I tested the GTR 1400 today.
I road up the the bike company with my FJR and went in the shop for a peek.
I noticed the GTR and since it´s my kind of bike I crawled around it. The bike has got good reviews from the FJR forum. The salesman asked me if I wanted to try it and of course i did.
My brief findings:
The GTR is much more easy handling that both the FJR and the CBR
The brakes are better than the FJR (needless to say than the CBR)
The engine is very smooth, but I experienced itnot to havemore performance. This can be due to the fact it had only gone 240kms.
The riding position is more comfortable

The only minus I could think of was that it felt more plastic than the FJR.
The salesman said it was a FJR killer and I agree, this will be a hard competition for Yamaha.
I WANT ONE!!!

http://www.kawasaki.com/Home/ConcoursMediaPlay.htm

 

Ibelieve the GTR 1400 is an extremelygood touring bike, probably the best in this class, and that also can bedriven very fast when necessary. There is always a big risk to test a bike that is generations newer than the existing one. The test of aZX14R that I did lastyear showed that the CBR 1000 F wasaged, whichcosted me a Blackbird.

 

Is it cheaper or more expensive than the FJR?

 

Are they the one with the auto shift on the bars.

 

FJR has optional autoshift but not the GTR
They both have exactly the same price new. But on the paper u get more for the money with the GTR but I am always suspicious of the quality on Kawasaki.

 

I am a Honda person because you carnt put anythink else in the shed with your honda mower, honda generator,honda wipper snipper and my oldXL600thay will talk.

 

I would have thought the ST1300 was in the same category as the FJR and GTR, not the CBR. How does the ST rate against these. They use them as cop bikes here.

 

No no ST 1300 performance is poor compared to FJR and GTR
Horsepower
ST1300 = 126
FJR = 145
GTR = 155
Top speed
ST 1300 = 220 km/h
FJR = 258 km/h
GTR = 273 km/h

The reason the GTR "review :-)" is on this page is because I had a CBR before and now own an FJR and it can be that it is the natural choice for us to choose a more comfortable bike when we get older without giving up (to much) performance.
I dont know why Honda is not competing for these customers. Now it is only Yamaha, Kawasaki and Triumph (Sprint ST) that makes bikes in that category.

 

Autoshift is for sissies. There is a guy who lives across the street from me has a brand new FJR. It has autoshift, and he leaves it out in the rain all the time. I have NO respect for him whatsoever. Also wears shorts, sandals, no helmet when he rides. Why does it seem these people never get hurt?

Just thought I'd throw that in. But that 1400GTR is one bad looking machine. They won't let us TD anything here. I don't particularly care for the Honda/Suzuki/Kaw dealer here anyways. Very high markup on parts, almost insane. I have recently decided the Hurricane is outdated myself. I am outriding the tires and it is too heavy to handle in sharps corners. I am either going to get a 954, CB919 or a 1100XX.

 

Had 3 Kwakas in my life, all of them (ZZR1100 93 model, ZZR1100 98 model GPZ1100 83 model) were good in terms of quality and workmanship. Only negative with the ZZr's was they were a bit pricey to service.