Kawasaki Z 1000 A1

There is one sure way to get respect from other road users when you are on two wheels. Ride a Kawasaki Z1000 four. The sheer majesty of the machine is enough to impress even lorry drivers. You glide along feeling like the king of the road, your lowly subjects clearing a swath through the traffic for your passing. The big Kawasaki has become a legend in its own lifetime.

That legend has been based on arm-wrenching performance. If you are the sort of person who gets kicks from taking off like a Bobcat from a carrier then no other machine will satisfy like the Z1000. That is a hallmark of the bike, and everybody on the road knows it. There is an almost erotic pleasure to be enjoyed in squirting the Kawa past a line of cars, feeling that you have been shot from a monster cannon.

The action is instantaneous on the big 1,015 cc four. Regardless of revs, a flick of the wrist on the twistgrip is enough to twang your arms taut and literally take your breath away.

The Z1000 surprisingly lacks the absolute top speed of its first 903 cc predecessors, but makes up for this in smoothness and docility. The first Zl models were capable of a genuine 130 mph, but by comparison to the Z1000 were harsh, hairy and developed phenominal top end power - just as a double overhead camshaft should.

Despite higher gearing provided by a 33 tooth rear sprocket instead of a 35 tooth one and an increase in bore size from 66 mm to 70 mm, the absolute top speed of the Z1000 with the rider flat on the tank is just under 125 mph - barely more than the 750 cc Honda and Suzuki fours - with the engine turning over at a leisurely 7,600 rpm. That is 400 revs short of the maximum 8,000 rpm, where the whistling all-roller bearing engine develops a claimed 83 bhp.

Why the Z1000 should be slower with over 1,000 cc more than the old nine hundred is a puzzle. But it should be no surprise that the bigger bike has less poke when the carburettor size has been dropped from 28 mm to 26 mm and the engine is pulling gearing that gives theorecti-cal speeds of 130 mph and 147 mph in fourth and top at the red line of 8,000 rpm.

For all but the budding drag racers among us, that top end power will not be missed, for the Z1000 more than makes up for it in flexibility and gentlemanly manners. There is no doubt at all that the latest model is light years ahead for its smoothness, quietness and ease of operation.

In fact, the Z1000 is one of the few bikes - perhaps the only bike - on the market that offers a blend of outright performance on a par with the Italian Laverda 1000 with an equal measure of round-town unfussiness and simplicity of handling.

One end of the Z1000 performance spectrum is acceleration that rockets you from rest to 60 mph in a shade over 4 seconds and 100 mph in 11 seconds. At that speed the bike is still pulling hard enough for the rider to have to hang on hard. The other end of the spectrum is flexibility that allows the rider to trickle along in top gear at 16 mph and pull away smoothly without a jerk.

Clean carburation and a wide spread of torque give the Z1000 a light thirst for fuel. On low octane fuel, the bike eaked out 47 miles from each gallon. Including reserve, the fuel capacity is 3-6 gallons, much less than the big tank suggests.

High speed handling has been tremendously improved over the 900 four. At lower speeds - below 50 mph - it is much as before; light and easy and with a neutrality in the steering that belies the 560 lb tanked up weight of the machine. The broad spread of the handlebar helps, indeed it enhances the majestic feel of the bike, but coupled with wind pressure it also makes riding a strain at anything over 60 mph. Switching to a lower handlebar is made trickier than normal as the wiring runs through the tubing.

The steering geometry, a steep rake of 64 degrees and short trail of just 3| in, inevitably means that some degree of stability has to be sacrificed at very high speeds. And most riders agree that the Kawasaki lacks the sure-footedness of its Italian 1,000 cc equivalents.

Nevertheless, a measure of improvement in the Z1000 handling over the Zl and Z900 has been achieved by more generous gusseting and stiffer suspension and should put the shine back on the big Kawasaki's tarnished reputation for wobbly roadholding. Whether it is the light steering, squirmy tyres, light suspension damping, the frame or a mixture of all four, the Kawasaki will start to shake when cranked over on smooth surfaces at 90 mph - and that is an improvement. Its predecessors used to do it at speeds well below that.

With only one silencer either side, cornering clearance is even more generous and the first piece of hardwear to grind the tarmac is the prop stand. The stiffer suspension and needle-roller swing-arm pivots have helped here too, limiting the amount of squat during cornering (but that is about as far as the bonuses go).

The rear springs have been changed to dual-rate 123/174 lb/in boneshakers while the front fork contains 45 pounders that give an adequate ride but do not take kindly to bumpy surfaces, responding with a clattery and uncontrolled amount of bouncing once a few miles have been covered.

The addition of an extra brake disc at the front together with a rear brake disc may have upset the suspension with the higher unsprung weight, but they certainly do bolster the braking power. The two front units with floating calipers are capable of locking the front wheel at will in the dry with a pleasant degree of sensitivity. Likewise the same size - 11 -6-in diameter - rear disc offers progressive stopping.

But like similarly equipped bikes with three stainless-steel discs, under certain conditions, in the wet the brakes are completely ineffective. Invariably when rain was heavy, the bike was not being ridden fast enough to fling off water, and the discs were cold, you would find yourself sailing up to a stop light with no more than a prayer to pull you up.

The sooner the Transport and Road Research Laboratory work on this subject is completed and acted upon, the better. In other departments, the Z1000 is 'standard Japanese'. The five-speed gearbox has a light action spoiled only by clunkiness when notching bottom from neutral. Neutral is easy to find at rest because the mechanism is designed to prevent a rider passing through neutral into second at a stop. That is still a unique feature. The controls are all very light, including the throttle and clutch lever. Incidentally, the clutch survived several full-blooded drag starts with only slight swelling.

The Z1000 is a big bike though. The cosy seat is not unduly high at 32£ in but being broader than most will cause anyone with less than a 32-in inside leg to be searching for the ground with their toes.

Although the higher gearing lessens vibration from the engine, the high-frequency buzz is still there, particularly above 5,000 rpm. Its not great trouble to the rider but the well-spread mirrors deteriorate into a blur above 75 mph in top.

Lighting is adequate, although many riders will want, to uprate the headlamp if they want power to match the bike's performance. Starting on the button was always achieved but there is an indication that the start jet metering was over-generous as the engine started hunting almost as soon'as it was running.

Chain rear drive on such a potent bike such as the Z1000 may seem an anachronism in these days of increasing use of shaft drive, but Kawasaki appear to have overcome many of the drawbacks with their Enuma f-in pitch chain. Each link has its lubricant sealed in by O-rings and the fact that the chain remained properly tensioned over 500 miles of general use is ample testimony to its effectiveness. The price the rider pays for such heavy chain is that it vibrates as it clatters around the 15-tooth gearbox sprocket when opening up from low speeds in a high gear.

But that is a small point when measured against the host of detail changes that have contributed to the metamorphosis of the Z900 into the Z1000.

On a pound per performance basis the Kawasaki Z1000 remains the King.