Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/143872
(Clockwise from above) Kawasaki's KZ11 00 shaft-driven tourer is one of the most attractive of that genre. Plenty of power lurks in the KZ's motor. Heat from the motor'cen be felt on the rider's legs. Vetter bags detach easily w ith the turn of a key. Shocks are air adjustable and should do the job. Impression: Kawasaki KZII00 A2 Shaft Z-l spirit gets the shaft By Karel Kramer Hundreds of magazine tests that have dealt with Kawasaki four cylinder motorcycles have, to the point of triteness, expounded on the raw horsepower and unbreakable feeling of the original Z-l and its plentiful offspring. Kawasaki's new KZ1100 A2 shaft drive tourer left our fin gers twitching over 26 the typewriter trying to follow suite. Afirst glance at the KZgives a hint that this is not another limp-wristed interstate blitzer. Wrapped in coachwork glistening with candy red paint is a substantial area of polished aluminum. Eleven hundred cubic centimeters worth of motivation . Ro ugh tly the same engine as Kawasaki's GPzIIOO with carburetion instead of fuel injection. The 1100 has all the horsepower needed to haul two Open class people and a fair amount of baggage, but doesit have the rest of the traits necessary to be a first ra te to urer? We can't give an unqualified yes ' to that question. There are in this great country many types of touring, much to the delight of those of us that enjoy a long ride through our choice of scenery. For the man who likes a desert of back country with his main course of superslab, the KZllOO is as fine a tourer as can be found in a showroom. The only thing that the Kl has that a tourer should not have, is vibration. Not severe, but enough to give the Goldwing the nod for 1000mile days on 1-10. On the plus side of the ledger, the Kl has a strong motor with almost legendary longevity and dependibility . A five-speed transmission, that operated flawlessly during our test and shifted more like a 550cc than a literbike, conncects the engine's power to the driveshaft. Power delivery is from the basement all the way to red- line wit h no app arent pro blems in carburetion and no rad ical 'p owerband shi fts. Wrapped around the engin e is an im pressive motorcycle. Kawa sa ki 's engineers ha veobviously given a grea t deal of tho ught to ' what this bike wo u ld need to do the job it was intended for . Strong and rigi d cast wheels with two disc brakes in the front and one in the rear, keep the KZ rolling along on a 19" front tire and the distance-rider-preferred 16"rubber in the rear. Bo th tires are of the tubeless variety. Bo th wheels are attached to airadjustable suspension components. The telescopic front fork assembly features aluminum sliders and large, for a street motorcycle, stanchion tubes. The fork is oil damped and has a single air filler that services both legs. Springs are used along with the air pressure. Rear suspension chores are handled by ai r shocks, filling the gap between the upper rear fra me and the swingarm / driveshaft combination, A sin gle fill er valve under the seat services the shocks. A long , sligh tly-dished seat 's its atop-the frame.and in front.of.a con- ven tional rear fender, ra th er than today's popular tailsection . A rea r fender ma kes mounting racks and accessories easier and safer since th ey can be mounted lower. A 5.7 ga llon fuel ta nk is in fro nt of the seat. It is handsome and never gets any notice whi le riding, so it m ust be fin e. An inf ormative in stru me nt cluster is mounted on the top fork clamp. Most vital informat ion is there. The tach ome ter and speedometer are most prominent, bu t 'a fuel gauge, odometer and tripmeter are present, plus lights that warn that your turn signals are on, oil pressure is gone, tra n smi ssion is in neu tral and hi gh beam is on or bu rned o u t. Also incorporated into the in struments is an ignitio n switch and lock. Actu -ally, the Kl has a bunch of locks. The forks, centerstand, gas gap, fairing cover, seat and helmet hoo ks all have locks. A security chain that stays inside the frame until needed is an option. Kawasaki has gone a different route tha n the other ," turn-key" tourer ma nufacturers by usin g aftermarket accessor ies to finish the Kl. "Kawasaki by Vetter" is the ad -hype name for it, but Kawasaki uses Vetter fairings and touring accessories. O ur test bike came equipped with a Vetter fra me moun t fairi ng and sadd lebags. Fit and col or ma tch on these components was excellent. Wind protection was al mo st tOO good for the m idsummer T exas heat we tested in. In COOleI clim ates zhere, should. be ade-