Thai Hostages Still Missing a Year After Hamas Attack

[BigBikeBKK]

Sales staff at Kawasaki Rama 9 today stated that Kawasaki will import and sell the Ninja ZX6R in Thailand within this year!!!

I don't know where they got this news or if it's accurate, but wow- that would be amazing if it's true!

I had to excuse myself to go change my underwear- that bike is my wet dream!

Ride On!

Tony

[katabeachbum]

Sales staff at Kawasaki Rama 9 today stated that Kawasaki will import and sell the Ninja ZX6R in Thailand within this year!!!

I don't know where they got this news or if it's accurate, but wow- that would be amazing if it's true!

I had to excuse myself to go change my underwear- that bike is my wet dream!

Ride On!

Tony

After seeing this Kwaker I have to skip the R in my Ninja 650. That looks like a Race bike

BTW, who wares underware

[BigBikeBKK]

After seeing this Kwaker I have to skip the R in my Ninja 650. That looks like a Race bike

BTW, who wares underware

LOL!

Yeah- well, that's the reason for everyone slagging off on the Ninja 650R- The 650R really is an all arounder dressed up in supersport plastic, while the Ninja ZX6R is the real track weapon.

The Ninja 650R is, IMHO, a great sport touring bike at an unbeatable price, but it will never in a million years keep up with a ZX6R on a track.

Who wears underwear? Um... I think I'll leave that one alone!

[LivinLOS]

Oh oh oh.. Now thats a proper toy !!

Any indication on pricing ?? Low to mid 4's ??

dont really want a pure sport personally but love to see a few more of these on the roads.

LivinLOS.. Underwear free since 2 thousand and 3 !!

[coolfusion]

yamahayamahayamahayamahayamahayamahayamahayamahayamahayamahayamahayamahayamahaya

mahayamahayamahayamahayamahayamahayamahayamahayamahayamahayamahayamahayamahayamah

ayamahayamahayamahayamahayamahayamahayamahayamahayamahayamahayamahayamahayamahaya

mahayamahayamahayamahayamahayamahayamahayamahayamahayamahayamahayamahayamahayamah

ayamahayamahayamahayamahayamahayamahayamahayamaha

[JonnyF]

Could be good news, but unless they find a loophole to make it substantially cheaper than the ZX10R then I'd guess it's going to come in around the 600k mark.

With Kawasaki moving production to Thailand that price could make a massive drop in the next 18 months if they start selling locally made ZX6R's here.

[BigBikeBKK]

Oh oh oh.. Now thats a proper toy !!

Any indication on pricing ?? Low to mid 4's ??

dont really want a pure sport personally but love to see a few more of these on the roads.

LivinLOS.. Underwear free since 2 thousand and 3 !!

I think the price will be closer to 5xx,xxx-55x,xxx Thai Baht, perhaps even a little more. Agreed that on Phuket (and most Thai roads) this bike would be a bit ridiculous, but here in Bangkok we have 3-4 decent (and not so decent) tracks to play on so it makes a bit more sense.

Underwear free... I really didn't want to know that!

[LivinLOS]

OK so thats not being produced domestically then ??

Import and usual import duties.. I thought it was being brought into the local production.

Its a little bit ridiculous.. But only a little..

[BigBikeBKK]

Could be good news, but unless they find a loophole to make it substantially cheaper than the ZX10R then I'd guess it's going to come in around the 600k mark.

With Kawasaki moving production to Thailand that price could make a massive drop in the next 18 months if they start selling locally made ZX6R's here.

Yeah- ZX6R could easily come in at a price close to 600K THB. I can't imagine that Kawasaki will be able to (or want to) move production of its supersport bikes to Thailand. Cruisers and other low-tech bikes sure, but production of their top of the line rockets SHOULD remain in Made in Japan!

[Travelmate]

I was hoping, still am! That they will make ALL Kawasakis in Thailand.

I have close to a year plus wait for the next generation ZX10R.

[BigBikeBKK]

yamahayamahayamahayamahayamahayamahayamahayamahayamahayamahayamahayamahayamahaya

mahayamahayamahayamahayamahayamahayamahayamahayamahayamahayamahayamahayamahayama

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ayamahayamahayamahayamahayamahayamahayamahayamaha

Well... you could trade in that rattling old R1 of yours for a proper bike like the new YZF-R6

Only 680,000 Thai Baht at your local Yammie dealer

Ride On!

[BigBikeBKK]

I was hoping, still am! That they will make ALL Kawasakis in Thailand.

I have close to a year plus wait for the next generation ZX10R.

I'm on my 3rd Thai build Kawasaki and I've ridden them all hard and never had anything break, BUT, to be perfectly honest, the build quality here in Thailand still does not match Japanese quality. It's little things like the cleanliness of the welds and the paint and finish on the Thai built bikes that still fall a bit short of what I've come to expect from authentic Japanese bikes. Until Kawasaki Thailand can MATCH the build quality of Japanese built bikes I think they would be better off keeping the ZXR production in Japan. Just my two satang, or two yen if you will

[LivinLOS]

Could be good news, but unless they find a loophole to make it substantially cheaper than the ZX10R then I'd guess it's going to come in around the 600k mark.

With Kawasaki moving production to Thailand that price could make a massive drop in the next 18 months if they start selling locally made ZX6R's here.

Yeah- ZX6R could easily come in at a price close to 600K THB. I can't imagine that Kawasaki will be able to (or want to) move production of its supersport bikes to Thailand. Cruisers and other low-tech bikes sure, but production of their top of the line rockets SHOULD remain in Made in Japan!

I thought there was a PR piece saying they were moving all production out of Japan ??

Recent posting no ??

[LivinLOS]

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=206...id=abR1S4fnOkW0

Kawasaki to Shift Motorcycle Output to Thailand, Yomiuri Says

By Naoko Fujimura

Aug. 24 (Bloomberg) -- Kawasaki Heavy Industries Ltd. will start shifting production of medium-sized and large motorcycles to Thailand from Japan from 2010 because of cheaper labor costs, the Yomiuri newspaper said today.

Kawasaki would be the first Japanese company to move large motorcycle manufacturing to an emerging country, the newspaper reported, without saying where it got the information. Honda Motor Co. is also considering shifting the production of medium- sized motorcycles to Thailand from Japan, the report said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Naoko Fujimura in Tokyo at [email protected].

[katabeachbum]

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=206...id=abR1S4fnOkW0

Kawasaki to Shift Motorcycle Output to Thailand, Yomiuri Says

By Naoko Fujimura

Aug. 24 (Bloomberg) -- Kawasaki Heavy Industries Ltd. will start shifting production of medium-sized and large motorcycles to Thailand from Japan from 2010 because of cheaper labor costs, the Yomiuri newspaper said today.

Kawasaki would be the first Japanese company to move large motorcycle manufacturing to an emerging country, the newspaper reported, without saying where it got the information. Honda Motor Co. is also considering shifting the production of medium- sized motorcycles to Thailand from Japan, the report said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Naoko Fujimura in Tokyo at [email protected].

Almost half the bike (wheels, engine, brakes, most of frame, tank?) seems to be identical with Ninja650(no R anymore ), so why not make it here?

[BigBikeBKK]

Almost half the bike (wheels, engine, brakes, most of frame, tank?) seems to be identical with Ninja650(no R anymore ), so why not make it here?

ZX6R same as EX650?!

Wheels, perhaps.

Engine- absolutely not! The ZX6R is a high revving high compression inline 4 that cranks out nearly 108 horsepower. EX650 is a parallel twin that puts out what- about 70hp?

Brakes- absolutely not!

ZX6R features dual 300 mm (12 in) petal rotors with dual radial-mounted, four-piston, four-pad calipers

EX650 features basic but effective dual 300 mm petal discs w/2-piston calipers

Frame- absolutely not!

ZX6R Race Suspension and USD Forks are light years ahead of the bare bones EX650.

ZX6R features 41 mm (1.6 in) inverted Showa Big Piston Front fork with top-out springs, stepless compression and rebound damping, fully-adjustable spring preload. EX650 is old school non adjustable conventional forks.

Rear suspension on the ZX6R: Bottom-Link Uni-Trak with gas-charged shock, top-out spring and pillow ball upper mount, dual-range (high/low-speed) stepless compression damping, 25-way Adjustable rebound damping, fully-adjustable spring preload.

Compare to the EX650: Single offset laydown shock w/adjustable preload.

etc etc.

[ScubaBuddha]

Eh. Looks like a Ninja 250.

yamahayamahayamahayamahayamahayamahayamahayamahayamahayamahayamahayamahayamahaya

mahayamahayamahayamahayamahayamahayamahayamahayamahayamahayamahayamahayamahayama

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ayamahayamahayamahayamahayamahayamahayamahayamahayamahayamahayamahayamahayamahay

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ayamahayamahayamahayamahayamahayamahayamahayamaha

Well... you could trade in that rattling old R1 of yours for a proper bike like the new YZF-R6

Only 680,000 Thai Baht at your local Yammie dealer

Ride On!

Yess!!!! Now my 07, R6 Raven....THAT was a unique looking, sexy, quick and agile bike!!!

Lamp on the cooler....white trash style!

Edited October 2, 2009 by Scubabuddha

[katabeachbum]

Almost half the bike (wheels, engine, brakes, most of frame, tank?) seems to be identical with Ninja650(no R anymore ), so why not make it here?

ZX6R same as EX650?!

Wheels, perhaps.

Engine- absolutely not! The ZX6R is a high revving high compression inline 4 that cranks out nearly 108 horsepower. EX650 is a parallel twin that puts out what- about 70hp?

Brakes- absolutely not!

ZX6R features dual 300 mm (12 in) petal rotors with dual radial-mounted, four-piston, four-pad calipers

EX650 features basic but effective dual 300 mm petal discs w/2-piston calipers

Frame- absolutely not!

ZX6R Race Suspension and USD Forks are light years ahead of the bare bones EX650.

ZX6R features 41 mm (1.6 in) inverted Showa Big Piston Front fork with top-out springs, stepless compression and rebound damping, fully-adjustable spring preload. EX650 is old school non adjustable conventional forks.

Rear suspension on the ZX6R: Bottom-Link Uni-Trak with gas-charged shock, top-out spring and pillow ball upper mount, dual-range (high/low-speed) stepless compression damping, 25-way Adjustable rebound damping, fully-adjustable spring preload.

Compare to the EX650: Single offset laydown shock w/adjustable preload.

etc etc.

okokok its a totally different bike (except for the wheels and brakediscs). But from an industrial point of view, its exactly the same job to manufacture it. The volume just has to be high enough for the thai part-suppliers.

[BigBikeBKK]

Uh oh... Looks like I've been

555

Sweet lookin' ride there ScoobieBootie- I'll bet it pained you no end to leave her behind!

Ride On!

T

[BigBikeBKK]

from an industrial point of view, its exactly the same job to manufacture it. The volume just has to be high enough for the thai part-suppliers.

But it's a much more technically complex machine than anything Kawasaki Thailand has ever built, therefore it would require more specialized and highly trained workers, which, at the present time, Kawasaki Thailand does not have... Not saying it couldn't be done, but I've toured the Kawa factory and really don't think they're up for it as things stand today.

[katabeachbum]

from an industrial point of view, its exactly the same job to manufacture it. The volume just has to be high enough for the thai part-suppliers.

But it's a much more technically complex machine than anything Kawasaki Thailand has ever built, therefore it would require more specialized and highly trained workers, which, at the present time, Kawasaki Thailand does not have... Not saying it couldn't be done, but I've toured the Kawa factory and really don't think they're up for it as things stand today.

Well timing could be good since there are a few employees at BMW, MB, Toyota, Honda , Mitsu, Izu and so on beeing layed off last 12 months

Anyhow, exciting bike, and I hope they can make it in LOS. At lets say 360k? Would be the same as 650k imported.

[JonnyF]

from an industrial point of view, its exactly the same job to manufacture it. The volume just has to be high enough for the thai part-suppliers.

But it's a much more technically complex machine than anything Kawasaki Thailand has ever built, therefore it would require more specialized and highly trained workers, which, at the present time, Kawasaki Thailand does not have... Not saying it couldn't be done, but I've toured the Kawa factory and really don't think they're up for it as things stand today.

The complexity of the machine is irrelevant IMO. You're asking them to assemble it, not design it. Break the assembly down into more stages if needs be, it's just bolting things together.

I've found that Thais are fantastic at following pre-defined rules - as long as you don't ask them to deviate from those rules there's no problem. If the training was as good as it seems to be from my dealings with Kawasaki Rama 9 then I see no reason why they couldn't build the full range of Kawasakis here.

[ScubaBuddha]

Uh oh... Looks like I've been

555

Sweet lookin' ride there ScoobieBootie- I'll bet it pained you no end to leave her behind!

Ride On!

T

Yeah I was gutted. Specially cause the guy I sold it to wrecked it a week later.

[ScubaBuddha]

okokok its a totally different bike (except for the wheels and brakediscs). But from an industrial point of view, its exactly the same job to manufacture it. The volume just has to be high enough for the thai part-suppliers.

I think the mirrors are the same too.

[JonnyF]

yamahayamahayamahayamahayamahayamahayamahayamahayamahayamahayamahayamahayamahaya

mahayamahayamahayamahayamahayamahayamahayamahayamahayamahayamahayamahayamahayama

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ayamahayamahayamahayamahayamahayamahayamahayamaha

Never really bought into the brand loyalty thing myself. Better to go with whoever is top of the game at the time you buy.

The ZX6R is a good bike right now.

http://www.motorcycle.com/shoot-outs/2009-...tout-87967.html

[Zzinged]

I wager that the Thai government will want to cash in on this and start putting extra taxes on bikes that produce more than 65hp

Strikes me as something they'd do, no?

[katabeachbum]

I wager that the Thai government will want to cash in on this and start putting extra taxes on bikes that produce more than 65hp

Strikes me as something they'd do, no?

past 12 years taxes have been on displacement only, except for the 220hp limit. all bikes except Triumph 2300cc are within same taxgroup, less than 2000cc.

Thai government has spend a fortune to attract Kawasaki to build bikes in LOS through BOI, so I doubt they want to scare them with higher taxes.

Edited October 3, 2009 by katabeachbum

[BigBikeBKK]

I wager that the Thai government will want to cash in on this and start putting extra taxes on bikes that produce more than 65hp

Strikes me as something they'd do, no?

Dude! Don't give 'em any ideas!

[stamrob]

Could be good news, but unless they find a loophole to make it substantially cheaper than the ZX10R then I'd guess it's going to come in around the 600k mark.

With Kawasaki moving production to Thailand that price could make a massive drop in the next 18 months if they start selling locally made ZX6R's here.

Yeah- ZX6R could easily come in at a price close to 600K THB. I can't imagine that Kawasaki will be able to (or want to) move production of its supersport bikes to Thailand. Cruisers and other low-tech bikes sure, but production of their top of the line rockets SHOULD remain in Made in Japan!

At the last riding course I asked the Kawa guy. Expected around November, price around 500000THB. The Kawa guy thought it to be expensive, since you can get the zx10 for around 650000THB. I think the ZX6 would be a better bike for most for the circuit (that's where you should drive it!) The ZX10 is abit too much for me to go to after my KSR!

[BigBikeBKK]

At the last riding course I asked the Kawa guy. Expected around November, price around 500000THB. The Kawa guy thought it to be expensive, since you can get the zx10 for around 650000THB. I think the ZX6 would be a better bike for most for the circuit (that's where you should drive it!) The ZX10 is abit too much for me to go to after my KSR!

Awesome! So, someone else has also heard this news- I'm guessing from Khun Channarong? He usually seems to know what's going on. Man I hope it's true!!! 500,000 is a steal for a ZX6R in Thailand! Let the Good Times ROLL!