Surprise tester Kwaka ER-6n [long]

Perfect weather and dry roads, yeeha !!
Just right for the planned Kwaka ER-6n tester.
Floyd Parkes in Fern Tree Gully is pretty much one of the first dealers to
have one ready to-roll.
Trent, the sales guy, gave us some of his time, much appreciated, thanks!
The new Kwak comes in black (golden frame and bits), the silver one still
wrapped and not quite assembled slumbering in the FP-workshop comes with a
red frame/ triple clamps etc.
http://www.motorcycle-usa.com/Article_Page.aspx?ArticleID=2238&Page=1
http://www.daytonamc.co.uk/page90.html


If you don't like the front end, the faired ER-6F is on the boards for
sometime in February.
http://www.kawasaki.de/product.asp?Id=3400D4C6FF9

Get all the tech stuff from those sites.

Let's get going then.
A quick, first look reveals a short, compact bike, twin wave rotors up
front, a small, single rear. Seat height is LOW!! at 790mm, great for
shorties. The bike is narrow, the tank not very long. The 120/160 tyre-combo
predicts a good choice of available rubber, at sensible prices.no $600/set
here.
Very limited room under the seat, the tray is tiny. Only 1 luggage hook each
side at the rear, but the pillion-handles are generous and great for
strapping down stuff.
The optional accessories include topbox, smaller indicators and some other
goodies.
No clip-ons, but handlebars (great for modifications/ cheaper to replace if
damaged).
Standard switchgear which includes an emergency-light-switch, nice touch.
BOTH levers are adjustable, another nice touch.
The "laying-near-horizontal" rear shock is different and clears out the
rear-end, no heavy swingarm-brace needed for a shock-mount.
Looks even a bit flimsy, but showed up as rock-solid lateron.
The frame around the front covers engine AND radiator, again a nice touch,
if the bike ever slides along the road on it's side, many vitals are
protected (for at least a limp home).
The small plastic cowls at the front of the tank carry the indicators, a
stupid location as even a drop-in-the-garage will destroy those for sure.
Easy enough to mount some aftermarket stuff between the triple-clamps
though, plenty of space there, cable-routing is easy.
The mirrors are conventional stalk-type, control-cluster-mounted either
side.
They look fine, don't protrude past the bar-weights.and are utterly useless.
Way too close in, rear-view is greatly obstructed. Other mirrors are a MUST.
Luckily another aftermarket item easily/ cheaply found.
No scope to lower the rear any further (if needed), the rear shock is
mounted solid between frame and swingarm-bracket, no linkages/ dogbones.
(but perhaps the seat could be scooped..?)

Let's get on then:
The 650 parallel-twin burbles into life as soon as the fuel pump stops
whirring-away.
This is a NEW engine, not a worked-over version of the old donk out of the
ER5/ KLE500.
Brandnew ! And it's a BEAUTY !! A REAL bewdy.
The first 5k's:
Handlebars too narrow/ mirror-view obstructed by own shoulders. Gearbox
feels very smooth, best described as a "like a typical Suzuki" box.
Easy, low pressure, positive changes up and down. Easy to find neutral
everytime. No funny noises. NO VIBES, particularly through the bars !!! The
"?ugly?" headlight/speedo shape do a brilliant job of keeping the wind off,
very nice and completely unexpected for a 6footer on a bike that looks and
feels like a 250. Good seating position, nothing is cramped, very surprising
again as the seat is low.
Yep, she feels like a 250, turns on a 10c piece, too. Very agile, very
responsive, no EFI-surging. Great also the feel of stability and solidity,
the front brakes are superb, the rear, despite it's tiny size, effective and
easy to use, very good feel/ nice feedback.

The small instrument cluster doesn't provide the
"Enterprise-dashboard-lightshow" of the Guzzi Breva 1100 ridden a few hours
later. Small, clean, easy to read, topped by the tacho, few idiot lights
(the usual). Suspension is firm and controlled.

With barely 1000km on the clock, there was no urge to give the engine a hard
time, but. this is a gem. 6th gear roll-ons from 70kmh at 2000rpm.no problem
at all.
No baulking, no farting-around. There's power all-through the rev-range,
from 5000rpm she starts to boogie..and getting to that 5000rpm is no problem
either. No rocketship, but healthy and continuously USABLE power.
There's even half-decent (compared to our 650 single) engine braking down to
about 3500rpm.another unexpected but very usable feature in real-road
riding.

Up Mountain Hwy and through the Mt.Dandenong backblock-twisties:
3 bends in.and I'm on a grinner. This Kwaka is something else. It's fun.
Pulls triple figures on the short straights (and that with my 90kg weight).
It moves like a rabbit around the bends, it's FUN in CAPITALS. Brakes do the
job very well and feel just sweet.
The bends are the best part.set-up, tip-in.and hammer. No waiting for the
best moment, no "feathering" of the throttle, just dip the shoulder and
nail-it.
The flexibility of that 650 twin is absolutely amazing. The agility of the
package is.well...amazing. Mid-corner corrections are just so effortless, it
's stumping.
Flip-flopping from side to side is a joy.
After 20km I'm at home with the ER6.
It's so light (at least feels like it), the weight sits low, and riding is
just a thought, no effort.

On short bumps the whole bike seesaws a little due to its short wheelbase.
Nothing new to anyone used to modern sporties. Quite a few traits remind me
of the Z750/1000, nothing annoying though.
The weird-looking headlight/ speedo unit acts as a pretty effective
wind-break (at least up to well over 100kph).

We swap and Goodie takes over, the differences to the Peg I've got now are
startling. The Peg's big single feels rough, is vibey, I sit more in the
bike than on the bike due to the wide-and-high bars, suspension is soft.
Another stop 30 mins later and her grin nearly splits the helmet: "why hasn'
t anyone told me that I'm missing a 2.cylinder on the Pegaso?"
She likes the ER, but never one to get used to bikes easily and quickly,
that's as much praise as one can possibly hope for. It's a damn good sign,
in fact. She loves the engine, the brakes, the agility, the nimbleness of
the package,.and that's pretty positive for the start.

As a commuter: Ideal, very narrow, light, easy, nimble and more than enough
poke.

As a tourer: Missing luggage capabilities, hopefully addressed by the
OEM-topbox or aftermarket luggage, seat possibly needs a sheepskin for long
trips. It'll make a fine tourer, no probs.

As a fun-ner: Yo, fun's the name of the game here. It's got all and
everything to give many bigger bikes an honest run-for-the-money. Ahhh. and
it's a bundle of fun while at it.
Servicing: Easy, reasonably priced, due to lack of fairings the access is
good.


The ER6 has already made big inroads overseas, Suzuki has dropped the price
of the naked SV650 to $9890 since the launch of the ER6, the ER6F (faired
version) will add another $700.which could easily become a sting-in-the-tail
for Hyosung as well.
At RRP $11.000 ($9990 plus O/R cost) the Kwaka WILL make a HUGE dent into
the middleweight-twins-class.
It's a hell of a good bike for a hell of a good price.
And YES, there's room for wheeling and dealing, similar to the Suzie SV650
(of which I've heard prices of $10k onroad, ride-away lately).
For my money?? ...I can only echo the Euro-press opinion of the Suzuki SV
just having been replaced as the benchmark bike!

Kwaka will do very well with the ER6n, perhaps even better with the ER6F.and
if they'd be smart, Kawasaki would come up with a whole bag-of-bikes based
on those credentials, a chookie would be great, a supermotard..

Personally: I'd junk the standard bars for slightly wider and higher ones,
which should hopefully address the mirror-issue as well. I'd add a small
amount of foam to the seat-padding. I like the silver/red better, the black
one looks classier, though.
After a few hours I stopped minding the weird headlight which looks like a
big goop of birdshit to me, still fresh and running.
I'd look for a slightly longer (towards the rear) front mudguard, the engine
will be pasted solid after only the shortest wet-muck roadworks section.
And that's about it. Just for *groberts*, I'd add the topbox (the only
feasible way to add luggage capacity).
Never having even looked at Kawasakis over the past 15years due to their
limited range of bikes, old designs and concentration on sporties, the ER6
has awakened interest, hopefully they'll finally get around to freshen up
their whole range and expand into multiple variants of fresh bikes/
engines/ideas.
Ahhh.love that Buell-style exhaust, too.


All up: Great bike, WELL done Kawasaki.
Being well-priced, the ER6 will put a squeeze on other brands.
It'll expand the 650-twin market.
It'll quite possibly kill the 650-singles roadbike market.
"Fringe-brands/ fringe-bikes" like for example the SachsRoadster/
Cagiva650Raptor will have an even harder battle on their hands, pitching a
fresh, modern bike against a jumble-of-parts-with-another-brand-sticker.
The Monster 600 series has a serious opponent, too, with a comparable
seat-height the Kwaka is the younger/ better equipped/ more capable
alternative.

A day full of surprises J

Cheers
pete