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The American Motorcyclist Association Posted March 6, 2006 |
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2006 Kawasaki Ninja ZX-14 |
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| Engine | Liquid-cooled, 1,352cc, four-cylinder, 16 valves |
| Bore x stroke | 84.0mm x 61.0mm |
| Carburetion | Fuel injection, 44mm throttle bodies |
| Front brakes | Dual, semi-floating petal discs, four-piston calipers |
| Rear brake | Single petal disc |
| Front suspension | 43mm inverted fork, adjustable preload, rebound and compression damping |
| Rear suspension | Adjustable preload, rebound, compression damping |
| Wheelbase | 57.5 inches |
| Fuel capacity | 5.8 gallons |
| Claimed dry weight | 474 pounds |
| Colors | Passion Red, Ebony, Candy Thunder Blue |
| MSRP | $11,499 |
Kawasaki didn't pull any punches when describing the thinking behind the new ZX-14. It's right there in red type on the first page of the PowerPoint presentation: "The Most Powerful Street Bike In The World." It's a company legacy Kawasaki traces back to the two-stroke H1 of the late 1960s, the Z1 of the '70s, the GPZ900 of the '80s and the ZX1100 of the '90s.
But power is no good if you can't use it, or if it's no fun to ride the bike, so Kawasaki set some other goals, too. The bike had to be a torque monster. It had to have a supremely smooth engine. And a comfortable riding position, so the ZX-14 can be a long-haul sport-tourer, as well as a drag-strip rocket. And aerodynamics that mean you won't be tired after a long day in the saddle and won't get blown off the back of the bike if you can find a race track with a straight long enough to let you experience those speeds in the 180 mph neighborhood.
To talk about how Kawasaki went after those goals, you might as well start with the engine. It's a 1,352cc four, the most powerful motorcycle engine Kawasaki has ever built, and not by coincidence, 53cc bigger than the Suzuki Hayabusa's. Don't blame me for starting the comparisons between the 14 and the 'Busa, because the Kawasaki guys themselves brought it up.
To make the engine super smooth, Kawasaki added two secondary balancers. With absolutely no engine vibration reaching the rider, it almost feels like like the ZX-14 doesn't have a powerband like most motorcycles. It redlines at 11,000 rpm and the power tops out at 9,500 rpm, but you never notice any rush of power or peaks or valleys in the torque curve. The engine just makes power everywhere in the rev range.
The motor (which is smaller than the one in its predecessor, the ZX-12R, by the way) is carried by the latest version of Kawasaki's aluminum monocoque frame, which arches over the engine to keep the bike narrow and looks nothing like the twin-spar frames we're used to seeing on sportbikes. With the engine being so smooth, mounting it rigidly to the frame is no problem and increases rigidity even more.
The frame also houses the air box and the battery. Changing the air filter is as simple as unbolting a plate on the side of the frame and sliding out the filter. Neat touch.
Kawasaki's other main goal was aerodynamics, which is
important when you have the top-speed potential the ZX-14 is packing. As
I found out when I got onto the Las Vegas oval and the backroads of
Nevada, the big Ninja's fairing gives the rider a lot of protection
without any buffeting.
Kawasaki put together a three-part ride — strip, oval and street — so we could experience all the ZX-14 has to offer.
Rain, and the possibility of snow at higher elevations, eliminated the mountain ride Kawasaki had planned, but our loop the Valley of Fire was just as good. On the road, the big Ninja provides a roomy riding position with just enough forward lean to keep things sporty, but not uncomfortable. As someone used to riding a sportbike, I'd say I could do a long day of riding on the ZX-14 without getting tired, thanks to the riding position, leg room and smooth wind management.
With time to watch the new gauge cluster while riding down the interstate, I noticed that the Ninja was returning nearly 50 miles per gallon, just loping along. Considering all the power available on demand, that's impressive. With the 5.8-gallon fuel tank and the ZX-14's comfort level, this bike will make a very competent sport-tourer.
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To get an idea of the ZX-14's performance abilities, you have to get off the street, however. So Kawasaki took us to the drag strip and the speedway.
I've done plenty of laps on road courses but I had never launched a bike on a drag strip in my life. So even with big-time drag-racing champ Ricky Gadson giving me some pointers, let's just say I didn't set any new quarter-mile records. Some of the more experienced riders were easily dropping into the nine-second bracket, however, which is impressive for a stock bike with no wheelie bars.
I did learn two things at the drag strip, however. First, the ZX-14 clutch will stand up to a lot of abuse. Despite multiple runs by several different riders, there were no slipping, burning clutches to be seen, or smelled.
Second, when you the bike's hooked up and you shift into second gear with the throttle dang near wide open, you'd better be holding on tight.
Then we headed to the Las Vegas Motor Speedway oval, where we took to the track one bike at a time. Let's face it, an oval is not a normal environment for a motorcycle, and when Kawasaki's Jeff Herzog advised us, "Whatever you do, don't stare at that wall," I took him seriously. I was definitely thinking about those walls, but I didn't want to fixate on them.
The oval did allow us to get a feel for how fast and stable the ZX-14 was, however. The aerodynamic design of the fairing may not be everyone's favorite styling lick, but it sure works at the kind of speeds we couldn't do on the street or the drag strip.
On the tri-oval, I basically rode the bike without touching the brakes. Downshift to fifth in the corners and power it up in sixth on the front straight. At 170, you don't want a bike that's dancing around, and the ZX-14 was reassuringly stable.
Some riders were reaching into the 180s, but the 174 mph
I reached was still the fastest I've ever gone on land.
And let's face it, that's what Kawasaki built this bike for: to be the fastest.
The fact that it's incredibly smooth, reliably stable and comfortable enough to ride all day just makes it a lot easier to live with the bike that's Kawasaki's latest claim to the "World's Most Powerful Streetbike" title.
© 2006, American Motorcyclist Association