ZX-14 Review (Comprehensive) 18th July 2006, Copyright “beyond”
I took a half day off work today to get a few things done and decided it was about time I took the Kawasaki ZX-14 for a test run. It’s been on my short list of bikes to test for a little while now and even though they have been in stock for just under a month, none were ready for demonstration until today.
I really enjoy my GSX1400 and it’s very comfortable and great for two up riding. It’s never let me down and I feel like a traitor even thinking about moving on to another bike. The only thing that bugs me is when pushed hard, there is some chassis flex in high speed sweepers and the pegs touch down earlier than I would like, even when I hang off the bike, which I find a little disconcerting. This has prompted me to look at another machine, which has heaps of torque, is stable in fast sweepers and handles well in the tight stuff but is still good for two up work. That’s a tall order for any bike; believe me, as I have been looking for quite some time.
I phoned Chris and Mike at Mt Eden Motorcycles and was informed that a ZX-14 was only just run in and ready for demonstration, so I booked a time and rode my GSX1400 in from out South Auckland, looking forward to my date with the world’s fastest motorcycle.
What a pleasant way to spend an afternoon. Correction: the best way to spend an afternoon, or a couple of hours of it anyway.
Mike wheeled out the red Kawasaki ZX-14 and it certainly looks a beast. I’d seen it before and sat on it as well, so let’s quickly cover how the bike looks in the flesh and not just in pictures.
Firstly, it looks very long which is deceiving as the wheelbase is only around 90mm more than a ZX10R. The bike is low slung and has a long swing arm which of course is intended to keep the front wheel firmly planted when scorching down the strip pulling sub 9 second quarter miles, which these machines are doing virtually from the box.
Like the Busa, this in going to be one of those bikes you either love or hate. The evil looking bug eyes in the front fairing look like spiders eyes staring at you and look very menacing. I reckon many a motorist is going to take one look at that in the rearview mirror and quickly move aside. I know I would. I for one love the look and they aren’t just cosmetic. I didn’t ride the bike at night but one can see straight away that this is going to light up the road ahead like the Starship Enterprise near a black hole. From all reports, the lights are awesome.
Again, the side of the machine is going to split people into two camps as well, with what has been named the Foreman Grill. The bike I was to test ride was a deep red and the side grills (for aerodynamics, by the way) actually looked very good and make the bike the closest thing to a Ferrari on two wheels that you will ever see. In fact, the other two available colors, deep blue and black, look every bit as good.
The rear end is very tidy and it needs to be as this is the part of the bike that is going to be seen by others the most. The whole machine blends its parts well. I do like the look of this bike. It means business and you can see that speed and stability is what this bike has been designed for. To use an old cliché, this bike looks fast just standing still.
Ergonomics:
I am 186cm tall and 86kgs in weight with an inside seam of just over 32”. (Excuse the imperial and metric mix here). The seat is low enough for me to get both feet flat on the ground. At 210kgs dry, the bike does not feel this heavy at all. You can paddle around on it, no trouble and the weight is low down. It feels big, as there is a large part of the bike out front and out behind, but once moving, it feels more like a lightweight sports bike.
Instrumentation is superb. The tacho and speedo have clear, easily read numerals and markings. The LCD display shows fuel, water temp, time and has a comprehensive fuel computer as well.
The seat to peg height is ideal and I never noticed any aches in my knee joints or stiffness developing in my ankles or legs. The seat to pillion peg height looks real good for pillions too, so I can’t foresee any issue for those wanting to use this as a bit of a tourer, two up, for longer runs.
As I have ridden considerable kilometers on a sit up naked bike, I personally found the bars a bit low to start with, but they are actually slightly higher than ZX-10 for instance.
This is something that I need to get to grips with and it comes with riding a certain bike more. By the end of my run, I was getting used to the lower bars.
All in all, the bike was a good fit, felt good and looked good. In fact many people on the Southern Motorway had a second look and here also lies the only negative that I could find.
As soon as I entered the on ramp at Newmarket to head South to my favourite playground, an unmarked patrol wagon, followed me at 109kmh all the way to Manurewa, where I exited the motorway to head out towards the twisties through Clevedon/Hunua.
The ride:
My GSX1400 has a gearbox that is as smooth as the bacteria in your yoghurt and Suzukis are renowned for their silky gearboxes. Well, the Kawasaki is very close, no gripes there at all and the clutch works like a good clutch should. Apparently the clutch can handle a fair amount of abuse as testers found out, doing hundreds of passes at a drag strip in Arizona, at the bikes launch.
The fun began after exiting the motorway at Manurewa. By then, I had chopped and changed gears enough, in and out of the torque range, (with the unmarked car following), tested the brakes, both front and rear to know how this bike was going to behave.
The front brakes are stunning. Two fingers or even one finger and they grabbed quickly and smoothly, pulling the beast up effortlessly as required. The rear brake is actually very good and better than my GSX1400’s rear brake. Normally rear brakes on hyper sports tourer type machines, are merely a token gesture.
Of course, the rear brake is used by me, mostly for hill starts, wet weather work and as a stabilizer under some cornering maneuvers, but it works well anyway.
First short straight and several cars dispatched, with a flick of the wrist, hard on the brakes for the traffic island and then out to the country. Good short, clear straight ahead and then into some sweepers and a twisty bit. Let’s see what she does. I drop into second at around 4,000rpm and twist the grip. There is low down pull which builds slowly. So it seems till you look at the speedo. The power is so linear and smooth that you do not realise just how hard it’s pulling until you check your speed. Once you hit 5000 rpm, you better start to tuck in and hang onto your jocks as the scenery starts to rip past. Redline comes up real quick at 11,000rpm and power is all the way there. Heaps and heaps of torque and power and over 5000-6000rpm the induction roar becomes so addictive, you just want to do it over and over again. So, you do.
I just found another negative. Ownership of this bike will mean that you are going to need half a dozen fake licences tucked in your drawer at home. The coast was clear, no cars or stray Pukekos wandering around on the side of the road, so from 1st gear, I gradually opened the throttle so I could keep the front down, leave no liquorice straps behind and still see the road ahead. I see 185kmh in first, snick into second and straight into third to get her into the best torque range (basically anywhere over 5000rpm) and my arms feel like they are lengthening. The scenery approaches the tunnel vision stage as I nudge 260kmh and there is no sign of this beast slowing down or nearing the power limit at all. The induction sound is euphoric and the exhaust note, music to the ears. Imagine a kid’s first tricycle and how they feel and then add a supercharger to it and then see what their face would look like.
Can’t afford a seat on the Space Shuttle? No need to get upset then. Buy a ZX-14 and you can get the same rush on your own back road. This bike is going to have the speed junkies slobbering like a zoo full of half starved Gibbons.
So, it’s great in a straight line, super stable at speed and deceptively fast. We all knew that this was going to be the case with a machine turning out close to 200hp at the crank under full induction, along with masses of torque, but what’s she like in the corners. (See part two)
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Originally Posted by beyond
Under KB Bike and product reviews, the header ZX-14 review Comprehensive Part 2.
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