2001 Kawasaki reviews

At 58 years old and after 40+ years of riding, this is the closest I've come to finding an all around great street bike. Sure, it's not the fastest thing out there but it starts everytime, maitenance is inexpensive and Kawasaki builds in a lot of features others do not. I've added a custom seat, Piaa lighting, LCD taillights and handlebar risers. My lady still complains about lack of legroom, but for my 6 foot plus frame it's just fine. (Can't anyone make bikes with standard, low pipes anymore?) Oh, it also gets nearly 50mpg so 250 miles between fill-ups is a plus. Is it as comfortable as my Beemer? No, but I spent more on maitenance the last year of my K bike than I spent purchasing the ZR7. Now if I could just find a taller windshield. Show less

I have 15000 miles on my '01 Nomad FI. Very comfortable for long rides. I ride with Gold Wing riders and they require a butt stop before I do. The fuel mileage is a bit lower than I would like, avg 37mpg. My wife and I ride two up on annual road trips and she loves it. Lots of power, low speed handling is a bit on the heavy side, but then so is the bike. In the rain, on the highway, in the wind this bike is very stable. The goat belly will have to go, looks bad and absorbs too much of the v-twin rumble. This cruiser is very easy to modify with lots of after market and F&S parts available. Show less

First I will give the negatives:
It doesn't have a fuel light, it has the annoying petcock thing, and it takes a little longer to warm up than I am used to. I am not too thrilled about the color scheme (mine is red/purple). The seat was a little uncomfortable (not too bad), but I replaced it with a corbin seat that really wasn't too expensive (about $60) and I haven't had problems since. Another problem I had was with a rear rider leaning a little too much on to me, but that could have just been the girl I was with or the height difference between the new corbin seat and the stock rear seat (I never did find a Corbin or Sargent seat for the rear). That is really it for the negatives. As you can see it is just little nit-picking things. As far as the upside, it is unbelievable. One of the most important things to me is long term comfort, something not easy to find with my lanky 6'4" frame. Not only is it the most comfortable pure sportbike that I have ridden, it is more comfortable than the previous sport tourers that I have owned (2001 BMW R1100S and Triumph Sprint RS), and the cruisers (Honda Shadow and Victory V92C). It is fast enough that I have yet to be consistantly beaten by any other bikes (I generally ride with sport bikes of all sizes), and it is just a blast to ride. Most importantly of all, I have yet to have to do any work on it at all. All in all I would recommend this bike to anyone and I plan to keep this one a very long time. Show less

My Concours is a 2001 model. With the exception of Genmar bar risers and peg extensions, electronic cruise control, and an electrical outlet to power the GPS, stereo and cell phone, the bike is factory stock. I will add heated grips later this month to help make cool weather riding more pleasant (we don't have 'winter' in Eastern Lower Alabama so year-round riding is generally a joy here). The Concours is simply a fabulous machine...fun to ride, inexpensive to own, comfortable all the way from the top to the bottom of huge gas tank -- and easy to ride on all the miles it takes to reach the bottom of the tank. The factory brake set on my bike was defective -- both the front & rear rotors warped into an unusable condition within the first 1,000 miles but my dealer in Fayetteville, GA was great and arranged to have Kawasaki replace them at no cost...then the second rotor set warped at 3,000 miles and Kawasaki replaced those, too. In the 22,000 miles since the initial problem -- which I lay at the feet of Kawasaki's quality control inspectors -- I've had zero brake problems...nor have I had need to replace either the rotors or pads the warranty repair provided. These brakes provide smooth, predicatable stopping in any weather. Great 'feel' in the hand & foot controls. The GenMar risers & peg extensions took the 'scrunched & pulled' sensation out of riding this Concours. I've ridden hard-twisting back roads for up to five hours without a break and felt envigorated, not tired or sore even after all those hours in the saddle...and highway riding is almost effortless. The cruise control and gelfoam wraps took care of the Connie Buzz for me, as well as relieved the cramps that can come from holding the throttle's substantial return spring open...my hands & forearms are comfortable, even after a 250 mile shot on the interstate. The small diameter sport bike grips are annoying, but the foam wraps increased the size just enough for my hands... and the heated grips I plan to add should add a bit more girth and make holding the bars even more effortless. The factory seat does tend to compress after about 200 miles of consistent use, but it seems to rebound after even a short break. My only real annoyance with this machine is the bend in the wind screen which creates a terrible optical distortion...I've learned to look over or around this warped view of the world, but nobody should have to make this kind of learning. A Shotgun or similar aftermarket wind screen will cure the problem -- but Kawasaki can and should fix it. I understand why Kawasaki doesn't promote this machine -- because it's the same order of reliable, moderately-priced vehicle as the old Volkswagen 411 Variant: virtually breakdown free and not a big after-purchase revenue producer... if maintained at all, this bike just runs and runs and runs...and runs well. Does it have eyeball-flattening acceleration? No. Is it silky smooth and vibration free? No. But for the money it is far-and-away the very best motorcycle on the road. I heartily recommend this bike to any experienced rider who's looking for a great ride at reasonable cost. You can easily spend more for a sport tourer, but why would you when this bike is available at such a reasonable cost? Show less

I use this bike to commute to work everyday (unless the roads are too icy) and for fun runs at every opportunity. Despite our northern Canadian winters, it gets 9-11 months of use each year; starts without protest even on very cold days, and never needed any mechanical attention beyond routine servicing. The dealer gently prompts me to upgrade to a more powerful machine most time the LTD goes in for maintenance work, but I honestly can't think of any pressing reason to do so. The LTD is peppy enough in highway traffic, comfortable on long runs (even though I'm tall), and never seems strained. I recently rode CBR 900 and GSX 1000-R sports bikes for comparison, and while the sports bikes clearly had much more acceleration, speed and power, the riding position was less comfortable and (particularly on the Suzuki) became quite uncomfortable after a while. Then there are questions about the purpose of motorcycling. You ride a sports bike for the very real thrill of acceleration and speed; you ride an LTD to feel the wind on your face, take in the view from the road, and smell the roses. The LTD seems well on its way to become a legend of performance and reliability among motorcyclists who value the latter qualities. Show less

What a great bike. I am a racer, riding since 1971 at the ripe age of 8. My background was flattrack but over the years have done it all and still take my CBR for some knee draggin at the track. This scooter is the coolest thing out there. It hits the twisties hard enough to scrape pegs and cruises the cities with confidence. I have to disagree with the guy who gets no attention from the ladies. I'm in my 40s and had a car full of ladies' complete attention after a couple of sportbike style lane flics. They were stoked. I ride this thing just because every wannabe on the planet has a Harley. (boring) I had one in the late seventies. Been there. Step out and above the crowd with this scooter. Mine is heading for the cafe look. Take care! Show less

I recently bought a low mileage, used 2001 ZR-7S. It came with an aftermarket header and muffler, a jet kit, a Corbin seat and a K&N air filter. It was certainly affordable, as I only paid $2700 for it. I've read before that these bikes are underpowered, but that's definitely not been my experience. If anything, my bike seems a little peaky and overpowered, as it's sometimes hard to drive smoothly due to the rapid surge of acceleration when rolling on the throttle. Part of this is no doubt due to the aftermarket mods, and the rest is probably due to my lack of experience riding this bike. Reliability has been great, with no problems whatsoever. It handles very nicely, and both the front and rear brakes are powerful and smooth. The front forks are a bit too soft, and I'll be looking into some progressive rate fork springs to replace the factory units. There's quite a bit of driveline lash when shifting the bike into first gear at a stoplight, and the trans can be a bit notchy when movi'ng through the gears, but from reading others opinions on this bike, these minor annoyances just seem to be the nature of the beast. It's not as light and nimble as my Honda CL450, nor as tossable as my buddy's SV650, but sometimes (like on the freeway) that extra weight and stability come in handy. Overall, I think I'm going to enjoy this bike. It's a solid performer in every category, and I doubt I could find more bang for my buck. Show less

As you might have guessed from the title, this is my first bike. I ran out of the normal magazines that kept me awake during the long weekend nightshift and had to buy a pair of Motorcycle Mags to stay awake. The W650 was in both and I was smitten from the first. Two weeks later I found, and bought, a used one. I have a really bad impulse control problem! Anyway, this bike is a perfect beginner's bike. It is forgiving, controlable, it sounds beautiful, and it looks great. That is what makes it a good first bike. What makes it the perfect first bike is that power. There is just enough. The engine will give you a great learning tool as you find out how much skill is involved with riding but it will not overpower you so that it is very easy to get yourself killed. Please note my language, on any bike at any level it is easy to get yourself killed, but on this bike it is NOT "very easy", it is only "easy". Some of the things I have done on this beauty could be seen as acting on a deathwish, but she has carried me through. She will do the ton, but I almost never push her that hard. She can keep up with highway trafic at or around 80 mph, but she doesn't have the deep well of power needed to get out of trouble through speeding up. Earlier I said that there was just enough, but what I didn't say was that there is STILL enough. After the first year I felt very confident that I could handle more bike. As a student on a limited budget, that "more bike" concept must remain only a concept. I drool over the new bikes in magazines and dream of my next bike and the one after that, but every time I throw a leg over my W650 and hit the kick starter (you gotta love the kickstarter) the idea of trading her in for another bike becomes absurd. I don't have the power I would like, but that is probably a good thing, and I still have plenty of power to get me from A to B with a smile on my face. This beginner's power is why she gets only a four star rating on performance. Reliability gets five stars because she is a tank. I have had to learn all I know about bikes on her and she has suffered for it, but she is still here and staying strong. Comfort is another four stars because the seat is great, but it is not somewhere you want to have to stay all day. There is plenty of space for a passenger, but I am not brave enough to have anyone ride with me yet so I can't pass on any secondhand info on that. The only after market seat I know of is the Corbin. It looks comfortable, but I like the classic look of the stock seat. Quality is four stars simply because I have obnoxiously high standards, and while this bike is put together very well and I have not had a problem with the workmanship, nothing trys to convince you that it is anything but factory made. It is just not overly fancy, but that helps to control costs. I love this bike and I am so glad I found it. It has treated me very well and I cannot recommend it enough. That being said, guys should note that they will become invisable to women on this bike. I have been complimented on this bike countless times (because face it, the thing looks great) but never by a woman my own age (20s). 80% of the time it is older guys who, "had one just like it, I loved my Triumph!" They still think it is cool after they learn that it actually works, I mean is from Japan. The other 20% is made up of children who recognize a motorcycle that looks like what a motorcycle should look like. Despite this fact, I still love this bike, and would recommend anyone who is thinking about getting into motorcycles to consider it. Show less

In this day and age of hyper-performance and ultra specialized motorcycles, the W650 is a welcome throwback to those earlier days when one bike could be used successfully for several purposes. It's stone-reliable, looks and sounds terrific, gets great gas mileage, and is a snap to work on (though not much work is necessary. It's very comfortable too for short-to-medium distance rides, although the lack of wind protection can become bothersome at higher speeds. This bike's forte' is cruising around twisty, scenic two-lane secondary roads, where the broad power band and upright seating position really enhance the fun. My advice - pick up a decent used one (the only option now), enjoy the heck out of it, and maintain it in good condition. The W650 is a keeper! Show less

This is a great all around performance bike. It's good for long highway rides, city riding and loves the twistys. The motor is a little loud from the cam or valves but never affected the performance. Once you get the suspension dialed in, you can do whatever you want on this bike. Overall great bike, no regrets about buying it. Show less