And while the ZX-14 is long and feels it, it will turn. A good shove will get it on its side and adjusting line, or a trail of the front calipers are a synapse reaction away-handy attributes when riding at a brisk clip down an unknown road. Cornering clearance is excellent; while a racetrack might find the limits, on the street there's plenty of lean angle.
Don't get me wrong: This is not a pure sportbike. but you sure can ride it like one. The ZX-14 is a very... let me find the right word... forgiving bike to ride fast. And riding it fast is a lot more fun than you might think. The suspension is fully adjustable front and rear, but I wouldn't sacrifice the comfort-the trade-off simply isn't worth it. It's easy to get used to that magic carpet ride.
A couple passes and I was done. The low-fuel light was on (150- to 160-mile range, low-30s mpg-not bad) reminding me to find gas, and my conscience was telling me that would do for the day. Find the 101 freeway and head south to home-which is where the 14's ace card really came into play. I punched in 4000 rpm and cruised those 90 or so miles in what seemed mere minutes, time compressing. The last hour of the journey wasn't spent contorted into some sort of race-replica yoga position. I could stretch out, duck down and stick it on autopilot. Pure bliss.
 Nothing to see here, it's...  Nothing to see here, it's only a rear brake, move along. Rear disc is present and correct, prettily petalcut but made mostly redundant by the... |  ...stonking front anchors,...  ...stonking front anchors, which-by a crafty combination of 310mm discs, nissin four-pot radial calipers and radial-pump master cylinder-work superbly. | |
Later that night, once again aided by several of Grolsch's finest, I pondered the ninja. Having been thoroughly underwhelmed by the Concours 14, which I found to be a leaden, ponderous, way-too-heavy-to-be-fun lump (sorry, Kawasaki), I'd been thoroughly and pleasantly surprised by the ZX-14 (nice one, Kawasaki). For light mileage work it needs a bubble screen; go farther and you might want higher bars and hard bags. but that's all easily done and whatever you do to it, it's still got that engine, plus a chassis that can genuinely do something with it.
So here, in summation-and I could have done this a lot sooner, but I had a 1500-word hole to fill, remember?-are my reasons to own a Kawasaki ZX-14:
1. Great engine.
2. not a Hayabusa.
I'll say no more.
Off The Record - Lon Rozelle
Usually the words fast, smooth and comfortable are mutually exclusive. If a bike is fast, you can count on folding yourself into positions the Kama Sutra doesn't even list, and dreading the harsh ride you're sure to experience. The new ZX-14 is an exception to the rule. If you ride it sanely, its comfort and superb fueling can lull you into believing the horsepower and torque figures have got to be wrong. but a firm tug on the throttle dispels your misguided misperceptions, quickly, as this beast is ferocious when prodded. There's no lag when cracking it open either, just cannonball propulsion. And yet the ninja has a tame side that had me wanting to throw on some soft luggage and go touring. It's smooth, large enough that you never feel cramped, and there's decent wind protection from the fairing. It does run a little hot when hemmed in by traffic, but give his monster some running room and you'll be rewarded with a perma-grin.
Age: 56 Height: 5' 10" Weight: 165 Lbs. Inseam: 33 In.