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Tuesday, 18 September 2001 |
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Colossal Exaggeration by Mike Emery ~ Big Hair and Photos by DaveW
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| Yo Ho Ho, It's jolly, it's green and by Jove, it's a giant. This latest rendition of the Kawasaki ZRX has obviously been eating its vegetables and had some serious beans added to its already muscular engine. |
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First released in 1998 this bike was seen as a tester for the reintroduction of the "standard" style motorcycle. Kawasaki had obviously been eying the sales success of the Suzuki Bandit and it seemed that the US of A was, indeed, ready for the naked look once again.
Well, the sales history of the ELR 2 is one of the Kawasaki success stories, what to do to continue that success? The factory has added a little bracing here and there, warmed over pretty much most of the bike and added a 12 BHP boost to boot.
This bike is going head to head with the Bandit, and, of course the Yamaha FZ1. From my talks with the dealers, the big Kwak is holding its own, and here's why.
Kawasaki looked at the anvil engine of old and gave it a solid modernization program. They used an all aluminum cylinder block and electroplated each cylinder and drilled (hey, nothing boring in this article) 3mm bigger "holes" for each piston. This beefed up the displacement to 1164cc. The block is now 3.3 lbs skinnier and dissipates heat quicker than a MacDonald's coffee cup. Chuck in a longer stroke too and a heavier flywheel for increased inertia and you get a ridiculous bump up in torque that, when combined some carburetion mod's, offer you a very fast and furious motorcycle. |
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