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Saturday, 07 September 2002 |
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Page 3 of 4
| For those old enough to remember the Z1 the name conjures up a pretty radical "naked" bike. In its day, it was fast, powerful and fast. It was the first bike I ever saw wheelied and has been partially responsible for my delinquency ever since. |
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Fast-forward to 03' and this is the latest evolutionary version. Like the Honda, Kawasaki too saw fit to offer some neat styling points during the manufacturing stage of this bike. The premise? Same as the big H, take an existing motor, in this case the ZX9R, and add some up to the minute styling cues from the Ninja series ZX6RR/R. The styling looks very fresh and it particularly looks like one of today's flavorful designs.
The Z1000's frame is of a traditional layout and made of thin-wall tubular steel. The engine is a stressed member and the cheeky little monkeys at Kawi' have added a plastic piece to hint at an Alloy construction and it also features an ever-so-groovy front cockpit fairing and a pair of gold superbike bars - Voila, instant nekked' Streetfighter.
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| One nice thing about this bike is that it's been neutered, but not to the same degree as the Honda. Sure it's got altered cam timing but it also got a 50-odd-cc overbore to compensate somewhat, horses are up around the 120 mark. The motor has a set of faux fins to accentuate the liquid cooled motor and this thing flies - and on cheap gas too. The new aluminum head is configured to be happy on regular gas and it was. My first taste of this bike was zinging traffic en-route to a CA bike night. The thing is a search and destroy weapon when it comes to carving inner city traffic. |
| My second taste was on the Ortega highway where I went hunting three spotty yoofs on sporty GSX-R's and a 996. I managed to nip by and say my good-byes due to the Z's easy point and shoot engine character. At speeds above 8-10ths the only shakes I ever felt was me laughing at the site of those sporties being left behind. Now, I'm not saying that this is as capable in the twisties as a hypersports, I'm just saying that if grandpa's got his head down, you better bring your best game. |
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| Handling was enhanced, I'm sure, with the addition of the 41mm inverted forks. Adjustment is available with preload on one side and rebound on the other, strange… more parts bin parts? Steering angle is 24° and helped in turnability (I swear, I make up a new word every day). |
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So where are the beans coming from? Well, say to goodbye to carbs my two-wheeled fiends, this bike also features digital fuel injection utilizing 38mm throttle bodies and sub-throttle valves to promote a nice smooth engine operation. However, rolling off at low RPM at lower speeds, it sometimes felt a little jerky, and not the beefy sort that I like. That was my only real complaint, a tendency to stand up a little mid-corner due to that rather abrupt off throttle, slowing the rear rebound helped, but being decisive mid-corner helped more. |
The seating on the Z1 is ever so tippy looking but at speed is quite a nice work area. The speedometer - tachometer - fuel gauge - yada yada, it is a very difficult piece to get used to, but you won't need to keep an eye on it to row that gearbox properly, just ride the torque and change gear accordingly.
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| Tire-wise the Kawa suffers from a tad overkill to the rear. The big 190 Bridgestone needs dieting down to a 180 - more grip and even better turning to boot - methinks. Those stock Stones' were quite grippy, and I'm no big lover of these rubber bands, but they did no wrong whilst I enjoyed myself. The brakes were great too - borrowed from the ZX9R, thank you very much. |
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I better mention those zorsts' too. Every one who spotted the bike was drawn to those four pipes. The look is both traditional (70's flairs, anyone), radical and distinct. I expect the aftermarket bunny's to have a field day here. |
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