KAWASAKI Z1000SX (2017 - 2019) Review

As mentioned, ride quality and shocks are excellent although to get the best you have to remove the Bridgestones as they do not like slippery scottish roads. Breaks are perfect for the road and I only ever changed them for track use as they would start to fade after a day of lapping donnington... but not a concern on the road and have done 10hours hard riding in a day and had nothing but perfect road feedback and quality stopping power.

This bike is renowned for its engine and they have even managed to reduce the 7k vibration I had on previous versions. Power delivery is fantastic!! You can potter through a town in 6th gear at 30 and then take it all the way up to 150mph without changing gear but if u want to do some real track work it really comes alive at the top of the rev range... and sounds lovely without being stupidly loud...

I can't complain much as the bike is extremely well built , electronics work in harmony and shocks etc are all of good enough quality for most of us road users and track day mental.. over the years ive had very few issues with any of them. Latest version has fantastic lights compared to previous ones, and has thenupgraded in cornering ABS but on the down side the OEM chain is awful as it rusts even when its never seen rain but does give you the excuse to upgrade to a better one and replace the sprocket with a colour coded SuperSprox one.. also, the Bridgestone tyres that come with it give really poor grip and I always end up having to change them immediately to PR5s which bring the bike to life and drastically improves front tyre confidence....

Local garage ive used for years so quality is good as kawasaki garage too far away....

Definitely got lots of positives but could do with electronic suspension for us not techies who want to do a little racing every now and again (remembering it weighs in around 235kg so mucking about with the suspension can be as rewarding as dangerous) also heated grips, comfier seat, better quality chain and always, I mean always, change those Bridgestones before u end up with a costly drop!!!..

Quiet and smooth throughout the rev range

Good build quality.

500 mile service £80 then annual service of around £225

Heated grips a must have! Tyres that bike was supplied with Awful. Changed them after less than 2000 miles.

Brakes are fine; ride quality is also good, the seat however is, for me at least, far too uncomfortable when touring, after 100 miles it's taking my mind off my riding!

Plenty of power and lovely delivery, very enjoyable.

After 2 years and 7k miles it still looks very good and I'm not the best at keeping it clean! I've had no reliability issues at all.

1st service was about £80 and the 1 year service around £170 I think; and that's reminded me thank you, I need to sort out the 2nd year service!

Panniers are very good and have a great fitting system; I had the 12v socket fitted too which I think is a must. There's a great selection of sport touring tyres these days which all get great reviews, so why they fit the dreadful OE tyres I've no idea, I ditched them with less than 2k miles on them, horrid things!

7500 service quite expensive

Some nuts and bolts showing signs of age

Love the color orange it was difficult to find a bike with this color

Ride quality = 5 out of 5.... brakes = 5 out of 5 on the road but if you want to do track days they start to fade really badly so have had to upgrade them to Brembo and this totally solved the problem Nd I can do full day track sessions with confidence... but as I say, brakes are brilliant for roads as-is..

Plenty of low end torque, tonnes of power away from the lights, 100 easily in 3rd, 6th gear poodles at 30 then drives all the way up to 150 (when allowed ;-)), still has excellent punch when cruising at 80 and you turn the throttle for a lot more, and limiter gives enough room for you to play without killing it... electronics are little lacking and the setup remains a little too manual to be brilliant but set it up once and away you go.......

Only two things to report 1. The oem chain is awful and woukd rust after 2days in the desert, had to change ut and the rear sproket on all my Zs within a few months from new.. 2. The Bridegstone oem tyres are f'ing dangerous as they are lethal on slightly dam roads and, living in scotland, thats all we have!!! Front tyre is terrifying and regularly scares you on roundabouts at slow speeds.. Drop a pair of Pilot Road 4s on it before you even consider picking it up from the dealer and the bike becomes a planted missile with great feedback and front end confidence (I've head Methley and Dunlop give similar improvements) but the original tyres are a disgrace.. (ps. On the pre -2017 the lights were appalling and everyone has to change them to after market leds.. this has been resolved and now the lights are better if not amazing!)

Owned different Zs over the last 5years and not had anything but normal services, new boots, chain & sproket and lots of mods that I chose to add... brilliant value although the first service can be nearer £400...

As discussed, the original bridgestones are far too hard and do not heat up easily in wet condition, leaving a scary front end and continuous flickers of the traction control light even at low speeds. But change them and the bike transforms... no heated grips or cruise control as standard which is poor and decidedly behind the competition in electronic goodies (no modes and manual setup!!!!) but does have incornering ABS and excellent traction control but I guess this is how they keep the price point good... and the after market buoyant..

The ride is good but a sfter seat is called for. I've bought an air seat to ease the bum pain. As I've said earlier the brakes are good and gives you alot of confidence.

I still haven't used my bike in the sports mode but am very happy for the performence as it is. Probably get 120 miles to the tank (15 - 17) from empty. I'm sure you could get more out of it if your ride was more conservative shall we say.

I bought this second hand. I've only been a couple of thousand miles on it but have had no issues with it so far. The only thing that seem like it needs tightening is the rear light cluster but I'm told that's how it was designed.

My next service is a major service at 7500miles. The service cost is from Kawasaki. This isn't cheap and should I need a tyre or pads it could be even more expensive. I will probably do around 4000 miles a year so it will be one service a year.

Sometimes hard to see the display when it's sunny but other than that it's great. Had fitted Sat Nav and heated grips.

Awesome engine epic airbox howl

Sometimes gears don't engage you have to be firm with gear changes

Brakes are good but poor initial bite

Paint stone chips easily.

Loves the bends, devours the straights. Even with panniers filtering is easy. I've needed a pee before I've needed to stretch my legs. Commuting on busy roads into Oxford a pleasure, taking the long way home a treat. I ride year-round in all weathers and am enjoying the extra weather protection of the substantial fairings and screen. I am degrees warmer than on the GSR750.

140bhp. Smooth at all revs in every gear. Very forgiving in busy traffic. There's no-one going ahead of you at the lights. Overtaking from 60-90 even in 6th before you know it, drop a gear and she's there before you've even thought about it.

Very early days of course but the finish is superb. Paintwork (burnt orange is the fastest colour) is gorgeous, plastics solid and sturdy, all exposed metal seems well protected.

Purchase seemed excellent value to me, such a lot of bike for the money. MPG varies depending on how good a time I'm giving myself from 30ish to 50ish. Not yet at first service which is just a 'nut-check' at 4500.

Electronic rider supports can be as helpful as you want or not at all. Still on the supplied tyres which are OK, I will change to PR4 when ready I think as I've always enjoyed those. Kawasaki panniers solid. Easy to remove, capacious. No top box option with them so looking for something post-Christmas for when I'm not carting much stuff to and from work. Standard exhausts are a bit of an odd look maybe but I don't really mind and they sound good to me.

Love it

6000 miles so far from new and hasn't skipped a beat

Michelin pilot 4's and heated grips, what more is there

The longest l have rode it was approx two hours, back was a bit stiff when l got off. Very lightweight easy to take bends, seems wide, but still easy to filter. City and country roads are not a problem.

Starts first time every time, usual Kawasaki quality, build and finish.

Had to get checked at 600 miles.

How it looks and rides.

Great ride supple and well balanced, handles all roads, this best improvement over the old model. Brakes are top notch for road use. The riders seat is more comfortable now but its still not a two up long haul bike, pillion seat is just to small compared to a proper tourer.

Lovely smooth power delivery,not as vibey as my old model much easier to ride at higher revs. Still got a good top end rush. 140 hp is good enough for most situations.

Lovely paint, finish on other parts not as good as some European brands but that is reflected in the price. No issues with reliability so far.

not much difference to any other 4 cylinder 1000.

New clocks are good, no helmet lock, the std Bridgestone tyres seem to work much better than on the old bike, but i will still try some other brands when worn out

Great engine but gearbox needs better refinement when going down in the gears.

Cruise control on longer trips.