FIRST RIDE
P70
2014 KAWASAKI Z1000 ABS
to go with the new styling of the
bike). The bike is still short with
its 56.5-inch wheelbase, but it's
not squirrely – even at speed.
The chassis is well sorted so
changes weren't needed.
The big change to the bike's
handling for 2014 comes via the
front fork. That's where Kawasaki went big – as in Big Piston.
Big Piston and SFF (Separate
Function Fork). The bike gets
the latest and greatest Showa, a
fork that features springs in both
sides (the damping is in the right
tube, with pre-load set via the left
tube).
The new fork works as it
should. It lets you hammer the
brakes into corners with its
smooth and responsive action
and it soaked up every bump our
canyon ride threw at it.
Kawasaki also gave the Z1000
some serious brakes for 2014 in
the form of 310mm (they were
300mm) Tokicos. The brakes are
of the one-piece, four-piston variety and they look the part, thanks
to an engraved "Kawasaki" logo
