2009 Kawasaki Z1000
In case I haven’t mentioned it before, I really like naked motorcycles.
I think that harks back to the origins of motorcycles and my passion for being able to sense a bike’s essence, personality and physique. So what types of bikes really get a second glance from me? Old Indians with stick gear shifters, old British bikes like the Brough Superior: naked. UJMs or Universal Japanese Motorcycles: all naked. “Retro” Japanese motorcycles in recent times: naked. Streetfighters: naked.
Yes, full and partially faired bikes can also look stylish and classy. But nothing reveals its soul, to me at least, more than does a naked motorcycle.
So my latest foray was astride a 2009 Kawasaki Z1000. Not a “green” machine in the Kawasaki sense, but a metallic white one, with metallic grey trim and partially polished black rims.
A newer model of this bike is now available from Mr K, indeed even a partially faired one as well as a naked. While the new model looks sharp, I reckon that the model it replaced, the one I have ridden here, is just the Duck’s Nuts(TM) styling wise.
The bike in question got a useful going over yesterday, 360km which allowed me to assess it in what proved to be some quite demanding conditions.
The journey began in Tuam Street Christchurch at about midday.
I affixed my Oxford tailbag to the rear and mounted. A reasonably tall seat position. Switches and levers in all of the usual positions with all of the usual functions one expects on a Japanese motorcycle. Bar-mounted mirrors adjusted. Key turned, the panel sets. The usual fare on display: big analogue tach and digital everything else. “Everything else” being speedo, odometer, engine temperature, fuel level and clock. The mode button rotates the display of a solitary trip meter with the main odometer. A line of coloured idiot lights adorn the top of the panel for indicators, highbeam and “Beam Me Up Scotty”.
No need to squeeze a clutch to ignite the engine. However I did need to walk it into first gear. The gear pedal was in an ideal position for somebody wearing size 46 riding boots. A lot of bikes are set up for riders with much smaller feet.
And then I was away. It was Friday lunchtime and Christchurch’s streets were busy in the middle of town. The brakes -- radial-mounted Nissins -- impressed me right from the beginning. Lots of stop with lots of feel. I like that.
Low-speed fuelling and the response of the 953cc inline-four mill was faultless around town.
I meandered out through Marshlands in the general direction of Kaiapoi and SH1 north. The roads out this way have seen better times. There’s been a bit of earthquake-induced subsidence in places and considerable digging up to replace underground services in others. The Z1000’s USD Showa front suspension and Showa monoshock rear handled this well. This is probably one of the best out-of-the-showroom set-ups I’ve ridden for quite some time.
Onto SH1 and a chance to get up to highway speeds for the first time. That wasn’t too hard at all. A very nice shifting gearbox, assisted by an easy acting cable clutch.
I wish manufacturers wouldn’t harp on about a bike engine’s racing origins as, in my experience, it does neither engine any favours. Suzuki are currently doing this with the GSR750 and the K5 GSX-R750. Kawasaki do it for the Z1000 and the ZX9.
The Z1000 is silky smooth and very responsive to whatever the throttle asks of it. It has a lovely midrange, if 2,000 to 9,000rpm counts as a “mid range”. The red line is at 11,000rpm. 100kmh (rated) in top gear is 4,100 rpm. Overtaking at 100kmh can be effortlessly performed while remaining in top gear. Changing down to 4th prior to commencing the same manoeuvre can result in one arriving before one has left. Quantum physics is funny like that. For any readers who haven’t studied physics at school, let’s just say this bike has more tow than a Roman sandal.
Yes, it’s a naked bike. This means that the rider cops most of the wind that they and their steed are carving through. Yesterday there was quite a bit of that.
The norwester started to flex its muscles from about Woodend and by Amberley was very strong indeed. As I had a bit of time, I turned off at Waipara and headed up SH7 to Culverden. This was right into the throat of a massive norwester, I was in no doubt about that. I turned off onto the Waikari Valley Road and headed into Waiau. Fortunately the wind abated quite a lot at that point, and I headed off to Mt Lyford and then on to Kaikoura.
This stretch of road (Waiau to Kaikoura) is currently in tidy order. It is pretty windy in places with a few tight and technical corners. Did I mention that I love the Z1000’s brakes? I was also impressed with its willingness to go where it was pointed. The OEM Dunlop Qualifiers (120/70 front and 190/50 rear) also impressed me as a dry weather tyre. In what seemed like an effortless 55 minutes, we were stopped outside Hislops Cafe in Kaikoura.
This is a motorcycle review, so I won’t mention how exceptionally good Hislops’ carrot cake is.
North we went. This time into the Mother Of All Norwesters. There were more whitecaps on the ocean than there was blueness. This got worse from St Oswald’s Church. Rounding the corners by the Grassmere salt farm was something special. But the real highlight was descending the Dashwood Pass into Blenheim where I thought on a couple of corners that trouble may have been on its way.
Onto the 7:00pm Bluebridge sailing at Picton. The Z1000 doesn’t have a mainstand, so one had to think a bit differently about how tie-downs were affixed and secured to the vessel.
Then a couple of km ridden in the dark gave me a chance to see how the instruments and headlight performed. No worries on either score. Indeed the headlight works very nicely.
Rider comfort after 358km travelled? The seat squab is a bit hard and unyielding but I think that relocated callouses will sort that issue. The ergonomics are rather good for a rider of my height (1.83m). The handlebars may be a fraction on the high side, but that’s getting picky.
Fuel economy? 17.6km per litre yesterday, much of which was done into massive head winds and about 50-odd km of which was done no higher than fourth gear.
Pillion fit test still to come.
So how would I score it? I’d give it four-and-a-half stars out of five.
Would I buy one? I have. Yesterday’s ride was its delivery journey.
Many thanks to Costa Harris at Motorcycle Imports Direct in Christchurch for being so obliging and easy to deal with.
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Originally Posted by Berg
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