VOLUME 57 ISSUE 23 JUNE 9, 2020 P69
Kawasaki's given its
Ninja 1000 a freshening
up and a name change
for 2020 and sport
touring riders from coast
to coast are all the
better for it.
BY RENNIE SCAYSBROOK
PHOTOGRAPHY BY KIT PALMER
D
o this job long enough and
you can be forgiven for being
slightly cynical. New bikes
come every year that are apparently
always better than the old ones and
it's rare you ever get any genuine
surprises.
I said rare. Not never.
So, you can image my shock
when I hoped off the new 2020
Kawasaki Ninja 1000 ABS after
a couple of days of SoCal social
distancing genuinely delighted by
the experience after having been
left a little cold by the Z900 a few
weeks ago.
The motorcycle formerly known
as the Ninja 1000 (no ABS in the
old name) has been Kawasaki's
mid-level sport touring steed for a
decade now, taking second rank-
ing behind the Concours 14 ABS/
ZX-14. It's probably never got the at-
tention it deserves, especially when
you consider its sexy little price tag
of $12,399.
That number favors very much so
against the competition—the BMW
S 1000 XR is $17,645; Yamaha's
Tracer 900 GT is $12,999; the
Ducati Multistrada 1260 S will
knock you back a stern $21,295;
KTM's 1290 Super Duke GT a
similar $20,599; and Honda's
VFR1200X will cost $15,999 (all
prices MSRP, which isn't neces-
sarily what you'll pay at the dealer).
Only the Suzuki GSX-S1000F
comes under the Kawasaki at
$11,599.
And for 2020, you get a lot of
new shiny things for your 12.3 Gs.
For a start, the bodywork has
been completely revised. It's a
much sportier looking sport tourer
from the big K, with a new 4.3-inch
TFT dash that's straight from the
Versys 1000, flush-mounted indica-
