie]

No Rick the pleasure is all mine, theres actually a lounge area here (another thread) where we all chip in various pics of bikes and stuff, I call in bike porn.

Irregardless of form, bikes are bikes, I appreciate the art, also appreciate ur pics THANKYOU.

You will definately find the er6n different, but you already know that, i think theres alot of better bikes in thailand than the er6n but theres also the price too & the er6n has alot of potential and the new owners are reporting positively. I like the upright riding position, it seems to have reasonable suspension and brakes, theres a world of mods that can be done to them to personalise the bike....right up ur alley by the sounds of it.

I was also wondering what tony was going to say about the f and the fairing....I suspect hes at it on the n again ....I hope he doesnt forget to give that lovely misses some attention every now and then ....you know thai shielas, could be a little fire started under his bike if hes not careful

[BigBikeBKK]

I would agree with you on the f. Like you said, the price difference in only about $285 in England, so I am hoping when it is released in Thailand they will keep the same difference. The faring will definately help with buffeting at higher speed along with a little better gas milage. I will wait to make my final decision on which I buy after riding both and seeing what the price diff is. I still like the naked looks, but I am planning to do a fair amount of touring, so the faring will help keep fatigue down. Tony, what do you think? Will you be buying an f when they become available later this year?

Ride On,

Rick

Hi Rick, Hi Tim,

Rick- that bike you built is STUNNING! I'm actually a bit surprised you'd ride something as "ordinary" as a Kawasaki ER after having built something so unique. I bought the ER-6n to tide me over until the ER-6f goes on sale this summer. (Kinda like how I bought the Ninja 250R to test out the Thai biking scene, before moving up to the ER-6n)

I've pretty much always ridden sport bikes and that's what I'm most comfortable on. I really do like the looks and performance of the ER-6n, but I need a fairing because there are times I like to ride fast, and that's quite hard to do for any distance on a naked bike. Another thing, and perhaps this sounds odd to some, but I really don't like having the mirrors on the handlebars. When you tuck in at high speed mirrors on handlebars become completely useless, where as on a sport bike, with the mirrors out front, you can still use them, even when you're tucked in. I always like to know if there's a Fortuner or Benz coming up on my tail and the only way to know on the ER-6n is to sit up and look in the mirrors or kind of glance under your armpits when you are tucked in.

The old ER-6f was not terribly good looking, but I think the new 2009 ER-6f is a real looker-

The old ER-6f:

The new 2009 ER-6f:

Whaddya think? Quite an improvement, no? Kawasaki Thailand plans to offer Lime Green and Plasma Blue colors and they are currently doing research to see if ABS should be offered in Thailand. (I told them ABSOLUTELY yes they should offer ABS!)

ER-6f should go on sale in August and I'm very much looking forward to it! Price not yet set. I was asked how much I'd be willing to pay for ABS too, so I hope they really are thinking about it.

Happy Trails!

Tony

[LivinLOS]

The new ERF is head and shoulders better looking than the old.. Once its had the tail tidy operation done it will look sharp..

I know you have a history with the black but that plasma blue is a wicked color in the pics..

BTW I simply love this shot.. I think that tail line is about the perfect naked bike / streetfighter shape.. The blunt front and the sharp angular tail.. The tidy on the rear makes it so much nicer a shape, no comparison.

[BigBikeBKK]

The new ERF is head and shoulders better looking than the old.. Once its had the tail tidy operation done it will look sharp..

I know you have a history with the black but that plasma blue is a wicked color in the pics..

BTW I simply love this shot.. I think that tail line is about the perfect naked bike / streetfighter shape.. The blunt front and the sharp angular tail.. The tidy on the rear makes it so much nicer a shape, no comparison.

Cheers LivinLOS,

I'm tickled pink- That a pic of me on the front page of the new http://www.er6thailand.com site! Man I should really sit down and learn how to read Thai... This gives me a good incentive!

You know- I chose the ER-6n in Black because in pictures the Orange looked so-so, but in real life the Orange ER-6n is stunning. As for the new ER-6f I'm leaning towards the Lime Green, but honestly, it's sexy in any color!

[LivinLOS]

The orange would be my choice.. Black is always a safe choice, hard to go wrong but also not as special.. I personally dislike kawa green so thats out..

Normally I am a major naked bike fan.. but the F version looks better and probably feels much better..

I pulled the blades fairings over the weekend.. Riding it today (sans lights, or anything up front for airflow) but still with the over the tank bars it was a different feel.. once the speeds up at the tonne it sure is windy. Hope to have the top triples drilled soon for the mx bars.

[JonnyF]

Yeah that blue ER6f is a good looking bike, the ER6n had one too many drawbacks for me, the major one being the lack of fairing which meant that my one and only problem with the Ninjette (high speed cruising) wouldn't be fully addressed.

3 problems with the ER6f at first glance, but fairly minor...

1. The bars are freakishly high - easily addressed

2. The windshield looks too steep in most pics, although strangely not in the blue pic, again this should be easily fixed with an aftermarket shield

3. I don't like the "all in one" seat, it would look much better with a 250R/ZX6R style seat in my opinion. Maybe not so easily fixed but not so important and just a styling issue really.

I can't see how they can justify more than a 10,000 baht increase for the faired version so hopefully around the 235k mark. A real bargain by Thai standards... Will this be at the motor show next month?

[Ithailian]

I was admiring the beautiful red of the 2009 ER6-F when my girlfriend informed me I can't get a red one.

I asked her how she knew that ... (wondering to self: is she secretly reading my Kawa forums?) ... then she blurts out, because red is bad luck ... If you get red, you will crash

Huh? I like red, but now she's ruined it! Just like the time she told me I was eating bug-chili dip ... it didn't taste good after that.

[thaicbr]

UMMMMMMMM My Cbr is red that kinda explains alot. three accidents in 7 months. Blimey the red er6-f does look bloody lovely though.

[BigBikeBKK]

Yeah that blue ER6f is a good looking bike, the ER6n had one too many drawbacks for me, the major one being the lack of fairing which meant that my one and only problem with the Ninjette (high speed cruising) wouldn't be fully addressed.

3 problems with the ER6f at first glance, but fairly minor...

1. The bars are freakishly high - easily addressed

2. The windshield looks too steep in most pics, although strangely not in the blue pic, again this should be easily fixed with an aftermarket shield

3. I don't like the "all in one" seat, it would look much better with a 250R/ZX6R style seat in my opinion. Maybe not so easily fixed but not so important and just a styling issue really.

I can't see how they can justify more than a 10,000 baht increase for the faired version so hopefully around the 235k mark. A real bargain by Thai standards... Will this be at the motor show next month?

Cheers JohnnyF,

I agree with your assessment-

1. The bars are freakishly high - easily addressed (I have the same 'issue' with the ER-6n, the bars are much higher (freakishly, no...) than what I'm used to. I'm getting used to it though and it's not necessarily such a bad thing. Very easy to change the bars on the ER6.)

2. The windshield looks too steep in most pics, although strangely not in the blue pic, again this should be easily fixed with an aftermarket shield Hmmm, I really didn't notice that. To me it looks like the windscreen is quite large and perhaps taller than what you'd find on a "real" sportbike, but as I intend to use the bike primarily for sport-touring I think this tall screen is ideal.

3. I don't like the "all in one" seat, it would look much better with a 250R/ZX6R style seat in my opinion. Maybe not so easily fixed but not so important and just a styling issue really. Agreed- Kawasaki kept a lot of things simple on the ER6 to keep costs low. Fortunately the bike has been very popular so there are a lot of companies making aftermarket accessories. I personally really like the look of this Bagster seat for the ER6:

I can tell you that my wife is MUCH happier riding pillion on the ER-6n. The passenger pillion on the Ninja 250R is a real butt buster while the passenger pillion on the ER-6n is big and cushy. I've seen tons of shops in Bangkok that redo bike seats, but I'm not sure what kind of quality to expect. Anyone have any experience with bike seats they'd like to share?

Happy Trails!

Tony

[Richard-BKK]

Wow, I have a red bike, lucky the road bike of my g/f is yellow

[BigBikeBKK]

I was admiring the beautiful red of the 2009 ER6-F when my girlfriend informed me I can't get a red one.

I asked her how she knew that ... (wondering to self: is she secretly reading my Kawa forums?) ... then she blurts out, because red is bad luck ... If you get red, you will crash

Huh? I like red, but now she's ruined it! Just like the time she told me I was eating bug-chili dip ... it didn't taste good after that.

Classic Jim!

Just tell her it's not RED, it's CHERRY! :jerk:

Bug chili dip... Man, you just ruined it for me too!

[rickschoppers]

I would agree with you on the f. Like you said, the price difference in only about $285 in England, so I am hoping when it is released in Thailand they will keep the same difference. The faring will definately help with buffeting at higher speed along with a little better gas milage. I will wait to make my final decision on which I buy after riding both and seeing what the price diff is. I still like the naked looks, but I am planning to do a fair amount of touring, so the faring will help keep fatigue down. Tony, what do you think? Will you be buying an f when they become available later this year?

Ride On,

Rick

Hi Rick, Hi Tim,

Rick- that bike you built is STUNNING! I'm actually a bit surprised you'd ride something as "ordinary" as a Kawasaki ER after having built something so unique. I bought the ER-6n to tide me over until the ER-6f goes on sale this summer. (Kinda like how I bought the Ninja 250R to test out the Thai biking scene, before moving up to the ER-6n)

I've pretty much always ridden sport bikes and that's what I'm most comfortable on. I really do like the looks and performance of the ER-6n, but I need a fairing because there are times I like to ride fast, and that's quite hard to do for any distance on a naked bike. Another thing, and perhaps this sounds odd to some, but I really don't like having the mirrors on the handlebars. When you tuck in at high speed mirrors on handlebars become completely useless, where as on a sport bike, with the mirrors out front, you can still use them, even when you're tucked in. I always like to know if there's a Fortuner or Benz coming up on my tail and the only way to know on the ER-6n is to sit up and look in the mirrors or kind of glance under your armpits when you are tucked in.

The old ER-6f was not terribly good looking, but I think the new 2009 ER-6f is a real looker-

The old ER-6f:

The new 2009 ER-6f:

Whaddya think? Quite an improvement, no? Kawasaki Thailand plans to offer Lime Green and Plasma Blue colors and they are currently doing research to see if ABS should be offered in Thailand. (I told them ABSOLUTELY yes they should offer ABS!)

ER-6f should go on sale in August and I'm very much looking forward to it! Price not yet set. I was asked how much I'd be willing to pay for ABS too, so I hope they really are thinking about it.

Happy Trails!

Tony

Tony,

I would have to agree with you on having a faring will make a world of difference. My Harley is a naked bike, but it gets a little tiresome riding at high speeds for very long. The f seems more reasonable to me and the looks are very nice. I still will save my final decision for when I ride them both. I still have the customizing bug, but there are lots of aftermarket goodies to pick from. I may even buy a project bike once I find out what the availability of parts and their cost is in Thailand. I am alway tinkering with a car or bike and will never leave them alone. Once it is in your blood, it never leaves and it appears like you have the disease too. The roads in Thailand are quite different than in the states and I think it would be more difficult on a Harley than the er6f or er6n. Hence, the decision to scrap my Harley days for Kawasaki ones.

I didn't think you would be satisfied with just the n model. Will you keep both?? They make a very nice pair of bikes, that's for sure. Keep me posted on your progress.

Ride On,

Rick

[neverdie]

The photo of the blue one is taken at a slightly different angle, which in turn makes the screen look different.

The red looks good as well, I've heard the red crash theory too, so being the argumentative kind of bloke I made sure my current ride is red, had it 2 years, no crash yet, touch wood. Maybe because its not a real bike

No sheila will tell me about which bike I can get or can't but it looks like Kawasaki may be limiting your options.....they weild a much larger stick that some thai sheila who can be replaced rather easily .

Tony, you are a <deleted>.....THATS WHAT THAT THAI SITE SAYS, it says that this <deleted> has too much money and rides like a big girl.....I'd be having a serious chat with them if I was you ....ps: It also mentioned that you were a crossy dressing nancy boy

[BigBikeBKK]

also mentioned that you were a crossy dressing nancy boy

Aw Tim, I thought that was going to be our little secret...

And I think you need to brush up on your Thai mate- I think it actually says I have no money because I spend it all on bikes and <deleted>... (typical weekend in Pattaya, wouldn't you know) But perhaps some of the finer nuances got lost in translation.

Peace Up and Party On!

Tony

[neverdie]

also mentioned that you were a crossy dressing nancy boy

Aw Tim, I thought that was going to be our little secret...

And I think you need to brush up on your Thai mate- I think it actually says I have no money because I spend it all on bikes and <deleted>... (typical weekend in Pattaya, wouldn't you know) But perhaps some of the finer nuances got lost in translation.

Peace Up and Party On!

Tony

ps: You must know that they don't actually talk about you in the article.....but a little birdy whispered in my ear that you might be considered as a centrefold cover boy for the Kawasaki World gay edition :jerk: magazine.

Edited February 18, 2009 by neverdie

[Bard]

Hey the red thing has actually something to it...

According to a study male drivers/riders in red vehicles has a higher accident rate than any other colored vehicle. A psychological study concluded that men in red vehicles were more aggressive than other colors, another accident prone color was black, but the shrinks saw no difference in aggression levels so that was due to being less visible to other people in traffic and not the driver/rider.

Also a study on Discovery Turbo concluded that birds like to shit on white color vehicles more than any other color...

So there you go Ithailian's gf was right, can you believe it!!!

Cheers Bard