Naked bikes have never been popular in America; but this 2010 Kawasaki Z1000 is making another bid in the American market. Kawasaki Zs however are known for their flaws such as excessive vibration and heat from the motor to unbalanced suspensions. This new Z however is nothing like the old ones in fact it’s a completely different bike that just happens to share a name.
The new 2010 model comes with a new frame and motor. The new aluminum frame is similar to that of the Ninja ZX-10R. The five-piece frame has 30 pct more torsional rigidity and 9 lbs lighter than the previous steel frame. The old Zs were known for excessive vibrations of their motors; this frame however uses four engine mounts instead of three greatly reducing vibrations that plagued the Zs for years.
A powerful new engine is now displacing 1043cc, 90cc more than its predecessor. This new inline four with a bore and stroke of 77 x 56 mm churn out 138 crankshaft horsepower at 9600 rpm. Torque rating is at 81.1 ft-lbs at 7800 rpm.
Excessive noise plagued the old Z1000s. To solve this problem, Kawasaki overhauled the Z1000s exhaust system from the ground up. The new system has a 4-into-2-pre-chamber-into 2 layout. This mean that the exhaust from the four manifolds now pass into two pre-chambers into the catalyzers and out. Check this out in Chiltons auto repair manual. Although the new exhaust system weighs just about the same as the old ones, it has better mass centralization and a much lower center of gravity. Also contributing to noise reduction is a resonator inside the airbox which keeps noise at low levels during low rpms and enhances intake sound at high rpms.
The 41mm inverted fork provides compression damping, rebound damping and spring preload. The shocks damping and preload settings are fully adjustable to suit the rider’s needs. The rear monoshock is positioned horizontally to improve mass centralization.
Sharing a name doesn’t always mean sharing genes as well. Having more power and its problems ironed out, this bike is ready to redefine naked bike perception in the US. You can avoid this problem by having 1961 mercedes 200.
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