Kawasaki Er6n

[BigBikeBKK]

No i didn't contradict myself at all, yes i agreed about the slight extra HP but it is the weight issue,Bard mentioned, that i'm refering to.

Um, yeah, you did... HP and weight are absolutely linked. Physics 101- how do you increase power to weight ratio? You cut weight or you add HP or ideally you cut weight AND you add power. That's exactly what an aftermarket race pipe does.

Take 5kg off the weight off an ER6 to an average rider on a road and it won't make a scrap of difference. In most cases the rider will back off before the bike does. As i said the only time that 5 kg would make a difference is to a professional rider on a track.

Cutting weight and adding power definitely makes a noticeable improvement to all but the novice rider. The TWO BROS is not the only mod I've made to my ER6n. I've cut additional weight by removing the heavy Aluminum Grab Bars. Other mods on my TO DO list include aftermarket rear sets which will cut significant weight. A PowerCommander which will add another 2-3 HP. Less weight and more power makes a noticeable difference on a track AND on normal roads. Aftermarket wheels would be another great mod (but a set of marchesis cost half the value of the bike )

The ER6 is a steady country road bike, its not a racer and never will be especially at 200kg, modify your bike personally to your hearts content, to each their own, but where performance is concerned, dont try to make a silk purse from a sows ear.....buy a Blade or an R1 etc

Thanks for giving me permission to mod my bike Rickster- how big of you (Please recall you started this whole stupid discussion, remember?)

You don't think you can race an ER6? Funny... I've always felt the same about the HD 883 series, but hey- if those guys are having fun- who am I to say they shouldn't race? BTW, there's an entire ER6 race series in Europe, but I guess those Europeans must just be crazy, right?

Still don't think the ER6n can handle track riding? Check out this vid:

Tony you mentioned in another post why would i buy an ER6 when i already have a Street Triple R so i ask you what is the point of buying an ER6F when you already have the unfaired version. After all the mods you've spent so much time and money on wouldn't you be better off buying a fairing kit, no?

The answer's so obvious that I'm really surprised you need to ask the question... I bought the ER6n because the ER6f is not available yet. The ER6n is loads of fun, but I prefer a fairing for high speed sport-touring and track. Almost all of the mods I've made to my ER6n are easily transferable to the ER6f, duh...

Happy Trails!

Tony

[BigBikeBKK]

Hey there ER6 fans!

Thought you might enjoy this review- (please note it's the old ER6n, not the 2009):

"I had been impressed by the first photos that I had seen of this beastie floating around the net, but being able to throw a leg into the saddle and fire it up was a different story. At first it seemed a little tall in the saddle. I had to shift around in the seat a bit to get comfortable, but once I did, I found the bars and controls all were within easy reach and I was in a fairly upright position, which I like anyway. So off we go. Turn right out of shop and down to the roundabout. Enter the roundabout to the left hand side to give plenty of room to do a right hand turn, tweak the bars and....bloody hel_l, this thing turns like a 250!! Just to be sure, I head up Mt Eden (my usual handling test) and wayyyy-heyyyyy. Short squirts and quick cornering is a breeze on this thing. A few nice chicanes while under mild acceleration (it's still being run in) and a couple of nicely handled cattle stops later and we're at the top. Nice. So nice in fact, I had to go around again just to make sure it wasn't a fluke.

After the fun and games on the mount, I headed to the Khyber pass on ramp for a squirt down the motorway. Filter to the front of the queue, tight left hander (easy does it on this notoriously on ramp), and start running through the gears. Wow! Even short shifting it runs up to the legal limit and just a little past it in no time at all, and all accompanied by the most satisfying rumble and roar of the underslung pipe.

A quick note here. I was expecting your typical in-line twin whirr and zip but this thing sounds, feels and pulls like a perky v-twin. Lots of good vibrations that flatten out after about 4k or so, but the throaty roar still follows you through. I didn't get it past 5k, as the guys had said to treat it nice, but I'm sure it will pull strongly all the way to the 10k limit."

And a couple more ER6n track vids:

Haven't found any track vids of the 2009 ER6n yet. Maybe I can be the first

Happy Trails!

Tony

[neverdie]

^ poor ole rickster, not the sharpest tool in the shed.

[Rickster]

You've reduced additional weight by taking off the HEAVY ALUMINIUM GRAB BARS.....<deleted>

I'm surprised you didn't mention how the drag coefficient will change also.....

You've just confirmed what a complete knob you are with this comment.

If i didn't know you Tony i'd have guessed from your input your about 21 but having seen your picture, and that your actually around mid forties i really think you need to pull your head out of your ass and get with reality. Your teens have gone son get over it.

FYI they are called Marchesinis...... just incase you get strange looks from the sales staff !!!

There are some good posts and interesting info on this ER6n forum, to which i anticipate the receipt of my new bike. However it seems to be dominated by a boy racer who, to all intents and purposes, is trying to brainwash every other poster with his self centred approach of what to do with your own bike, to be,supposedly, one of the boys....

All i can say is <deleted> Tony i hope you never get your hands on an MV Agusta !!!!

Thanks for the positive input some of you guys have made.......I'm taking a big time out as i cant stomach anymore of this B/S

Edited April 5, 2009 by Rickster

[neverdie]

^ thank godness your leaving, don't let the door hit you in the backside on the way out .

Just what thai visa needs, another person to come in here and be constantly critical of what others are doing. Nobody was forcing anything upon anyone Rickster, its only your burning desire to prove others wrong that brought this about.

Back to your knitting & self manipulation threads!

Edited April 5, 2009 by neverdie

[BigBikeBKK]

^ thank godness your leaving, don't let the door hit you in the backside on the way out .

Just what thai visa needs, another person to come in here and be constantly critical of what others are doing. Nobody was forcing anything upon anyone Rickster, its only your burning desire to prove others wrong that brought this about.

Back to your knitting & self manipulation threads!

Thanks for the support and spot on diagnosis Neverdie

Man... Pretty funny the old Rickster who hates mods and who's already admitted he's AFRAID of riding his BMW coming along to correct my spelling... Well, I'm getting the car washed and have some time to kill, so please allow me to retort.

Rickster: And yes, the K1200R is too fast and scary for Thai roads.......at least i'm man enough to admit it

Oh yeah Rickster- what a manly man you must be!

Wanna go back and start spell checking your posts?

Recent Rickster blather:

As far as i'm concerned an afetr market pipe is for aesthetical reasons, sound plus a few extra HP.....thats it"

And hey Rickster- I don't care that your spelling sucks, but how about at least getting your facts straight, ok?

Rickster: its not essential to re-map but why spend big money on an after market exhaust and not have the engine set to optimum valve time openings to compensate for quick exhaust dispersion

Newflash Rickster- re-mapping adjusts FUEL DELIVERY and not VALVE TIMING- duh!

What's all the "boy racer" bs? I'm not a racer, but I do like to practice on a track- it's FUN and it's the safest place to polish one's riding skills. In fact, since Rickster already admittted to being afraid of his BMW K1200R perhaps some lessons on the track might help him get past his fears and actually make him a better rider. There is no doubt that track riding makes you a better rider overall. Might save you the hassle of "downgrading" to the wimpy ER6n beginner bike.

I'm one of the youngest Farang you'll find on most rides and most of the expats I ride with and regulars at BIRA are old timers who certainly aren't afraid of going fast. And I'm guessing you and I are about the same age, but you've already adopted the mindset of a timid old geriatric- pretty sad... I think the fastest Farang at BIRA is pushing 60 years old. I'm sure he could show you how to ride your BMW. Age is a state of mind my friend.

BTW, fast does not equal dangerous or reckless. The one time Trent was going slow is when the drunk driver decided to rear end him... I feel, and I think a lot of the other REAL bikers will back me up on this one, that riding slow in Thailand is actually more dangerous than riding fast. Going faster than traffic give you one less thing to worry about- getting rear ended.

Ok- car's ready and I need to run- Good luck selling the K1200R- hope the next owner will actually know how to ride it. Have fun on the new ER6n and don't forget, I still have the training wheels for you! :jerk:

Happy Trails!

Tony

[HTWoodson]

This thread has had almost 20,000 views as I'm writing this, and I think most of the people viewing it are hoping for useful information. BBBKK and others have posted pages of interesting and informative comments and pictures. Rickster has posted about 15 posts criticizing everybody.

I met Tony for the first time this last week in BKK, and he is not a "Boy Racer", nor does he have is head up his @$ as someone so eloquently put it. He is however a genuinely nice guy who took several hours of his day to show me around bike shops in the Big Mango, through heavy traffic. I think that half the people on this thread know him personally, and would say that Tony is a very knowledgeable, and yet still very humble, a hard combo to find.

Thanks again Tony for all the help on Thursday; I really appreciate it. Hope I get to ride with you in the future.

Now, seeing as this is the ER6n thread, I'll write something about the bike. I talked to the Givi dealer here in Chiang Mai yesterday, and he said that GIVI Malaysia has now ordered the windscreens and luggage boxes that are available in the European markets. They should become available to the Thai market sometime in the next few weeks.

Bad news is the price. The price of the windscreen is not yet determined, but he told me that the luggage set, if you purchase everything in the picture above, will run you more than 40,000 baht. I bought my last set of GIVI luggage for about 10,000 baht, so I'm not sure what is so special about this set. They are just plastic boxes after all.

[Bard]

No i didn't contradict myself at all, yes i agreed about the slight extra HP but it is the weight issue,Bard mentioned, that i'm refering to. Take 5kg off the weight off an ER6 to an average rider on a road and it won't make a scrap of difference. In most cases the rider will back off before the bike does. As i said the only time that 5 kg would make a difference is to a professional rider on a track.

Hi Rickster,

I agree with you 100% that for a square tire rider (STR) on the road it don't make a ferking difference, I was referring to people who like to push there bikes limits, something a STR is incapable of doing, as you correctly stated he/she/heshe/shehe will back off before the bike limits.

Maybe I wasn't clear enough, I was aiming at bikers who like to push there bikes, for example on the track. Granted the ER6 is no track winning bike but it's fully capable to have a load of fun with one on the track. You don't have to be a racer to appreciate tracks and really push the limits there. Other riders like to stunt with there bikes which the ER6n is great for (in controlled areas please) they will reap the benefit from it as well. And lastly if you ride in curvy roads say up North the less mass on the bike the better, so 5 kilos less is better for control, the improved handling is very valuable. Just try out riding in twisties with no luggage and luggage, do you notice a difference? I certainly do. If you don't... Then don't do a single thing to the bike, let it be as it's far superior in ability than the rider on top of it who must be a STR.

Cheers Bard

[HTWoodson]

Unbelievable.

[soundman]

Flaming fellow members on Thai Visa is un-acceptable. Posts have been removed and warnings issued.

.....................

Please keep it civil gentlemen.

[BSJ]

Rickster: Bard i respect your technical info which i'm sure is all correct (sorry i'm only a stupid Aircraft Engineer)

If your an aircraft engineer why are we having a tough time selling you on the subject of power to weight? Honestly lad, it does nothing for your credability when you say your an Aircraft Engineer with........do tell!

[Bard]

Guys this is stupid.

What the heck is this thread going to, PMS ladies?

Tony is an outstanding guy, genuine person and I really like him a lot. If someone has an issue with him take it outside the forum. It contributes with nothing positive at all, it's pissing me off... Childish shit...

Cheers Bard

[Rickster]

Rickster: Bard i respect your technical info which i'm sure is all correct (sorry i'm only a stupid Aircraft Engineer)

If your an aircraft engineer why are we having a tough time selling you on the subject of power to weight? Honestly lad, it does nothing for your credability when you say your an Aircraft Engineer with........do tell!

I made a quote that "by reducing 5 kg off the bike to a average rider on the road would not make a scrap of difference, only to a pro who was doing lap times"..... i went on to say "an average rider would not take the bike to that limit anyway and that the rider would shit out before the bike did"...... I've never once mentioned or questioned power to weight ratios.......

So go back and have another read...... BTW, just out of interest do you teach English !!!!

[Bard]

I made a quote that "by reducing 5 kg off the bike to a average rider on the road would not make a scrap of difference, only to a pro who was doing lap times"..... i went on to say "an average rider would not take the bike to that limit anyway and that the rider would shit out before the bike did"...... I've never once mentioned or questioned power to weight ratios.......

So you're saying you won't make a scrap of difference with power to weight ratio then? Because you're stating it won't make a scrap of difference but agree the difference in power to weight ratio, right?

Try this out, put 5 kilo luggage on your bike and do some twisties and check out if the handling changes. Also see if your brake distance changes and so on. Like I wrote "I notice the difference", however if people don't they are not in need of changing anything which is cool as well. If you do notice, then it will benefit you, this is the most dragged out weird stuff on the forum for a long time.

Cheers Bard

[soundman]

It contributes with nothing positive at all, it's pissing me off... Childish shit...

Cheers Bard

Completely agree & its pissing me off too. I don't want to see this most informative topic dissappear due to petty bickering and argueing.

If you gents have a problem with one another, take it to PM or choose the ignore funtion within you personal settings.

[12DrinkMore]

Just try out riding in twisties with no luggage and luggage, do you notice a difference?

Well really, that's no way to refer to the GF

[Bard]

Just try out riding in twisties with no luggage and luggage, do you notice a difference?

Well really, that's no way to refer to the GF

Hehe good one...

[NormanW]

This thread has had almost 20,000 views as I'm writing this, and I think most of the people viewing it are hoping for useful information. BBBKK and others have posted pages of interesting and informative comments and pictures. Rickster has posted about 15 posts criticizing everybody.

I met Tony for the first time this last week in BKK, and he is not a "Boy Racer", nor does he have is head up his @$ as someone so eloquently put it. He is however a genuinely nice guy who took several hours of his day to show me around bike shops in the Big Mango, through heavy traffic. I think that half the people on this thread know him personally, and would say that Tony is a very knowledgeable, and yet still very humble, a hard combo to find.

Thanks again Tony for all the help on Thursday; I really appreciate it. Hope I get to ride with you in the future.

Now, seeing as this is the ER6n thread, I'll write something about the bike. I talked to the Givi dealer here in Chiang Mai yesterday, and he said that GIVI Malaysia has now ordered the windscreens and luggage boxes that are available in the European markets. They should become available to the Thai market sometime in the next few weeks.

Bad news is the price. The price of the windscreen is not yet determined, but he told me that the luggage set, if you purchase everything in the picture above, will run you more than 40,000 baht. I bought my last set of GIVI luggage for about 10,000 baht, so I'm not sure what is so special about this set. They are just plastic boxes after all.

40 000 Baht???????

Yer joking?

WOW!

I will use Big C carrier bags instead hehehe.

[HTWoodson]

40 000 Baht???????

Yer joking?

WOW!

I will use Big C carrier bags instead hehehe.

Haha! You mean you're going to hang these off the passenger bars?

It's still tentative though, the dealer told me he was communicating with the Malaysia office via email, so it's just hearsay for now. We'll see. I won't be buying them either way, I had some parts made at a local metal shop that allow me to put my old GIVI set on the bike. I'll take some pics later this week and post them.

Edited April 5, 2009 by HTWoodson

[BigBikeBKK]

^ Yeah... the new Givi series, (I think it's called the "E" series?) is ridiculously expensive.

Fortunately there are still many of the older Givi "Flow" boxes and panniers available at many bike shops in Thailand (and all over SE Asia it seems).

Unfortunately the new "Tubular side-case holder" (Givi part #PLX449) and Givi Monorack (Part #FZ449) for the 2009 Kawasaki ER6n and ER6f will only accomodate the new expensive Givi boxes, and not the much cheaper but equally good "Flow" boxes... Figures, doesn't it?

I had a shop (Dr Bike) build me a custom rack for my ER6n to carry a 35 liter Givi Flow box. Total cost for rack, box, LED turn signals and labor was less than 9000 Baht.

The rack looked well made and felt quite solid-

I thought I had the perfect solution, until it broke

The box pivoted under the bike and got caught under the pillion and tire nearly causing a wreck. What a mess! I'm so very lucky it happened on a straight road. You can see in the picture above how the tire melted the box- what a mess! (The dinged up helmet is not mine BTW ) Had the rack failed like this in a curve I might not be here to write about it!

Turns out the shop used 1mm steel pipe and it just wasn't strong enough. Blasting from BKK to Tak with the SSR guys at speeds in excess of 200km/hr probably hastened the rack's demise, but it would have gone sooner or later the way it was built.

I mailed the busted rack and ruined box back to Bangkok and finished the SSR Epic Ride like this:

Well, you should have seen the look on the owner's face when I brought in the broken rack and wrecked Givi box. He was pretty cool about it and I think he realized what a monumental <deleted> up his boys caused by using the 1mm pipe. The design was fine, but the materials his crew used to build the rack were not strong enough. So- he built me a new rack free of charge, this time using 2mm pipe and a couple of other modifications that should give added strength.

I haven't mounted the new rack yet. Quite frankly after my close call with the last one I'm not sure I want to use a Givi box anymore...

Here's how the old rack looked:

Perhaps I'll try the new one for this weeks ride to the Phuket Bike Week. There's a chance of rain and Givi boxes are quite handy for keeping things dry. Just hope the new rack holds up better than the last one!

Happy Trails!

Tony

Edited April 5, 2009 by BigBikeBKK

[Bard]

Round tube is no good for load like that Tony, which is why Givi uses oval tubing. Even 2mm is not strong enough for a luggage rack loaded like that I'm afraid. If they tack welded two tubes together and ran it same way it would be much stronger. Main problem when we rode SSR was the rack you had was shaking all the time, hence you got a fatigue failure on it, and you were lucky went so well.

Cheers Bard, hey dude my ex-helmet seems to be popular it is a Shoei TZ-R highly recommended and I crash tested one... I now got the Shoei X-11, but will avoid doing that again...

[HTWoodson]

I'm going to skip on the top rack and just use the side luggage, the old "flow" boxes. What happened to you just makes me too worried that the thing would fail with my girlfriend leaning back on it. You're so lucky that you didn't have your wife with you at time.

[BigBikeBKK]

Round tube is no good for load like that Tony, which is why Givi uses oval tubing. Even 2mm is not strong enough for a luggage rack loaded like that I'm afraid. If they tack welded two tubes together and ran it same way it would be much stronger. Main problem when we rode SSR was the rack you had was shaking all the time, hence you got a fatigue failure on it, and you were lucky went so well.

Thanks for the heads up Bard! I don't want to risk another failure so I'll just skip the Givi then and go back to using a pillion bag like I've always done in the past. Happy Trails! Tony

[neverdie]

^ I wonder what weight difference there is between 1mm & 2mm tubing?

Hope it doesnt slow you down too much tony

[LivinLOS]

Have them fab up some square tube.. And watch the welds..

Done right square tube should not have an issue unless you have some mental leverage to secure it back there.

[BigBikeBKK]

Hi ER6n Fans!

A couple of nicely customized ER6n's at the Bangkok Motor Show yesterday-

Happy Trails!

Tony

[BigBikeBKK]

^ I wonder what weight difference there is between 1mm & 2mm tubing?

Hope it doesnt slow you down too much tony

555! Perhaps there's a friendly aircraft engineer lurking somewhere that can tell me what effect this will have on my drag coefficient

[BigBikeBKK]

Have them fab up some square tube.. And watch the welds..

Done right square tube should not have an issue unless you have some mental leverage to secure it back there.

Hiya LivinLOS!

Um, "mental leverage"... Not sure what that is, but guessing I don't have any!

[ArNaSu]

I had a bit of a moan last week about Mityon Kawasaki and how they dealt with my number plate and tax sticker. To be fair I was in the shop yesterday looking at gloves and noticed that they now have number plate holders and the plastic tax sticker holders for sale in the shop now. Fair play to them.

[BigBikeBKK]

I had a bit of a moan last week about Mityon Kawasaki and how they dealt with my number plate and tax sticker. To be fair I was in the shop yesterday looking at gloves and noticed that they now have number plate holders and the plastic tax sticker holders for sale in the shop now. Fair play to them.

What? The stingy bastards make you buy the plate holder and tax sticker holder?!

Kawasaki Rama 9 in BKK gives 'em away.

I didn't take either since I mounted the plate myself and carry the tax sticker in my wallet- too bad, I could have just given them to you...

Happy Trails!

Tony