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N1K vs. FZ1 - race

11K views 37 replies 18 participants last post by  rcannon409 
#1 ·
Raced my neighbor today on his FZ1. From a standstill, we took off and I'm almost immediately wheelieing (which is normally awesome). Anyway, we were side by side until about 130ish and I just barely started to pull on him. By 150 I was maybe a length ahead of him, which leads me to believe that the aerodynamics were the factor on this one. His is stock, and mine has brawlers and a pc5. It couldn't have been any closer.

I'd like to point out that I took the wheelie victory home with some pretty sweet 2nd gear wheelies.

I love this bike!
 
#3 ·
And you were ready to give it away about a month ago... tisk tisk tisk... :)
 
#6 ·
Dasani, I think you would have been fed up too! haha.
To be truthful, I don't know I would have been able to withstand as long as you did. Way cool to see you enjoying it now though.
 
#5 ·
That's interesting. It has always been my understanding that the FZ1 has more HP and more top-end pull than the Z, which usually equates to a higher top speed. I wonder his his FZ is running properly.
 
#7 ·
The FZ1 (I'm assuming GenII) with equal riders in an all out WFO race has the advantage. It makes more HP and weighs a couple lbs less. It's in normal day to day riding where the Ninja shines all over the Yanmaha.

.
 
#26 ·
IMHO Squidlius is 100% correct, in normal everyday riding, no contest! It's not always about peak horsepower, it's where that hp is made on the tach that makes the difference. Honestly, how many of us spend that much time at or near redline unless we are drag racing or on a track? Around town I rarely see 6,00 on the tach, out on the highway about the same, except for the occasional WFO which probably happens to often but sure is fun. On-ramps I might hit 9-10 grand for a short run, but not very long. Day to day commuting and running errands I prefer that nice fat mid-range. Like Squidlius said, that's where the N1K shines! Again, IMHO.
 
#8 ·
u should have just held the wheelie!! nothing beating someone on the back tire! :)
 
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#14 ·
The Ninja should be able to walk away from a Gen1.

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#12 ·
Apart from loosing time/speed from getting off and on the throttle to keep the front down, it has a lot to do with the rider.

I know next to nothing about drag racing, but i went to a bike rally where we ran a mobile drag setup on an old air strip. I had my 06 Z750, and all i knew was to launch as fast and hard as i could while keeping the front down, and change as close to 10,000rpm as possible (it redlined at 11,500rpm but peak power is 10,000rpm). Majority of my runs were against bigger bikes, but there was a gen 2 Z750 there and he lined up against me. We both had slip-ons and air filters, but he also had a dyno-tuned PCIII. I thought it would be close but he'd have it over me. After we launched almost exactly the same, after the first gear change i started gaining ground, and by the end off the 1/4 i was a whole bike length in front!

I didn't know what happened, and he was more shocked than i was! My mate filmed the race, and afterwards when i watched it back i realised what happened. Every gear change i was earlier, cos i changed at 10,000rpm and he changed at closer to redline, so every gear change i was surging ahead.

This is about the extent of my drag racing experience, but i thought it was interesting how much difference the rider can make.
 
#16 ·
Not the same as the FZ1 but I race my 2 friends on thier R6's from a 15mph roll to 110mph. I wheelied about a foot in the air till about 70. I absolutley destroyed them. They were both shocked. I have driven a fairly well modded CBR 600 and that thing was fast but I guess they are not as fast as I thought. I pulled about 10 bike lengths on him instantly. I got a great start and they said thiers wasnt bad either. Once we got to about 90mph they said I wasnt pulling anymore and I bet they were starting to catch me. I have akra 4-2-1 and PCV. They were both stock. I love the torque on these things!
 
#17 ·
Like another one said - rider is critical in bikes that are remotely comparable. Particularly rider experience. I've never drag raced, nor do I practice taking off from a stop as hard as possible, so I would very likely lose to someone on a 600SS who had that experience.
 
#18 ·
I must be aerodynamics then because a 600cc doesn't make as much peak HP at any point than does the Z1000, and not near the same amount of torque.. I don't see why a 600cc would gain on a Z1000 after 90mph except for the aerodynamics..

Gearing matters too though - the new Z1000 is geared way better for stoplight warfare than the FZ1 - by the time you rev that FZ! up the Z1000 should have run away with the thing, is the sense I get.. And a 600cc has a higher top speed I imagine due to the gearing..
 
#19 ·
I raced my 03 Ninja 6RR several times against my modded 03 Z ( from rolling starts) and the 600 would just pull away from 90 plus, we switch bikes multi times.The plastic bikes just cut the wind and SS bikes just REVS SOOO FAST. That was the first thing I noticed when I was trying out 600's.
It mainly comes down to the driver on most any bike. I have been smoked by better drivers on lesser bikes and have returned the favor on better bikes with lesser drivers.
The first time a women on her honda hawk schooled me at the track............I still have a lot to learn
 
#20 ·
I agree with Lumberjack, it's aero dynamics that give ss600's a higher top speed. I think they are geared fairly similar to the Z1K, but the simple fact is even though they cut through the air easier and where the Z1K redlines at around 11,000rpm, my brother's GSXR 600 for example redlined at around 16,000rpm, they scream so much harder that's where their top end speed comes from. But of course this is over a longer distance than 1/4 mile.
 
#21 ·
I am a prior owner of a Gen 2 FZ1. I now own a '13 N1K. I will say that without a doubt the FZ1 is little faster. The mid-range on that thing is just ferocious. It's lighter and has more hp. I don't quite get the "Holy S$%!" feeling on my Ninja that I used to on my FZ1.
 
#23 ·
Sounds like either your FZ1 was modified and your Ninja is stock or your butt-dyno is a little off. The FZ1 is faster above 10,000 but the Ninja is much stronger everywhere below that. The FZ1 has a weak midrange for a liter bike and it doesn't weigh much less than the Ninja.
 
#22 · (Edited)
Seriously old thread, but if you get some time, go to the dyno chart here and see why the fz1 feels different, or faster, in the midrange.

2011 Gentlemen Sportbike Shootout - Motorcycle.com

This idea made it especially tough to set up small two strokes for kids. We respond to steep "increases" on dyno charts. Not so much with charts that are "high", but flat and boring.

But tune a big change around 6000, and kids would be shouting your name out and people woudl start calling asking you to build motors. Sort of like the difference between a 500 mile per hour airplane vs a rollercoaster at 60. One feels fast....

Pro Circuit exhausts did a lot of this. If you coudl go from 3 hp to 15 in 2000 rpm (very possible on a cr80) you got better feedback that going from 6-16 in the same range.

This specific chart shows the point since similar high rpm totals are the same...close, anyway.

Then look at the Suzuki. Low end, and midrange, is WAY above anyone else, yet its beginner friendly, easy to ride power.
 
#24 · (Edited)
It's ironic that somebody resurrected this thread from the dead. I was just looking at dyno charts from a Gen I FZ1 and it has almost identical performance to the N1K. Not bad for being 10 years older. Except for being a little heavy and low tech, it was a fantastic bike in 2001.
 
#25 ·
First gen fz1. Great story here....200,000 Mile FZ1 ? fz1grl

Notice, too, the last entry is almost two years old...Who knows how many miles she has on it now.

Crazy reading through it, though. The lady is a real rider.

I heard her interviewed once. I think she would shoot you if you tried to get her on another bike.
 
#31 ·
If you get your ECU reflashed by Ivan the speed limiter goes bye-bye.
 
#29 · (Edited)
OK..speaking of her maintenance schedule....Hers looks more like I treat a car I dont care about. Not bad, just not much.

Check the dates on the maintenance records...theres several where the bike gets an oil change, every three weeks, and covers 5000 miles.

Also notice the valve check..the bike gets checked at 26,600. Nothing again until 162,000. Two tight exhaust valves found. WOW!

I wonder if the bikes still going?

Credit given for someone too busy riding to work on it.
 
#30 ·
Regardless of her maintenance schedule, 200k trouble free miles is a big ROI. Goes to show you that you need not baby the machine to squeeze out 200k miles.

BTW - most modern liquid cool engine can easily go 10k miles without a oil change, especially when using synthetic motor oil.

She noted in her blog, that she has only completed another 25k since turning 200k a few years ago. Most bikes are in motorcycle heaven way before then.
 
#32 ·
Yes, it will be nice to feel that. Ya know, I'm so often moving along at 150 and getting passed by traffic.

I wonder what it will do with it removed? I'd love pt find out, but just dont have a place anymore thats safe. Without mentioning a specific mph, I dont so much care for the riding position at seriously high speeds. The monkey and football thing has its advantages at speeds over about 110.
 
#33 ·
If you're getting passed at 150 then I need to move to Salt Lake, sounds like my kind of place! LOL

When it warms up here I intend to find out what 11,5 translates to in mph. I found a long straight stretch about 20 miles from my house, country road with almost NO traffic, good smooth pavement. Can hardly wait for spring!!!
 
#36 ·
The speed limiter. It was one of the reasons I sent mine away vs the diy method.

Remember JJsc6 saying

"We pulled over to the shoulder and compared notes. I told him my bike ran 161 speedo, 150 GPS and I never felt a limiter."


He was up there daily (hourly???), or was back then. He would have found it. His explanation back then was great.

http://www.riderforums.com/3rd-gen-...peedometer-error-top-speed-speed-limiter.html

I think the limiter was one of those things that gets lost in translation when a new bike is introduced. Happened this year with the 2014. Remember the ram air it was supposed to have? Or th enew shock linkage? The shock linkage has the same part number it always had. SO does the fairing pieces and intake parts. The airbox changed some, internally.
 
#37 ·
The speed limiter. It was one of the reasons I sent mine away vs the diy method.

Remember JJsc6 saying

"We pulled over to the shoulder and compared notes. I told him my bike ran 161 speedo, 150 GPS and I never felt a limiter."


He was up there daily (hourly???), or was back then. He would have found it. His explanation back then was great.

http://www.riderforums.com/3rd-gen-...peedometer-error-top-speed-speed-limiter.html

I think the limiter was one of those things that gets lost in translation when a new bike is introduced. Happened this year with the 2014. Remember the ram air it was supposed to have? Or th enew shock linkage? The shock linkage has the same part number it always had. SO does the fairing pieces and intake parts. The airbox changed some, internally.
I am wondering why you think that there is not a kind of RAM air system. The two vent on the fairing side lead to hole in the frame and then in to the front of the air box.
 
#38 ·
Oh, I'd go for "kind-of" on the ram air system. Just not full on.

Also, they made thsi sound as if it was a new for 2014 item, but the part numbers never changed between the older bikes and now. Some of the internal airbox pieces did, but nothing external.
 
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