Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

rl rrE I I F irst, the bad hews - and it's actu- ally more history than news - Kawagaki lort its claim to the throne as King of Sportbikes since the summer of 1998. certainly a much bette. all-around sport- bike than the Hayabusa. That didn't seem to matter all that much to musclebike fans, though, who clamored onto the 'Busa bandwagon in droves. Worse for Kawasaki, Suzukis besan to proliferate in the produc- tion classes at the d.ag strip as well, a place that was regarded as hallowed ground for the "good times" company. Now for the good news: Kawasaki has apparently had enough. And the better news: With its all-new Ninia ZX- 14, Kawasaki has clearly regained its status that was lost at the hands of the Hayabusa. Of course, the rules of the game have changed somewhat. Now rhat everybody is stuck on 186 mph, absolute street muscle- bike performance is measured at the drag strip. where the race to 200 still mafters - only now it's 200 horsepower - and it only (akes a quarter-mile for the new Ninia ZX- l4 to amply display its supremacy. i'm talk- ing about a showroom motorcycle capable of low nine-second elapsed times. That quick enough for ya? Kawasaki gave the press a chance to lind out by inviting us to one of the bert racing complexes in the country Las Vegas It4otor Speedway, durinE the worldwide press intro of the ZX- 14. The original plan was to have us spend two days aboard the bike. The first part ofday one took place at the 1.s-mile NASCAR oval where we test- ed the ZX-14's stability at speed before being shuttled across the grounds to the strip for some serious quarter-mile testing. Kawasaki even provided us with two expert drag-rircing tutors, seven-time AMy'VProstar Drag Racing National Champion Rickey Gadson and two-time AMA,/Proitar Champion Ryan SchniE, to provide pointers on how to shave precious tenths off o{ our elapsed times. Day two was to include a lengthy street ride, but unfortunatery it was hampered by rainy weather, forcing the sueet ride to be scrubbed. lnstead, iournalists had the optpn of taking an abbreviated street ride and then returning to the track to log more time on the o l or the strip. As the oval really o(fered little more than the opportunity to run around in a circle at high speed - and maybe test the brakes whenever the real- ization came that I wa5 heading into the cor- ners a mile too last - the drag strip offered a real chance to test the ZX- I 4's real reason for bein' - acceleration- This is where most of my time was spen!, thou8h I did get to throw in a 2s-mile solo street cruise on the ZX- I 4 at the end of the second day. The ZX- l4 follows a long line of seminal spoftbikes from Kawasaki, a heritage that dates back to the original screamin meanie Hl two-stroke and includes the Zl (K2900), the ori8inal Ninja GPz900 and the ZX-ll. Each represents a quantum leap forward from the last, and the 14 is no different, taking the positive attributes of the ZX- l2R to the next level. Starting with the engine, the ZX-14's DOHC inlineJour is the larSest-displacin8 sportbike powerplant that Kawasaki has ever built, but because strict attention was paid to keeping it compact, it is actually no larger than the ZX- I 2R enSine that it super- sedes. The ZX-14's monster 84 x 5lmm bore/stroke combo yields l352cc, and Kawasaki claims that the engine produces I 13.5 foot-pounds of torque at 7500 rpm and an incredible 197 bhp at 9500 rpm once the ZX-14's ram air comes into play. The ZX-14 also features a sophisdcated 32-bi( digital fuel-iniection system utilizing a quar- tet of 4lmm Mikuni throttle bodies thar Kawasaki claims are exceptionally accurate, thank to their ultrafine injection nozzles. An all-new tapered stainless-steel 4-into- l-into-2 exhaust system designed to enhance low- and midrange torque exils the bad steam. Kawasaki engineers say that run- ning two mumers instead ofone was neces- sary in order to keep the system

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