Kawasaki Z1000

My Z1000 was the "new" Kawasaki Z1000 not the classic one. It was manufactured in 2004.

It's a great fun "naked" bike. The engine is lovely, it accelerates like a turbine and is very smooth with no real vices. Handling was a bit wayward, it was a bit bouncy on poor roads and if there was a pothole in a corner it could throw you off line.

My Hornet 900 was quite a bit better, but the Kawasaki, being skittish and liable to flap about a bit, was a lot more fun.

Build quality was as good as any, I looked after it and nothing rusted or broke.

The bike was updated in about 2008 and in my opinion they ruined it. The earlier model with the 4 shotgun exhausts is much nicer. Removing the exhausts and fitting cans liberates about 10bhp though.

It was fine up to about 90, I fitted the slightly taller Kawasaki screen. Also the mirrors were useless on the motorway, as they vibrated. Removing the handlebars and filling them with SAND cured this (no really...you have to use silicone to seal the holes in the bars, but it's so much better after)

The suspension was a bit cheap but this is par for the course with this kind of bike. I'd have another tomorrow.

I really enjoyed me old green Kawaka fast, good for wheelies and looked great. It really did bring the devil out of me. Put loads of extras on it and I found that this was a bike that needed money spent on it to get the most out of. I found it too be a pain when riding long distants and my wife did not enjoy the passenger seating. Had problems with the electrics come the end which was a real shame as I might of held onto the bike for longer. I would recommend this bike but ditch the orginal pipes and get some povicks.

I love this bike, plenty of torque at low rpms and the gear ratios are fairly close so you can keep a steady level of power at the rear wheel.

quite happy to cruise at 70 kph and snorts up to 220 in a flash, a good bit of automotive engineering.

Handles great but a bit "rocking horse" on bumpy roads though I havn't looked at the rear damper adjustment at this stage.

It is a pleasure to own and drive and I think that I shall be hanging on to this bike for some time.

What a bike! The Kawasaki Z1000 is the best looking, best handling Japanese naked bike there ever was, I say Japanese as the Triumph speed triple is a true contender but I love my Zed.

It is styled like no other, the Z turns heads from old dears to small kids. I take my daughter on the school run on my Zed and not only do the kids get jealous there are a lot of green eyed monsters from the grown ups.

Its a trackday demon, a mile crunching tourer and a round town, off the lights rocket.

I have had mine sometime and although I will have other bikes I will always keep this Z1000.