Hmmm...not a lot. Getting the engine through the tight Euro 3 emissions and evermore stringent noise tests has been the focus, apparently, while blessing the 1352cc four-cylinder DOHC lump with more power and torque everywhere (it says here). The cylinder head is revised, as is its cover, and the secondary air ports (which inject clean air into the exhaust, leaning it out) are 20 percent bigger. The internals of the exhaust pipes have been dialed in, the header connecter pipe is 75 percent bigger while a third catalyzer has been wedged in there somewhere. Intake porting has been fettled, and the reason for the obvious low-end boost is an increased spray angle for the sub-throttle injectors, from 15 to 20 degrees, sending atomized fuel over a wider area.
Now, you know it's a slow news day when a urethane sheet inside the chain cover gets its own headline in a press pack. Piston profiles are new too, both measures to quiet the mechanical chitter-chatter. I fired off an e-mail to a Kawasaki insider: Was all this freshly found bottom-end power really just revised fuel injectors and a tidied-up head with no cam-timing changes? yup, came the reply, just as it's written. Fine. My plan was to hit the road early the next day and head somewhere for breakfast-somewhere about 100 miles away. We'd soon see what this "new" ZX-14 was packing...
Six a.m. clicks over on the clock radio by the bed. I'm awake anyway, and in 20 minutes am nosing the ZX-14's snout toward the freeway. Out on the blacktop, the silky smoothness of the engine (dual gear-driven counter-balancers) is beguiling. best to keep interested, though: At 70 mph- 3500 rpm in sixth gear-the ZX-14 is just about ready to rip. And rip as in fling you well north of 100 mph in a second! just a gentle tweak of throttle lights up the engine and the bike hurtles toward the horizon. It might bind a little around 6000-7000 rpm, the relentless torque tying up for a split second, but it's soon off again, the yellow shift light clambering for attention as the 10,500-rpm redline draws near. no doubt this is a fast motorcycle. It'll tweak your nose and pin your ears back real quick.
 Four projector-beam headlamps...  Four projector-beam headlamps light the way.Ram-air snout vacuums up passing wildlife and idle pedestrians. | | |
The screen is a little on the low side to provide much shelter from freeway windblast and likewise the bars are a little too sporty for a truly relaxed ride. but here's the real deal and why this bike makes any sort of sense: The ZX-14 will transport you swiftly down any highway in relative comfort (compared to a racier sportbike), and when you finally get somewhere to actually ride, you can actually ride. Sure, it's set up soft stock. The plushness that soaks up all those bumps and ripples gives you a little slack to deal with on a point-and-squirt mission. but hey, this thing will still carve a set of turns double-quick.
I found State Road 150 just north of Ojai. It's 25 or so miles of undulating, twisting, perfectly surfaced asphalt and-it seemed-all mine. I soon worked out that the only gears needed for any combination of corners-slow, medium or fast-were third and fourth. There was all the punt I needed to nail the rear bridgestone into the ground, hard, and not have to think about it. Hunkered down over the bars, slid back in the seat, head down, I charged corner to corner, apex to apex. The brakes? Superb: A one- or two-finger squeeze and feel enough to have the front tire howling and the 43mm upside-downers just off the bump stops into the slower corners,and scrubbing off speed swiftly and surely for turn-in to the faster ones.
Off The Record - Mitch Boehm
Wow. Wow. And wow. I've just hopped off the ZX-14 for the first time, and that's pretty much all I have to say. I simply can't believe the staggering amount of brain-warping speed, overall function and high-end refinement 12 grand gets you these days. My only nits are the lengthy reach to the bars and the fork's slight mushiness. Other than that the thing's a freakin' missile,and a smooth one. With bars an inch or two up/back and some good hard luggage, the new 14 could double as a way-capable long-hauler. And just think of the fun you'd have once you turned off the freeway into the mountains. Woo-hoo!
Age: 45 Height: 6' Weight: 225 Lbs. Inseam: 32 In.