VOL. 51 ISSUE 3 JANUARY 21, 2014
we hammered from light to light
– right in the torque zone Kawasaki aimed at when making the
changes to the Z1000. The bike
has plenty of punch to keep you
on your toes.
The day after our night ride on
the new Kawasaki, we headed
out into the canyons to test it at
higher speeds. Again, it does
the job. It most definitely doesn't
leave you wanting for more power, but it's still that torque off the
bottom that you notice most.
The new Z1000 doesn't have
a slipper clutch, but it wasn't
something I missed when riding
the bike. In fact, the transmission
P69
is about perfect… the gears fall
nicely into place and it's always a
pleasure to ride a streetbike that
makes it simple to find neutral.
Not much was done to the
chassis of his year's Z1000. It's
still the same aluminum backbone unit as before, but with a
more compact subframe (mainly
