Let me start out for those of you that don’t know motorcycles have been my only transportation for the past 6 years. And I have ridden thru a lot of tropical storms on all kinds of bikes. So I decided to do a ride report on how the 2008 ZX-14 stacks up with other bikes I have ridden in conditions most smart riders would avoid. Debby produced 45mph seedy wind with 60-70mph gusts every 3-4sec and nonstop rain. So with the ZX-14 the first thing I noticed was going in to the wind head on was no hesitation or lack of power obviously and how strait the bike tracked! Cursers tend to sway back and forth from the wind hitting your shoulders and you have to tuck like no tomorrow on 600’s and 1000’s sport bikes! But I’m doing 60mph and it feels like 120mph and getting shot with 100 airsoft guns all at the same time! But the fun really begins when the wind is at your side and you have to go into a 20-30 degree lean just to keep a straight line and adjust as the gusts very in speed! I find cursers are less affected by side wind due to the lack of firings and 600’s and 1000’s you need to keep a lot of weight on the front end but are affected the same as the 14. Now on to tail wind with this all bike types are the same but it is a very strange felling doing 60mph with no wind but you can hear your engine perfectly! and another plus side of the 14 is that the front tire does not splash water in to your shoe’s/boot’s! But if anyone is worried about shorting something out on their bike if you ride in the rain don’t worry I have ridden thru rain so hard you can’t see 10ft in front of the bike and turned my ZX-14 in to a jet ski more than once!!!!
P.S. Michelin road pilot 3’s are the tires I am running on my ZX-14 best rain tire in the world!!!!