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2008 Ducati Hypermotard 1100
2006 Kawasaki KLX250S
2004 Honda CBR600RR
2002 BMW R1150R
1996 Ducati 900SS

Thanks! Might be simpler to use the polls and surveys format in the Cool Wall, I guess, as in "Which of these is coolest." But you're right, if NA distribution is one of the rules, pretty much none of the bikes mentioned is sold in NA. Which reminds me of one of the recurring themes of this site; people here seem to love UJMs (or standards or nakeds, whatever's the preferred term). Why are so few of them sold in NA?

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"If you ride like there's no tomorrow, there won't be."

'coz NA marketing type are complete and utter noobs, posers and twits who are more concerned with "image" then with what the market really wants. In other words, they are easily dazzled by flashy colours and sexiness of RR types or the bad boy image of the muscle cruiser types that they cannot see the appeal or need for such a bike. They then in turn tell the makers not to send it over. I am actually amazed that they allow ST's and Touring models into the region. May they all die a horrid death drowning on their coco, flow fat, extra foam lattes, or whatever it is those nancy boys and girls swill.

If I had the coin and Kawasaki released that bike here, I would be seriously hard pressed to choice between it and the Triumph Sprint GT/ST.

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Always ask why.

A little UJM sales history in a nut shell.

My take on the lack of UJM's on NA: Well, there used to a be quite a lot of UJM's sold here in North America. The hayday was the 1970- mid 1980s, then the Japanese decided to compete with the Harley-Davidson market.

1978 Suzuki GS550 (this is my old bike, you don't get more UJM than that)



Then you started to see bike styles like these come out (early cruisers). More of a standard that has been "Cruiserized"

1979 Suzuki GS550L


and

1983 Honda VT750 Shadow


and in the mid 1980's the "sportbikes" (faired) started appearing


1985 Suzuki GSXR-750


1987 Ninja ZX250R


1990 Kawasaki ZX6D



More and more manufacturers stopped importing UJM's in the late 1980's, Honda kept going though for a long time with it's Nighthawk series, Yamaha with the XJ series and Kawasaki with the GPz series (that turned into a sportbike later on)

1985 Honda Nighthawk 750S


1987 Yamaha Radian 600


1986 Kawasaki GPz 550



The riders and magazines fell in love with the new looks because BEFORE the early 80's ALL YOU HAD was UJMs! Now this was something new, futuristic and different IMO.

So, the UJM hasn't sold in big numbers since because the manufacturers don't bring them in. Today, you have a choice of sportbike or cruiser really. A rare standard here and there (even the Bandit 1250S is now a Tourer!).

Manufacturers had tried to bring them in over the years, like the Hornet 600/Honda 599 and Honda 919/900F (below) but they just didn't sell. (The Honda to be fair was overpriced for what it was). The FZ1, naked SV650, ZRX, ZR7F, Bandit 650 and a few others.

2003 Honda 919 (CB900F)


2011 Suzuki GSX1250FA (even one of the last big UJMs is now a tourer model only)



So there you have it, a little history in a nut shell.

Mike


BTW- All the above photos came from our old Photo Gallery here: http://www.totalmotorcycle.com/yourbikephotos1.htm




My wife would agree with you 100% Kawasaki green is the proper color for Kawasaki ZRX she would say. :green:

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I remember when the first lime green Kawasaki GPz Ninja's came out. We said they were suffering from Quacker Disease, first you true a sickly green colour, then your bottom end drops out.

As for the GPz being a standard or naked bike instead of a sport bike, I think I have to disagree with you on that one Mike. I owed an Arrest Me Red GP ZED 1100 and it was a sport bike just like the one pictured below.



The riding position was much more forward and agressive then my CB750 it replaced, plus it had a mono-shock rear end, and electronic fuel injection. Mind you the computer that controlled the EFI was situated in the rear infron the tail light assemble and suffered from shock damage easily. Mine was always flashing erronous error codes, rather annoying actually, but at least it didn't interfer with the perfomance. I would call it one of the first generation sport bikes of the 80's along with the Honda Interceptor. Plus, the first Ninja were badged on their crank casing with GPz. So today's Ninja's are directly related to the old GPz's.

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Always ask why.

ceemes, I think we are both right, the GPz series was an evolution between the standard/naked, and sportbike. It's why I highlighted it as the end of the 80's standards. Thus I said "and Kawasaki with the GPz series (that turned into a sportbike later on)"

There is always a "grey area" between what was and what is to become. Kawasaki took the GPz to sportbike in 1984 with the Kawasaki GPZ900R and GPz750 Turbo. But some of the GPz series were never a sportbike, like the GPz305. Once they became full faired then they moved more into the purposed built sportbike area.

Early GPz as a standard (305)




1984 GPZ900R


Of course, as the GPz series went to Ninja (sportbike) thus the GS series went more into sport standard.


1985 Suzuki GS1150E


I think we can agree the mid 80's were quite confusing then as manufacturers tried to make 2 new styles of bikes, the sport and the cruiser.

Mike

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Ok, back to the 2005 Kawasaki ZRX1200R...

The current vote is:

Awesome 69%
Cool 31%

Here is a question for you, if Kawasaki brought the ZRX1200R back again in North America, what do you think it should be sold for? ($)

Mike

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I'd have to agree with Hyperr on this one.. sort of a shrug, and I remember looking at it when it came out and thinking, "still too much of a heavy pig" for 2005. If you wanna updated 80s thing it's nice, but not awesome. I gave it "cool" cuz the UJM is an under-rated bike... but hey, i am riding an old dog like this right now, although with a few things i prefer in old-school junk... I prefer rarer models.

The Honda 600 Hornet, FZ800 Fazer, and Z1 are nicer versions of updated UJMs. Iinteresting note that HighSide liked the classic ZRX better... but always seat, ergos, mid-range power, etc all add up in the real world pretty quick). Always ride before you buy.

The blue ZRX looks good -- Not that excited about the Kawi green on a daily rider. The orange Z1 was more my style if I would have chosen a colour other than black, although the Z1 is better in any colour because of the smaller body pieces. I think the styling of the ZRX is just toooo bland/basic/square UJM for me. I even had an '85 GPz750 way back when, alot like my current 1984 XJ750RL (but the XJ has shaft drive which is great for low-maintenence).

For 80s replicas there were better looking bikes back then.

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"Zounds! Zorched by Zarches, Spaceman Spiff's crippled craft crashes on planet Plootarg!"

For Sale: Ninja 600 with parts bike, needs minor work, $30, no title... (GEE THAT DOESNT RING ANY WARNING BELLS DOES IT?)

Awesome! Definately would have to be in green though.

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Andrea

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Andrea