It’s with great sadness to say farewell to my Kawasaki GTR1400, which I have had for 12 years.
I will miss this bike
It has been the best sports touring motorbike I have had the pleasure of owning and riding. The bike was so well balanced and planted on the road it didn’t require any effort to ride, it was always a pleasure to set off on a journey.
Kawasaki certainly got the balance of the engine, the gearbox and the power delivery just right, to act well as a touring bike but also as a sports bike. The other thing Kawasaki got right is the overall look and feel of the GTR 1400, at least to me, it doesn’t look dated.
Touring Bike
As a touring bike it would eat up the miles at speed in comfort and ease. Whether it was travelling at the national speed limit on UK motorways to in excess 100+ mph on the German Autobahns.
I fondly remember easily covering 200-250 miles in a day on the tours around France, Germany and a few other places in between. Being able to arrive at our destination with no aches or pains.
Then of course there was all of the UK tours, the Lake District, Yorkshire, Peak District, Wales and a lot of places in between.
Sports Bike
Despite of or because of its weight it was a great sports bike. The weight made it so well planted on the on the tight and twisty roads. You didn’t feel the weight and combined with how well it was balanced you didn’t have to worry about pushing it through through tight corners and bends. Well, I did struggle getting around the 160 deg hairpin bends, particularly when the bends have an adverse cambers.
Acceleration, for a Sports Tourer was excellent, not as fast as a dedicated sports bike, but it would shift at a rapid rate of knots with ease if you wanted it to.
I will miss this bike
It has been a great bike, comfortable, easy to ride and always a pleasure to ride, whether it was the local twisties or down the motorway.
So after 12 years the time has come to say farewell and I will miss it. I hope whoever owns this bike going forward will have as much pleasure as I have had.