Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

I I z I E 2006 Kowosaki Ninio U,-t I I t I AJI-new taller-gear Etios are said to com- plement the ZX-l4s brawny output. The srx-speed gearbox leacures a drrect actuatron shi{t lever that is lighter than a linkage-t/pe setup. Kawasaki claims that it also offers more feel than a [nkage shifter. The rranny is mated to the engine via what Kawasrki calls a drrect-actron hydraulic clutch, which is designed to be extremely precite and pro- vide exceptional feel and control. The aforementioned monocoque chas- sis allows Kawasaki to build a more com- pact motorcycle and maintain a liShter weight without sacrificing rigidit/. The rheme is carried out via several aspects of rhe ZX-14. such as the airbox being mounted directly in (he frame, the mount- ing of the 5.8-gallon fuel cell below the seat to lower the center of Sravity and the mounting of the battery in one of the frame rails for the same reason. The chassis is connected to a new, all-aluminum swinSarm that is purposely engineered to be somewhat flexible in order to balance the chassis and provide better feel on the road. The ZX- 14's swingarm is also longer than the ZX-l2R's which aids in leveraSe under hard acceleration. The ZX-14 s Unr-Trak rea' suspension features a new linkage that is fully adjustable, as are the 43mm invefted forks up front. The front brakes sport 3l0mm petal-style rotors clamped by four-piston, four-pad, radial-mount calipers. The rear brake sports a 250mm rotor. This mighti- est of ZX models motivates on lo-spoke wheels wrapped in Bridgestone Battlax BT-0 I 4F rubber, a I 20/702R I 7 front and a 190/50ZRl7 rear. With the tests lined up at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, that rubber was sure to be taxed, both on the NASCAR oval and the drag strip. Several jou.nalists, myself included. were a little sketched out when Kawasaki officials informed us that we would be using the owal only and not duck- ing into the infield for a run around the road course that was used for the AMA Superbike National a few years ago. The idea of motoring around at speeds of over 150 mph iust 20 feet from a concrete wall made me feela little r-:ncomfortable. or like an AHA Superbike competitor It wasn't rhat big a deal, really, as the ZX-14 and I instantly made friends- The engine's burly but silky output developed the smoothest, most user-friendly ass- puckering acceleration I ve ever experi- enced, This thing is a damn jet, and I'm not iust talking about your garden-variety 757. A ride on the ZX- l4 is iust like you'd imag- ine a ride in an F- 14 fighter would be - the ultimate blend of brutal pedormance and razor-sharp pre.ision, GoinS through the gea6 on the oval was smooth and harmo- nious, the ZX-14 respondinE to the sliSht- est throttle rotation and surginS forward toward its 11,000-rpm .edline after each shift without any strain or vibration what- soever. Kawasaki did its homework on the ZX-14 fuel mappinS for sure, and those twin balancers inside the crankcase defi- nitely 8et the job done. That overall feeling of smoothness and precision extends to the chassis as well, which is as stable as a steamroller, yet very responsive feeling. On the Iront and back stretches of the speedway, the ZX- l4 rock- eted forward arrow straight, a far cry from, say, the walking-the-tightrope manners of rhe 2005 Ninia ZX loR. Certainly this is due to the l4's bus-length wheelbase of 57.5 inches the 06 l0R. by comparison, checks in at 54.7 inches - bu( that doesn't mean that the 14 feels unwieldy. While negotiating tight turns on my solo street jaunt, I learned that the ZX-14 simply feels long when heeled over lt doesn't feel heavy, and it doesn't feel overly slow when transitioning from side to side, it just feels long and planted. Remember, this is a 500- pound motorcycle when fueled. That's a lot of mass to deal with. and yet the Kawasaki does a Sreat job of hiding rhe hefr. Let's get back to the bi8 track, though. Thankfully, Kawasaki fitted the jetlike ZX-14 with brakes that rNal the stopping power of an arreitor cable on the deck of your average arrcraft carner. The twin 3lomm Nissin radial stoppers haLrl the mighty ZX down from speed smoothly - there's that word again and efficiently, that lengthy chassis a8ain inspiring confi- dence when you see concrete walls or other obstacles in front of you. Aside from beinS a hell of a lot more fun, the drag-strip segment of our intro revealed some more things about the smooth character of the ZX-14. For starters - pt n intended - the diaect-adion hydraulic clutch on the ZX- 14 combines an incredibly light lever pull with the con- trolled feel of a cable-operated clutch- And the bike shi{ts like butter as well, although in the frenzy of trying to make the perfect runs on the strip, I did manaSe to miss the upshift from second to third on a couple occasions, but I'd bet my last paycheck that ir had more to do with the heat of the moment and my propensity to not com- pletely clear my boot of the shift lever between gear changes. The acceleration capabilhies of the ZX- l4 made fun work out of trying to pare down my elapsed times at the strip, afld it was made even more fun by the fa.t that I had two AMy'y'Prostar Champions - one of them, SchniE, a current NHRA Pro Stock bike competitor as well - working with me to try and get me down the track as cleanb/ a5 possible. Starting off on the fi6t day, I managed to hack away at the aycess on the

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