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/577750
2015 BIG-BORE NAKED BIKES I n such tight company, it was a surprise to see the Kawa- saki come in fifth overall but a couple of areas let it down. The first was the on/off nature of the throttle when compared to the similarly engine'd, inline four-cylinder BMW S1000R. Initial fuelling was harsh and gave the chassis a solid jolt when on the side of the tire in a corner. Another area that hurt the Kawasaki was its very short gearing, which meant revs always seemed to be too high on the freeway, making the whole ride rather buzzy. The tradeoff for this was snappy power and abundant wheelies up to 7000 rpm, which suited the ultra-tough, bulldog stance of the machine. There's plenty of power with the Kawasaki but it comes in hard and fast, and it also runs out quite early, hitting a wall just after 9000 rpm while the others surge well into the 12,000 rpm range. The Kawasaki is not the cheap- est bike here, that honor goes to the Suzuki, but it is the lowest spec in terms of electronics. Unswitchable ABS (you can turn it off by doing a burnout, shhh…), no variable engine maps and no traction control is a bummer for a bike that has such a punch in the midrange. Luckily a saving grace here is once the throttle has been applied in the midrange, the fuel- ling is very smooth and the feeling of torque abundant. P54 C O M P A R I S O N T E S T Short, light and ultra-tough, the Kawasaki lost points in the chassis department but won fans with the looks. 5 th KAWASAKI Z1000 PLACE The Kawasaki suits a shorter rider thanks to the position of the footpegs relative to the seat, making for a slightly cramped riding position if you're over six feet tall. The seat itself is an inch taller than the BMW, but the short reach to the bars and elbows-out style will suit only a select range of riders. The Kawasaki's front brakes were solid without being outstand- ing, and were certainly better than the Suzuki's. There's a nice, progressive feel at the lever, but not being able to turn the ABS off is a mark against the bike. Unfortunately the Kawasaki provided the harshest ride, and was thoroughly outclassed by the Aprilia and BMW. Harsh road cor- rugations were the big K's enemy, the green meanie would plow over them and transmit large shocks to the rider's ass, making for a pretty horrid ride on all but the smooth- est surfaces, where ride quality was acceptable. The angular, muscular looks, plus the metallic green paint and Z-pattern in the seat were clear winners in the looks department, but overall the Z just didn't have the votes to move it further up the order.