z1000 review
 

This past weekend I was able to attend a Kawasaki Z1000 Press Ride. Kawasaki Motor Corp so gracefully asked 6 moderators from different moto-websites to spend 2 days testing out their new 2010 model. I unfortunately wasn’t one of them but by stroke of good luck (and extremely bad for my buddy Hoser, sorry bud) I was heading to Cali on Friday night.

The event kicked off that same night where some apparel was handed out and some technical data about the bike was provided. I missed it but in all honesty, all that technical mumbo jumbo bores me to death. I much prefer to tell you all what the bike feels like than what the specs of it are. I’ll leave the marketing to Kawi. But to be quite honest, I don’t even know why they would need to since this bike, once you ride it, you wont need anything else to want to own it.

We headed out early Saturday morning to pick up the bikes from KMC. They all had shiny new tires. That was the first thing I noticed. The other was that when I sat on the bike I thought that I would probably be needing a steering damper as the front end felt really light and the rake steep. Throughout he day I’d determine that unless you’re riding really hard or at the track that one is not needed. The bike feels rock solid even when hitting an instant sweeping exit coming straight out of KMC and then riding through the absolutely horrible California freeways.

For those who know me you know that I ride. I ride a lot. So what I look for in a motorcycle first and foremost is comfort. That’s why I bought my ZX6R and curiously enough, the reason I sold it as well when I started to ride even more than your typical weekend rides. The ZX was comfortable for a sportbike but not comfortable for riding back to back to back 500 mile days like I am known to do. So from what little I knew of this bike coming into this I already liked since it seemed to address my major gripe with streetbikes nowadays. Not sacrificing comfort for a more aggressive race-replica design to appeal to every wannabe Ricky Racer out on the street.

The Z’s ergonomics are spot on for a street bike. Kawasaki is strongly marketing this bike as a comfy supersport. And that, it quite certainly is. There’s no denying that this bike is a power plant. The engine is super smooth and even with the stock crap grips I didn’t feel much vibration at my hands. It has handlebars so the upright position makes for a nice smooth comfortable ride. I didn’t tinker with the suspension at all. Felt great both in the twisties and in the freeway. So at phase one, this bike was a winner.:thumb

The other thing I really look for in a bike is for it to be flexible. Not only do I want it to go for days but I want it to go quick when the roads bend. We took a couple of passes through beautiful Ortega Highway where the roads massage the mountain with grace. And graceful was the Z, slicing through it. Mind you we are all on brand new bikes that do not belong to us. The pace was set and we howled along with big stinkin’ grins on our faces. :wings

After lunch we headed back and over Ortega and 3 of us were split from the rest of the group as we got caught by 2 red lights before heading up the mountain. This was an opportunity for us to see what the bike really had. After a couple of miles of nonstop twisty action we stopped at Hell’s Kitchen for a bit. The 3 of us couldn’t stop talking about how fun that small stint of the ride was catching the rest of the crew. The engine is so strong that I didn’t need to shift gears at all. I could park it either in 2nd or 3rd gear and throttle or chop as desired. Quite impressive for a completely stock bike. It really didn’t didn’t miss a beat.:ricky

After hitting a few more spots we headed back to KMC and later to a Supercross event which I’ll talk about on a separate ride report of the entire weekend. By the conversations among us I can tell you that Kawi really has something special with this motorcycle. It’s actually quite a shame that they’ve apparently been having a hard time selling it on the US market. IMO, all you have to do is take it for a spin and you’ll be wanting one in your garage ASAP. I sure as have been trying to figure out how to do so for the past couple days.:D

http://i225.photobucket.com/albums/d...0/IMGP3090.jpg

One bad thing I did find was that when I got up on the balls of my feet, my heel would touch the mammoth exhaust. I assume this would be the first mod that anyone would do to this bike as I think it looks hideous anyway. Other than that, the bike has killer looks.

http://i903.photobucket.com/albums/a...k/DSC00677.jpg

Thanks for taking the effort to write this, its a bike I like too, but never ridden.
Have you also ridden the speed triple? If yes how do they compare? If not, what other naked bike are you familiar with?

I see in the new issues that both Cycle World and Cycle Canada absolutely love this bike. I also noted that the 1/4 mile time was on par with the Ninja ZX12R when it came out and took the speed world by storm.

Once again for me, as with so many modern machines, the exhaust system has simply got to go although I'm not sure how well that can be done given the integration with lower bodywork.

Back to form for the big Z :clap

Looks like they're going after the Super Duke doesn't it?

I like that bike. If a nice 3 hardcase set-up and a decent screen were available for it...

D'OH! :lol3

If it's my one complaint about ADV, it's that any time someone posts something about a bitchin street bike, there's always some old dork on the first page asking for a tall windscreen and hard luggage. :D

But thanks for the review Julio. All the reviews of this bike are saying it is something really special. Unfortunately I don't have money for special things right now :cry

Yep, I've ridden the triple. how they compare...hmm.. I'll say that one thing is that the Z seems more tame in power. I say seems because the engine is so damn smooth that you barely feel it under you at all. Some may not like this as they will probably say that the bike has no "soul". But I don't really mind it at all. Of course once you crack the throttle and you hear the intake howl your grin will be so wide that you probably wont care about the "soul" either. It's not top end power like the litre or other supersport class bikes. It's nice smooth wherever you want it power without that grunt of say an sv650. I've ridden a lot of bikes. I like to swap bikes with whoever will let me do so when I'm out on a ride. :D I was really impressed with this one. It's a kick ass STREETbike.

Also, about the naked bike comparos, we rode approximately 150 miles that day. For a full out naked bike wind protection is usually an issue. It wasn't much of one that day. We did do a fair amount of freeway riding. The tank is wide and those small fairings on its side do a good job of blocking the wind which is a major concern when I ride my DR550 on long trips. I think I may have to call up Kawi again so they can let me test it out some more. :augie :ricky

That was exactly my thought as well. I think this one is much more friendly than the duke. Even though it is heavier than the duke it feels really nimble. Plus a couple pound advantage for riding on the highway is actually not a bad thing. Speaking to the guys (and gal) they said that the reps spoke a lot of their detail to mass centralization. I don't get caught up on technical things and what magazines say. I ride the bike. if I like it, I like it. if I don't then no matter what you say it has, it sucks for me.

I have been known to do 100 plus mile days, sometimes in temperatures below 70 degrees. I like a little pocket of calm air and I like to be able to take my laptops, cameras, chargers and first aid kit when I go. It's nice to have a place to put all my 'Stitch when I stop for my Starbucks too.

Below 70? :eek1

hardcore.

Seriously though, I don't think this bike can replace a touring or sport touring bike. I've been trying to place emphasis on it being a street bike. Good for weekend trips and certainly great for just normal canyon runs. Naked bikes with lack of front fairings are not meant to be ridden for long droning periods of highway miles. Sure , it can be done but, why?

I'd pimp some side hardcases on this and go.

I meet some of your group up at the lookout sat, the bikes looked great

The guys from kaw were great to talk to, said if they had more time they

would have let me ride one of the bikes. I was riding the ZRX.

:bow The ZRX with 70k+? That was a beautiful bike.