MotorBikes: Road-testing the Kawasaki Z 1000: The Kawasaki Z 1000 aims to offer "the performance of a supersport; sports riding at its best" as well as giving "the ride comfort of a naked" machine. Although it is at home in congested urban traffic, it really is at its best as a solo recreational machine, thoroughly in its element when you want to blow away those cobwebs.
Its ZX-9R-based engine churns out 118bhp, this in a machine weighing 198kg translates into the equivalent of an impressive 595bhp per tonne. In performance terms it can give you 0 100km/h well below 4 seconds and a top speed of 240km/h. Add to that a fairly comfortable, well-thought out riding position, effective vice-free brakes and impeccable handling and all the essential ingredients are present and correct for an exhilarating ride.
Naked bikes such as this seem to be becoming increasingly popular. Somehow they seem to look right, to look more of a real motorcycle than their almost fully enclosed counterparts.
There is, of course, a downside. With a naked machine the rider has precious little protection against the elements. This means that at, say, 150km/h, the sort of speed most everyone would be travelling on European motorways, such is the wind-blast, even on a calm day that it becomes extremely tiring. Against that, on the switchback of country and mountain roads such machines really come into their element.
We rate it a solo recreational machine. True there is some scant provision for a pillion passenger. Our intrepid pillion tester who has never actually screamed in half-a-million miles declared it to be "atrociously uncomfortable and precarious". There is the option of a "passenger seat cover for a more aggressive, sportier image". Our advice is get one, and forget passengers.
Now a sports bike not only has to look right (and this one does), it also has, for most riders, to sound right. That means a somewhat authoritative exhaust note.
From the rider's point of view, whilst this adds to the sense of purposeful progress it is all vanity and somewhat of an illusion.
Although the exhaust note, coupled with the wind blast, gives the impression of indecent speed we found that on most sections of our well-used test route we were actually travelling no faster than on the admittedly very fast 500cc sports scooter we have recently been using as our day-to-day transport! The noise becomes rather a pain after a while. Having to resort to ear-plugs ought not to be necessary.
But therein lies part of the appeal. The pure enjoyment of motorcycling has many facets. Maximum speed, acceleration times and engine size are not the critical components. More to the point, is the machine enjoyable to ride? The Z 1000 certainly is, if you like a naked machine.
It is thoroughly well-behaved in all conditions. Even the mirrors give a good view! The seat is comfortable enough for the sort of distances usually travelled at any one time on naked machines. That is, it's not in the comfy tourer class and you'll appreciate each and every stop.
The handlebars are just right and the hand controls, despite a cable-type clutch, are well-placed and easy to use. The circular LCD-type instrument panel, more of a dial than a panel, is clear and informative enough.
The minuscule windscreen has a sort of adjustable deflector. We tried all its positions, none seemed to make any significant difference.
The machine is free of any significant vibration. The gear change is excellent and the ratios well chosen. Fuel consumption worked out at a rather thirsty 7.64 litres per 100 km, though economy is rarely a prime concern with this style of machine. The 18-litre tank should give a useful range of over 200km.
All told, a good example of a modern, naked machine with as much by way of performance as most could want or use. Now with a €1,000 cashback offer, bringing the price down to €10,600, blowing away those cobwebs has become that bit more affordable.