Visual highlights of the bike includes a low-mount front cowl that slopes back radically, highlighting the Z’s prow and, behind it, an adjustable instrument cluster featuring a multifunction LCD display covered by a trick-looking orange lens.
The headlight represents Kawasaki’s first-ever use of a line-beam unit, the fuel tank that’s flared on the sides, the seat is low and narrow at the front and ends in a retro LED taillight behind a red lens.
Other key features include an aluminum frame similar to the one from its Ninja brother, curving over the engine, cradling it from above. The main frame and swingarm pivot elements are cast as a single unit, with welds eliminated
Radial-mounted 4-piston front brake calipers with 300mm discs provide for superior stopping power, while the four-muffler exhaust system comes with wide triangular cans on both sides.
Powering the 2011 Z1000 is a liquid-cooled, 4-stroke in-line four 1043 cc engine, that delivers 138 hp at 9,600 rpm and 110 Nm (81 lb.ft.) at 7,800 rpm. Adjustable windscreen, ABS, fully adjustable inverted front fork and a LCD instrument panel, visible through an orange lens, which can be tilted for better viewing angles, are also included.
“Conventional wisdom says many of today’s motorcycles lack soul, or are all too much alike. The Z1000 proves otherwise – and happily,” a company statement reads. “Naked bike? Super standard? Modern UJM? Who cares what it’s called: the futuristically retro and super-fast Z1000 is an absolute blast to ride."
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