KAWASAKI Z1000 (2014 - on) Review

The 2014 Kawasaki Z1000 was a ballsy move by the Japanese firm – and not just because it looks like something out of a Terminator movie. No, it’s ballsy because it’s rejected the current (and often expensive) fashion for electronic rider aids.

• Related: Best super naked motorbikes

Instead, it focuses on real world riding thrills, rather than fantastic and often irrelevant (for a street supernaked at least) performance figures and because it recognizes that honed throttle response, glitch-free engine delivery and refined top rate suspension and brakes is far more rewarding with 140bhp than anything more ever can be if that level of control isn’t there.

In short, if power is nothing without control, the Z1000 is the supernaked that proves this best and becomes the real-world choice for anyone looking for some unfaired thrills. Despite seeming under powered alongside its competition, 140bhp really is nothing to sniff at and there's plenty of performance there to inspire spirited riding within the parameters of the law.

There's a thriving online community for this bike at the UK Kawasaki Z1000 Owners Club on Facebook.

Watch: Kawasaki Z1000 video review

The biggest changes for this bike came with the chassis, in the form of updated, top-spec suspension and brakes. The 41mm big piston forks' are ZX-6R-alike, but retuned with separate function.

The brakes have also been enlarged by 10mm to feature 310mm petal discs. It also featured the same monobloc radial calipers from the Z1000SX. If anything, the Zed’s ride, steering, braking and whole blend of practicality and entertainment are better yet.

A compact riding position

The compact riding position, new quality suspension (which is on the ‘buff’ or taut side of comfortable), plus divinely precise and confidence-inspiring steering, makes a mockery of the Kawasaki’s apparent size and help endow the Zed with truly great street handling.

I use the word 'street' deliberately. Around a track, it’d probably be too hefty and laborious, but on the road, at normal, brisk or even serious licence-losing three-figure speed, it’s sharp and utterly planted.

It's also responsive without being twitchy or frisky, engaging and thoroughly entertaining - right down to the fierce but finessed, one-finger brakes.

Kawasaki refined the 2014 Z1000 rather than radicalising it. Throttle response was enhanced via a tweaked EFi/ECU and revised intake funnels, while extra mid-range grunt was gained with no top end loss through new cams and oval header link pipes.

The previous bike was always a grunty smoothie anyway, but that was then made better than ever in 2014, with it easily pulling away from as little as 2500rpm and there on delivering progressive, glitch-free turbine drive. This is all accompanied by a lovely, acoustically-enhanced induction howl - indicative of performance Kawasakis.

At the time, we couldn't think of a better, more entertaining and useful, four-cylinder street bike, despite having no electronics provided - because none were needed! Top speed for the Kawasaki Z1000 is 147mph.

Being a proven lump, with quality parts, should mean reliability’s not much of an issue here, while the overall standard of finish and accessories makes earlier Zeds seem tawdry. The styling of this machine is far more in keeping with a £12,000-plus bike rather than one starting at £10500 when new.

There’s the eminently tactile raised metal tank badge, the seat fabric’s ‘Z’ motif (in fact subtle ‘Z’ design motifs are everywhere), the classy paint and the variety of finishes and materials are mouthwatering.

Our Kawasaki Z1000 owners' reviews show a positive result, with a few minor gremlins in the shape of unreliable electronics and some thin paint.

Sure, some naked bikes are fancier and techier, such as the early KTM 1290 Super Duke R, but the the Zed’s still cheap in a class where some, madly so, are now edging £14,000 (the KTM is a prime example of this). Other Japanese rivals to consider include the Yamaha MT-10.

Yep, that's right, in 2014 you could have a fabulously refined, useful, characterful and fast roadster with bang up to date suspension and brakes for nine-and-a-half grand.

What's more, we at MCN also reckon this Zed was a great rival for the ever-popular Triumph Speed Triple range and made the more performance-focused Speed Triple R look extortionate.

Not to mention the 'uber' expensive supernakeds like the late V-Twin and early V4 powered Aprilia Tuonos and aforementioned KTM Super Duke, which appear unnecessarily extravagant by comparison.

Watch: Kawasaki Z1000 group test

Although the basics of an alloy twin-spar frame and hefty, 1043cc transverse inline-four remain unchanged from the previous model and there’s no electronic rider aids - like some of its rivals - the suspension and brakes were top drawer.

The Kawasaki Z1000 specs also include enough posh bits to satisfy the biggest accessory snob: including the clear master cylinder fluid reservoir, the radial pump lever, two-tone mirrors, new LCD display (despite lacking a gear indicator and having a baffling twin digital tacho) and more.

Like all full-fat Zeds, there are also a raft of after market extras to kit your bike out with, including lightweight carbon wheels, full-sytem exhausts and power commanders. There are also a mountain of bolt-on parts available through the MCN Shop, including crash protection from R&G, sintered racing Brembo pads and Puig screens.