Test fleet: Kawasaki Ninja 1000SX Tourer
A puncture spoils Stu’s fun
After weeks of endless rain and wind, I finally woke to a sunny Saturday morning and jumped straight into my leathers. Finally! A muchneeded fix of my beloved Kawasaki Ninja 1000SX. Or so I thought. My heart sank when I saw the bike sitting on a flat rear tyre. On closer inspection, it had picked up a miniscule shard of metal no bigger than the smallest tack, but it was enough to create a slow puncture and ruin my day. Not only was I denied the ride-out I was so desperate for, I also knew that I probably wouldn’t be riding for at least a week, such is the rigmarole involved in fitting a new tyre on a motorbike.
Usually I would opt for a different make of tyre just to see if anything suits the bike better than the standard-issue rubber, but that’s not quite so easy with the Ninja 1000SX. As part of the many upgrades the bike has had for 2020, there was a change to Bridgestone’s ‘G’ spec version of its Battlax S22 tyre. The previous model – the Z1000SX – suffered from heavy steering at low speeds and wasn’t the quickest turning bike even when it got up to speed but the new tyres cured all that and transformed the Ninja’s handling. So I decided I had better replace like for like as I didn’t want to undo Kawasaki and Bridgestone’s sterling work.
That’s not to say you definitely can’t fit any other make of tyre. Kawasaki’s official line is that, while they recommend you stick with the original tyres as supplied by the factory, there ‘may be alternatives available and your Kawasaki dealer or the tyre supplier can confirm their suitability’.
NEW RUBBER
So, four days to wait for a tyre to turn up and, guess what? The only place in all of Kettering (population 93,000) that can actually fit a motorcycle tyre is closed on the day my tyre arrives. Another day wasted.
At least the tyre went flat while the bike was at home and I didn’t get stranded roadside which would have been an even greater pain – especially since breakdown services NEVER listen when you tell them the bike will need to be removed by van to a garage or tyre centre to be fixed. So you wait by the roadside for hours, only to be told by the patrolman in a regular van that he’ll need to call for someone else to pick the bike up – just like I had explained on the phone.
It was also annoying that there were plenty of miles left in the tyre before it picked up the puncture, so that’s more money down the drain. As there’s still plenty of mileage left in the front tyre I opted to just buy a rear which cost £150, and it was another £30 to have it fitted. Not a cheap fix, but a fix I had to make in order to get my own fix.
Changing a tyre takes a world endurance team about six seconds, yet it took me six days. Suffice to say I won’t be entering the Le Mans 24 Hour this year.
IN OTHER NEWS…
Puncture aside, the Ninja 1000SX is still proving to be the perfect bike for me with its sublime blend of sportiness and comfort. And now that the lockdown is easing and hotels are re-opening, it’s time to find out just how competent it is on a longer trip. If the bike’s performance on shorter, local runs is anything to go by, I’ve got nothing to worry about. Scotland, here I come.