2014 Kawasaki Z1000

Kawasaki’s Z1000 has long been one of our favorite naked streetbikes in the market.  

For the new year, Kawasaki says that the new Z1000 has a revised ECU setting, along with different camshaft timings and oval exhaust connectors between the header pipes.

Other improvements like connected cylinders (less pumping loss) and a new airbox design, help the 2014 Kawasaki Z1000 reach 140hp (104.5 kW) and 82 lbs•ft of torque from its 1,043cc inline-four engine.

Equipped with radially mounted Tokico monobloc calipers, Kawasaki’s now signature petal brake rotors, and a radial-pump master cylinder, the stopping power of the 2014 Kawasaki Z1000 has been enhanced over its predecessor.

The suspension too has been reworked, with the new Z1000 getting Showa’s Big Piston forks, with separate fork function — one fork handles rebound damping, while the other handles compression.

While everyone will surely be talking about the headlight on the 2014 Kawasaki Z1000, we doubt the discussion will center around the fact that the headlight is an LED unit, a first from a Japanese OEM.

You are either going to love or hate Kawasaki’s “Sugomi” design philosophy, but the new Z1000 certainly highlights the brand’s willingness to stray from the bland that often churns itself out of the other three Japanese OEMs, so kudos to them for that.