Looks totally cool, eh? And it goes very hard as well!
Kawasaki have a well-deserved reputation for making some of most powerful, fastest and good-looking motorcycles in the world, and the Z1000 is definitely up there with Kawasaki’s best. This is one motorcycles which proves that the Italians aren’t the only ones who can make supremely attractive bikes bursting with character and attitude – the Japanese can be just as effective.
While the Z1000 is a styling coup for Kawasaki, it is essentially a simple motorcycle – a 953cc, inline-four, 120 horsepower engine (taken from the old ZX-9R Ninja, and modified…) bolted to a steel cradle frame, USD front forks, comfy seats and high-ish handlebars. Give it some juice, and the front wheel paws at the skies, brake hard, and the rear wheel goes up, bung it into corners and you get your knee down – the Kawasaki encourages all kinds of moto-hooliganism.
With a relatively short wheelbase and quick, sharp steering, the Kawasaki belies its size and weight and can be thrown around with aplomb. The seating position is slightly canted forward, so you lean into the bike, with your wrists taking most of the weight. Suspension is multi-adjustable front and rear. Handling, while not in the league of, say, a GSX-R750, is still competent enough for most people. If you want the coolest-looking streetfighter in the world, this is probably it.
Engine: 953cc, liquid-cooled, DOHC inline-four
Power: 120bhp@10100rpm
Top speed: 220km/h
In a line: Cooler than an igloo-full of freezing eskimos…
Here's an awesome stunt video of the Z1000
...and this is an early-1980s Kawasaki Z1-R, with 90bhp and 225km/h top speed
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