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B-King

9K views 16 replies 10 participants last post by  RAD 
#1 ·
Let us all :bowdown to the new B-King
 
#4 ·
I sat on two last weekend at the motorcycle show, very very nice. The black looks mean as hell, I need one of these like I need air!
 

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#6 · (Edited)
This is my next bike.With slipons and pc111 puts out 175hp.YEAH.I'm an old guy from the 70's.Started on a new 1975 Z-1b.Been in quite a few accidents with that old Kaw.So my back is too bad for the sport bikes.Been waitin for a sit up monster.You can et one for $10400 leftover 08.Was waitin for Kawi to do somethin but they keep on shoving that Z1000 down our throat.The most uncomfortable bike I ever owned.Vibrated so bad my kickstand fell off.Come on Kaw make the ZX-14 naked!!!
 
#8 ·
V-Max vintage vs. B-King

Had a 2005 V-Max. Put several mods (shocks, seat, steering column) to make it drivable. The bike had tons of torque, but it handled like a beast in the twisties. Bias-ply tires + long wheel base were the problems, I guess. always had to struggle thru the turns. Everyone said it was designed to be a stoplight dragster, I guess they were right.

Just traded it in for a black '08 B-King. Wow, what a difference. Thru the twisties with no problem at all. And while the torque is not a good at 1500-2000 as the V-Max, it comes on smoothly around 2500. Nice, very nice.

I'm right under 6 foot and it fits me like a glove. This bike is truly two-thumbs up.
 
#9 ·
I had a V-max also , I did a bunch of mods, man I loved that bike! Handled terribly though!

I almost bought a B-King a few months back but the local dealer would not come off the price at all. I have seen some going for $8000, what a deal that would been.

Some people like em and some hate em, I want one!

Had a 2005 V-Max. Put several mods (shocks, seat, steering column) to make it drivable. The bike had tons of torque, but it handled like a beast in the twisties. Bias-ply tires + long wheel base were the problems, I guess. always had to struggle thru the turns. Everyone said it was designed to be a stoplight dragster, I guess they were right.

Just traded it in for a black '08 B-King. Wow, what a difference. Thru the twisties with no problem at all. And while the torque is not a good at 1500-2000 as the V-Max, it comes on smoothly around 2500. Nice, very nice.

I'm right under 6 foot and it fits me like a glove. This bike is truly two-thumbs up.
 
#10 ·
VMax vs B-King

Yea I paid just over 9K. It had 2 miles on it. Beautiful bike and priced just right.

Only Issue I've found so far is the mirrors are just inadequate. All I see is my shoulder and a small piece of the road and huge vibration in the mirrors. Couldn't see anything directly behind me. Swapped them out for a 60.00 set of handlebar mirrors from Cycle Gear. Works great and absolutely NO vibration in the mirror.

I kept the stock handlebar vibration dampeners. Put the clamp between the dampner and the handle bar. Left side worked without issue. The stock bolt was long enough. Throttle side required me to remove a ~ 5/8 inch metal spacer between the blind nut and the other compression spacer.
 
#12 ·
I did the same exact thing with the mirrors on my Bandit a while ago, I could not see anything but me.

If I would have bought the B-King I was going to lower it a little front and back (possibly shave the seat down) as I'm short and the seat area is so wide. Changing the exhaust does a great deal for the looks of the bike. I have also seen a cool sporty small windshield for it.

The local dealers (3 of them) have not sold a single B-King and were not discounting them, just moving them into the warehouse. :twofinger

Post pics when you get a chance, did you get it in black? :banana

Yea I paid just over 9K. It had 2 miles on it. Beautiful bike and priced just right.

Only Issue I've found so far is the mirrors are just inadequate. All I see is my shoulder and a small piece of the road and huge vibration in the mirrors. Couldn't see anything directly behind me. Swapped them out for a 60.00 set of handlebar mirrors from Cycle Gear. Works great and absolutely NO vibration in the mirror.

I kept the stock handlebar vibration dampeners. Put the clamp between the dampner and the handle bar. Left side worked without issue. The stock bolt was long enough. Throttle side required me to remove a ~ 5/8 inch metal spacer between the blind nut and the other compression spacer.
 
#13 ·
I actually replaced the seat also; got the factory gel. I can go thru 2 tanks with only a 10 minute stop to refuel and no butt issues :). I also installed the factory bug screen. Not much of a wind shield but it does keep bugs off the instruments; It may create a slight air-foil ... but not much.

I really can appreciate the handling of this bike. Verrrry smooth on the uptake out of a turn Way better than my 2005 V-Max. I had a couple of sport bike riders that wanted to try her out (thinking of purchasing her) and I told them that I just could NOT afford the risk. Having someone who is accustomed to a decent handling bike take a beast like the V-Max into a turn and then throttle-on is just too scary. That back tire would almost always drift IF they cracked the throttle at the wrong point in the power band (V-Boost @ 4.5K thanks to a slight mod). Did it to me a couple of times before I just learned to slow down.

Some bikes are just meant for top end, some to be drag bikes and others touring/crusing bikes. And then of course there are the 1/8 mile "roudy" bikes (like the B-King)... I like to think of the B-King as part 1/8 mile and part touring. Just the right match for me. I really wanted the new V-Max BUT just too costly and too heavy. Yamaha really priced themselves out of the roudy bike class and into the elitist highly finished class. It's a sweet bike, just NOT for me.
 
#14 ·
RAD,
I see you are from SC. I bought my B-King from Anderson Motorsports in SC for 9.2K. I guess this is a benefit of the recession and of Suzuki over-pricing their bike. Bad timing for Suzuki and great for me.

I hear the new 2010 B-King will come in two more colors and be 1K more. Sure am glad I bought mine before they escillated the price again.
 
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