Kawasaki’s Z1000 is now on its third year holding Japan's honour high in the big nakeds market. The titanium colour scheme is the only new thing on the 2006 Z1000. The big Z is still one of the fastest naked things around, however the European manufacturers have stepped up their game with Aprilia Tuono R, BMW K1200R, Triumph Speed Triple and Ducati Monster S4RS-all more powerful or lighter.
In 1998 Kawasaki launched its most powerful sportsbike ever, ZX-9R. Only the groundbreaking Yamaha R1 ruined the party for Kawasaki. Much in the same way as Suzuki GSX-R 1000 has inherited the positions of the old Honda Fireblade and Yamaha R1. ZX-10R also lives in the shadow of another legend to be. Z1000 however, with its ZX-9R derived engine, lives in the shadow of no one. The styling, horsepower and handling was spot on straight away in 2003. Has it aged gracefully?
Looking at the Z1000 you just want to ride it. Not all bikes can do this to a rider, but the big Z certainly screams out “ride me”. And that’s what I did as soon as the key was handed over. As usual I have a fair few miles on motorways to tackle straight away and that is ideal to start gelling with the engine characteristics. The Z1000 has just got that bit extra engine performance to make it significantly more exiting to ride than the Z750. If you compare the engine to a big V-twin (Tuono R & Monster S4R) the characteristics are somewhat disappointing-but only then, because as soon as the revs are up the acceleration is addictive. There is no doubt that Z1000 features enough horsepower, however for such a motorcycle I would prefer even more torque and power from the word go. One solution could be to change to a smaller front sprocket and a larger rear sprocket. Top speed is irrelevant on these motorcycles and often the gearing is far too high to comply with noise regulation. I did however see more than 150mph on the digital speedometer during the test. It took a while to reach those speeds and it is not very comfortable as the wind tries to decapitate you. The fuel injection that feeds the 953cc in-line four engine worked without a hitch. This sort of bike will almost certainly have to stand up to quite a lot of abuse with on and off throttle for wheelies and hard acceleration in first and second gear in city centres. Kawasaki really has got the fuel injection sorted on its Z series motorcycles. The gear box seems solid and the ratio between the gears suits both the hooligans and the sports rider. I never hit a false gear and each gear clicked in perfectly.
Whilst the smaller Z750 is lacking in several areas, the one major thing that I would have changed about the Z1000 is that steel chassis. A modern aluminium frame and swing arm would have done the big Z a world of good. This is only excerpts of the full article. Kawasaki Z1000 video 2
