Kawasaki Er6-f

[LivinLOS]

It all good.

Just highlighting the fact ABS is good for your health.

I know, when I was younger I had a six pack for ABS now it's just a one pack though

From a six pack to a keg !!

[rickschoppers]

I was wondering if someone was gonna do this or keep it in the er6n thread, afterall they are basically the same bike (plus a fairing).

Having said that, it will be very interesting to see what the price difference is going to be, its less than $300 difference between the two back home in Oz.

The new er6F certainly looks alot sharper than the old one.

Glad someone started this thread because I am definately in the market for an f. Read what everyone had to say about the n and what Tony added about his bike. I will be going to the Bangkok Motor Show to try and get a first hand look and talk to the Kawasaki staff. If things went like they did with the n, it will be awhile before supply catches up with demand and I will be looking at October before I buy. I hope to see a lot of your thoughts before then and will monitor this thread for commets/concerns on the bike. Tony, you must be racking up some miles/kms on your bike.

By the way, I had to change my avatar since some puritanical #$^@&&W* thought it was not family oriented??

Ride On,

Rick

[neverdie]

I was wondering if someone was gonna do this or keep it in the er6n thread, afterall they are basically the same bike (plus a fairing).

Having said that, it will be very interesting to see what the price difference is going to be, its less than $300 difference between the two back home in Oz.

The new er6F certainly looks alot sharper than the old one.

Glad someone started this thread because I am definately in the market for an f. Read what everyone had to say about the n and what Tony added about his bike. I will be going to the Bangkok Motor Show to try and get a first hand look and talk to the Kawasaki staff. If things went like they did with the n, it will be awhile before supply catches up with demand and I will be looking at October before I buy. I hope to see a lot of your thoughts before then and will monitor this thread for commets/concerns on the bike. Tony, you must be racking up some miles/kms on your bike.

By the way, I had to change my avatar since some puritanical #$^@&&W* thought it was not family oriented??

Ride On,

Rick

NOT HAPPY......you would have to be joking....you could virtually walk down any soi (in certain areas of thailand) and see that or something worse

[rickschoppers]

I was wondering if someone was gonna do this or keep it in the er6n thread, afterall they are basically the same bike (plus a fairing).

Having said that, it will be very interesting to see what the price difference is going to be, its less than $300 difference between the two back home in Oz.

The new er6F certainly looks alot sharper than the old one.

Glad someone started this thread because I am definately in the market for an f. Read what everyone had to say about the n and what Tony added about his bike. I will be going to the Bangkok Motor Show to try and get a first hand look and talk to the Kawasaki staff. If things went like they did with the n, it will be awhile before supply catches up with demand and I will be looking at October before I buy. I hope to see a lot of your thoughts before then and will monitor this thread for commets/concerns on the bike. Tony, you must be racking up some miles/kms on your bike.

By the way, I had to change my avatar since some puritanical #$^@&&W* thought it was not family oriented??

Ride On,

Rick

NOT HAPPY......you would have to be joking....you could virtually walk down any soi (in certain areas of thailand) and see that or something worse

I agree............Family oriented is a state of mind and I guess this person's state of mind is from another planet. Anyway, glad you guys are talking aobut the ER6f which is what interests me. Has anyone heard price yet? I would agree that it should not be too much more than the n. They are both good looking bikes, but I plan to do some serious touring which will make the f a must. I would still buy the naked bike if that was the only option though. I think there will be other bigger bikes to follow, but the lines of the ER6 are the best I have seen in Thailand yet.

Rick

[neverdie]

Rick, Its great value for thailand, thats for sure. As for the new info, if its anything like the release of the er6n, you get basically only the info we have now and then on the release date we find out all the ins and outs, such as price etc.

Im not holding my breath because August is still a long time away.

[rickschoppers]

Rick, Its great value for thailand, thats for sure. As for the new info, if its anything like the release of the er6n, you get basically only the info we have now and then on the release date we find out all the ins and outs, such as price etc.

Im not holding my breath because August is still a long time away.

Thanks..........I think everyone has the pulse on what is happening and I will probably learn it here before getting any information from Kawasaki. It is great to have this kind of forum to learn more about things in Thailand when information is sometimes lost in translation. It will be interesting to see which one of you wind up buying the first f and what they have to say. Any bets on who that will be?? I learned a lot about the bike insurance topic and will use that information when I pick up my f.

Thanks Again,

Rick

[monkeyofdoom]

I just rode a friend's rented ER-6N (I normally ride my Ninja 250R) and I really liked the power, but not the long gear shift throw and not the digital tach... By the time the F is launched, I will have ridden the Ninja for almost a year, so I think that will be perfect timing for an upgrade Does the F have the same cockpit as the N?

[neverdie]

^aparently not monkey, theres a pdf on page one which shows the cockpit.

I think its just a different shape, similar layout.

[Ithailian]

FYI - Kawasaki has two ER6-Fs on display at the BKK Motorshow; one Kawa Green the other Blue.

They say the -6F will be available in Thailand in September 2009. The price is said to be 280,000 Baht for the ABS equipped version.

[BigBikeBKK]

FYI - Kawasaki has two ER6-Fs on display at the BKK Motorshow; one Kawa Green the other Blue.

They say the -6F will be available in Thailand in September 2009. The price is said to be 280,000 Baht for the ABS equipped version.

Excellent news- that's what I heard when I visited the Rama 9 Kwacker shop last week. If they're saying the same at the Motor Show there's a good chance it's true! Can't wait! What color ya gonna get Jim? I'm gettin' green

Let the Good Times Roll!

[neverdie]

So, if its 280k for the ABS version, how much for the non abs version???

What they chargin for an er6f - an er6n with a faring?

[BigBikeBKK]

So, if its 280k for the ABS version, how much for the non abs version???

What they chargin for an er6f - an er6n with a faring?

I don't know, but I'm guessing that Kawasaki will only offer the ER6f in ABS version. They sell such a (relatively) small number of bikes in Thailand that it seems they prefer to limit the number of "flavors" they offer. That's why the Ninja 250R, ER6n and ER6f are only available in 2 colors in Thailand, even though all of these bikes are made in other colors.

Tim- the ER6n costs 225,000 Baht. That's even less than the $6399 MSRP in the US and I suspect Kawasaki realizes they priced it too low and are now trying to make up for that mistake by jacking up the price of the ER6f.

In the US the Ninja 650R which is built on the same factory line in Rayong and is nearly identical to the ER6f goes for $6799 MSRP or roughly 230,000 Baht, but ABS is not offered on the US Ninja 650R.

Looking at a market outside of Thailand where the ER6f is actually sold in both versions brings us to the UK where the non ABS ER6f goes for £ 5,075 or £ 5,425 with ABS. So, in the UK you'd pay about 255,xxx Baht for the Non ABS ER6f, and about 274,xxx Baht for the ABS version...

So, seems to me that Kawasaki is pricing the ER6f ABS a little on the high end here in Thailand, but it's still a steal compared to any other 600cc import. The price of the closest competitor- the Yamaha FZ6, has been jacked up to 490,000 Baht for 2009!

Happy Trails!

Tony

[BigBikeBKK]

Ok... Kwacker geek that I am I was just studying up on the differences between the ER6n and ER6f.

Other than the full fairings and different instrument cluster on the ER6f the two bikes are mostly identical but I did notice that the rake and trail of the ER6f is just a touch more than that of the ER6n.

25° Rake and 106 mm Trail on the ER6f compared to 24.5˚ Rake and 102 mm Trail on the ER6n.

I wonder if I'd be able to feel a half degree difference in the real world... Probably not

This extra rake gives the ER6f a 5 mm longer wheelbase (1410mm).

For some reason the seat height of the ER6f is 5mm higher than the ER6n (79cm vs 78.5)

And all of that extra plastic makes the ER6f weigh about 4Kg more than the ER6n. (204Kg vs 200Kg) With ABS add 4Kg to both bikes.

Man... how am I going to wait until September...

[neverdie]

^ Yes, your poor wife

[LivinLOS]

Ok... Kwacker geek that I am I was just studying up on the differences between the ER6n and ER6f.

Other than the full fairings and different instrument cluster on the ER6f the two bikes are mostly identical but I did notice that the rake and trail of the ER6f is just a touch more than that of the ER6n.

25° Rake and 106 mm Trail on the ER6f compared to 24.5˚ Rake and 102 mm Trail on the ER6n.

I wonder if I'd be able to feel a half degree difference in the real world... Probably not

This extra rake gives the ER6f a 5 mm longer wheelbase (1410mm).

For some reason the seat height of the ER6f is 5mm higher than the ER6n (79cm vs 78.5)

And all of that extra plastic makes the ER6f weigh about 4Kg more than the ER6n. (204Kg vs 200Kg) With ABS add 4Kg to both bikes.

Man... how am I going to wait until September...

Paint me amazed that they changed the frame layout for the same bikes.. I wonder if you just have odd measured info or someone did conversions from metric or some other reason.. Doesnt it seem very odd to change the head angle ?? Whole second production run, etc etc etc..

[SgtAngel]

Ok... Kwacker geek that I am I was just studying up on the differences between the ER6n and ER6f.

Other than the full fairings and different instrument cluster on the ER6f the two bikes are mostly identical but I did notice that the rake and trail of the ER6f is just a touch more than that of the ER6n.

25° Rake and 106 mm Trail on the ER6f compared to 24.5˚ Rake and 102 mm Trail on the ER6n.

I wonder if I'd be able to feel a half degree difference in the real world... Probably not

This extra rake gives the ER6f a 5 mm longer wheelbase (1410mm).

For some reason the seat height of the ER6f is 5mm higher than the ER6n (79cm vs 78.5)

And all of that extra plastic makes the ER6f weigh about 4Kg more than the ER6n. (204Kg vs 200Kg) With ABS add 4Kg to both bikes.

Man... how am I going to wait until September...

Paint me amazed that they changed the frame layout for the same bikes.. I wonder if you just have odd measured info or someone did conversions from metric or some other reason.. Doesnt it seem very odd to change the head angle ?? Whole second production run, etc etc etc..

I've been reading both ER6 threads over the last couple of days. Now I am no biker whatsoever, although have been riding bikes for the last 2 years here in LOS on and off, when on holidays and weekends away etc and I do find it quite good for exploring and getting around, also enjoyed looking around the various bike parties this last year.

Now the main differences between the 6n and 6f that i can see is the fairing and the abs, correct or not? With the minor points being raised above. Second question then, what differences will that make to the way the bike performs (and I am NOT talking about the abs!)?

From an economical view (a wallets perspective), would it not be best to buy the 6n and add the fairing for an extra xxx bht (think it was stated 5500thb??)?

Again please forgive the ignorance!

[BigBikeBKK]

I've been reading both ER6 threads over the last couple of days. Now I am no biker whatsoever, although have been riding bikes for the last 2 years here in LOS on and off, when on holidays and weekends away etc and I do find it quite good for exploring and getting around, also enjoyed looking around the various bike parties this last year.

Now the main differences between the 6n and 6f that i can see is the fairing and the abs, correct or not? With the minor points being raised above. Second question then, what differences will that make to the way the bike performs (and I am NOT talking about the abs!)?

From an economical view (a wallets perspective), would it not be best to buy the 6n and add the fairing for an extra xxx bht (think it was stated 5500thb??)?

Again please forgive the ignorance!

Hiya SgtAngel,

With a few exceptions there's no such thing as a dumb question.

Naked vs Faired- ah, that comparison and debate could merit it's very own thread and a discussion that I'm sure would take up many many pages.

To keep it short I think we can focus on three aspects: Performance, Ergonomics and Aesthetics.

Everything else being equal, a faired bike will enjoy better performance (and fuel economy) by virtue of the better aerodynamics provided by a fairing.

Ergonomics- a fairing protects the rider from the elements while the rider on a naked bike has to contend with wind buffeting and whatever else mother nature might want to throw at him. In my experience and opinion riding a naked bike at speeds above ~140km/hr is generally more tiring than riding a faired one.

Aesthetics- I personally prefer the look of naked bikes. I like to be able to see the engine, frame, pipes, etc. It's just a matter of personal choice. Other bikers like to wrap their ride in shiny plastic fairings, some like to plaster stickers all over the place. Not my cup of tea, but hey- to each his own.

I think the ER6n is an awesome looking bike and it performs wonderfully, but when I'm riding 200km/hr plus with the SSR guys a screen would really come in handy. My mates cruise along comfortable and relaxed behind their tall Givi touring screens while I have to tuck in as tight as I can and hold on lest I be blown off. The main reasons I will buy the ER6f is for the screen and for the ABS. I may well ride it without the lower fairings depending on my mood, just as I've been riding my ER6n without the belly pan fairing lately.

Hope this give you some insight into the naked vs faired question.

Happy Trails!

Tony

[neverdie]

Sgt Angel, WELCOME!

You mention something that is very valid & something that I wanted to mention in relation to Tony's response to my question.

In Australia, the er6f is only $300-$400 dearer than the er6n....ie: for a fairing your paying about 8,000 thb - 9,000 thb. (Depending on the exchange rate).

Typically I hate it when companies dictate to you what options you can have on your bike......ABS, to date has nearly always been an option with various bike makers. If Kawasaki Thailand is charging roughly 50,000 thb for a fairing & abs, with no option to not have the abs, its expensive in comparison to the er6n.

I am wondering what difficulties one would face trying to mount a fairing to an er6n. No doubt theres a few things missing from the er6n, which will probably make the fairing fitment tricky. I'm almost betting you can't fit the fairing to the 6n.

Having said all of that above, 40,000 thb plus is expensive for ABS.

If Kawasaki has come in too cheap with the er6n, put the price of the pharking bike up, don't penalise er6f owners to compensate.....truely a simpletons way to think.

The dam_n things are made here in Thailand (as we all know), surely its not that hard to offer both ABS & Non ABS models

[BigBikeBKK]

If Kawasaki has come in too cheap with the er6n, put the price of the pharking bike up, don't penalise er6f owners to compensate.....truely a simpletons way to think.

Welcome to Thai marketing 101

BTW, it is possible to "convert" the ER6n to f version, but it's not as simple as just bolting on the fairings. The entire instrument cluster on the ER6f is completely different from the ER6n, hence different wiring harness and a lot of re-wiring to do a complete conversion... Not impossible, but not something I'd want to tackle by myself and not too many shops in Thailand I'd trust to do the job...

While it's unfortunate that the price of the ER6f may be much higher than the ER6n, by Thai standards a brand new 650cc bike for 280,000 Baht is still a great deal. Closest competitor is the Yamaha FZ6 now priced at 490,000 Baht for 2009. Let's wait and see- I wouldn't be surprised if that 280,000 price tag comes down a bit before September.

Happy Trails!

Tony

[neverdie]

^^ Someone oughta biatch slap ur friends at kwakazaki

[thaicbr]

์NEVERDIE. I tried that at the Motorshow ie comparing the Thai price to the US. Then to the great delight of the Kawasaki Bosses at the show my American friend then went on to tell me in front of them why that is.eg The US taxes dont have to pay for a social security system and free hospitals, which they have here according to him..........What an arse....still he brought the beers later so all is forgiven

Allan

[neverdie]

^^ Thats pharking helleriousosus....pharking phunny too

[SgtAngel]

Thanks for the informative replies!!!

What sort of deals do you get when buying? Free insurance or discount if paying the balance in full?

[thaicbr]

Free insurance or discount if paying the balance in full?

hahahahahahahahahahahahahaahahhaahahahhahahaahaahahahahhahahaahhaahahhahhahahhah

ahahhahahahhahahaahahahhahahahhahahhahahahaahhahahaahahhahaahhahahahahhahahaahaha

hahahahhahahahahahahhahahahhahahahaha

oh thats better. a good laugh always makes one feel so much better. Thanks Sgt Angel

[SgtAngel]

Free insurance or discount if paying the balance in full?

hahahahahahahahahahahahahaahahhaahahahhahahaahaahahahahhahahaahhaahahhahhahahhah

ahahhahahahhahahaahahahhahahahhahahhahahahaahhahahaahahhahaahhahahahahhahahaahah

a

hahahahhahahahahahahhahahahhahahahaha

oh thats better. a good laugh always makes one feel so much better. Thanks Sgt Angel

Stranger things have happened in Thailand, and as i've never bought a bike in Thailand then I thought it was a fairly reasonable question..... If you never ask, you never know!

[BigBikeBKK]

Free insurance or discount if paying the balance in full?

hahahahahahahahahahahahahaahahhaahahahhahahaahaahahahahhahahaahhaahahhahhahahhah

ahahhahahahhahahaahahahhahahahhahahhahahahaahhahahaahahhahaahhahahahahhahahaahah

a

hahahahhahahahahahahhahahahhahahahaha

oh thats better. a good laugh always makes one feel so much better. Thanks Sgt Angel

Stranger things have happened in Thailand, and as i've never bought a bike in Thailand then I thought it was a fairly reasonable question..... If you never ask, you never know!

I apologize for Allan's outburst- it's a Friday afternoon and he's got no bike at this time and methinks the big guy is getting a bit stir crazy.

Back when Kwacker started selling the D-Tracker and Ninja 250R in Thailand they did offer some little freebies- you could choose a free helmet or a racing cowl for the Ninja 250R and I don't recall what they were offering with the D-Tracker. Also, the Ninja 250R was priced 5000 Baht less during the first month promotional period so I scored mine for only 139,000 Baht. Value of the freebies was around 2000 Baht... No big deal really, but a nice gesture all the same.

But then with the ER6n being sold at the shocking price of only 225,000 Kawasaki decided not to offer any freebies, and I can't say I blame them. If the ER6f actually costs somewhere in the neighborhood of 280,000 then for sure they have a larger profit margin to play with and it would not be unreasonable to ask for some extras. Doubt very much they'll get involved with insurance as that's not their business. Perhaps free helmets again or some other Kawasaki gear / accessories. We'll just have to wait and see.

And if you go way way back towards the beginning of the ER6n thread you'll see that the ER6n was initially rumored to cost around 280,000-290,000 Baht.

That's the price that the sales staff at Kawasaki kept throwing around until late December when they finally surprised the heck out of everyone by announcing the brilliant 225,000 Baht price.

So, I'm going to keep my fingers crossed that they do the same with the ER6f- tell us a high price and deliver at a lower price. It's pretty clever marketing if you think about it.

Then again, they certainly can ask 280,000 for the ER6f ABS and I'm sure it will sell out just as quick as the ER6n did.

Have to wait and see....

Happy Trails!

Tony

[thaicbr]

Tony. Your not far off the mark. Sorry SgtAngel its just that here in LOS they have a funny habit of putting the prices up and taking away discounts when business is Difficult.

At the motor show i asked the Suzuki guy how much the Gladiues 650(or gladys, rather gay looking bike)would be and was told 480,000b i said bloody hel_l thats expensive when the ER6 is only 225,000b, so he said made in Japan better................<deleted>. if you go to the show have a look. what a pile of <deleted> the Suzuki is. The Honda guy just told me we are Honda so no problem, I said you got a problem because you got no big bikes and every one is buying the Kawa and the Yamaha, he said when we sell they will buy Honda......again <deleted>.

RANT OVER, enjoy the weekend

[BSJ]

thaicbr: Suzuki guy how much the Gladiues 650(or gladys, rather gay looking bike)would be and was told 480,000b

Surely they can't be that stupid! List in Oz is Au$9990. Even for LOS that's thats a crazy price!

Live rates at 2009.04.03 12:03:22 UTC Notice: The THB rate shown below is the international rate. Rates used within Thailand may vary.

480,000.00 THB = 18,991.64 AUD

Thailand Baht Australia Dollars 1 THB = 0.0395659 AUD 1 AUD = 25.2743 THB

[nikster]

Tony. Your not far off the mark. Sorry SgtAngel its just that here in LOS they have a funny habit of putting the prices up and taking away discounts when business is Difficult.

At the motor show i asked the Suzuki guy how much the Gladiues 650(or gladys, rather gay looking bike)would be and was told 480,000b i said bloody hel_l thats expensive when the ER6 is only 225,000b, so he said made in Japan better................<deleted>. if you go to the show have a look. what a pile of <deleted> the Suzuki is. The Honda guy just told me we are Honda so no problem, I said you got a problem because you got no big bikes and every one is buying the Kawa and the Yamaha, he said when we sell they will buy Honda......again <deleted>.

RANT OVER, enjoy the weekend

Well you have to excuse the sales douches, I am sure they'd love to tell you "we are going to cost less than Kawa because we are opening three new bike plants next month" but it's not their call. All they can do is make the best of it and claim that made in Japan is better even though they know full well that's not true, or at least nowhere near 250k baht in value. After all they can hardly say, well the Kwaker is a much better deal, get it while it's hot.

I guess the other makers just wait and see how big the market for reasonably priced big bikes is in Thailand before making a move. It's smart because they don't have any risk there, at least not the likes of Honda. Honda waits three years, then if Kawas still sell like hotcakes, they can offer their own competing products and because of their brand strength can expect to take over 50% away from Kawa immediately. Same as they did when automatic bikes in the shape of Yamaha Mio arrived - they were late to the market but it didn't cost them much. Of course in hindsight they did lose some as Yamaha is now much bigger than it would otherwise be. But they didn't have the risk either. That seems to be their strategy. Wait and do nothing for now. Too bad for us

[nikster]

thaicbr: Suzuki guy how much the Gladiues 650(or gladys, rather gay looking bike)would be and was told 480,000b

Surely they can't be that stupid! List in Oz is Au$9990. Even for LOS that's thats a crazy price!

Live rates at 2009.04.03 12:03:22 UTC Notice: The THB rate shown below is the international rate. Rates used within Thailand may vary.

480,000.00 THB = 18,991.64 AUD

Thailand Baht Australia Dollars 1 THB = 0.0395659 AUD 1 AUD = 25.2743 THB

It's not greed, it's just the import taxes for big bikes. Unless it's made in Thailand, it's going to be 2x price. Now importing from Japan is now a bit better thanks to the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) but even under the FTA it will take a decade for the import taxes from Japan to go away completely.

Many things are cheap in the LOS but imported big bikes and cars are expen$$$ive. Such it is.