Kawasaki Z 750

SURPRISE! It seemed that Kawasaki had shot all its cartridges (and what cartridges!) to the hall of Colony.

But we had not made the accounts with the vivacity of the House of Akashi that in the last years has decided to rise up with great steps all the ranks of sale.

Therefore you will be also dulled by this Z 750, the second chapter of the naked range from Kawasaki, just introduced in Italy where the market of this motorcycle is most important.

Family feeling: Esthetics more forced than in the past are very close to the one of the newZ 1000. With single, the Z 750 is very dificult to confuse with any other naked, if not with the greater sister.

It does not remain that to wait for the Eicma when we’ll know more.It is sure that the battle for the leadership in the naked segment will be more interesting.

The new Z750 combines serious street riding and with aggressive knife-edged styling. Specially designed for high-performance street riding, this new-age street-fighter offers the perfect balance of engine and chassis performance.

Perfectly balanced

The development aim for the New “Z” Series was “True Street Performance.” And while both the new Z1000 and new Z750 share this quality, their approaches are radically different. “Perfect balance” is the term which best describes the new Z750, delivering crisp, quick-revving power and sharp handling with superb rider feedback. Its avant-garde styling perfectly expresses the performance of this sharp-edged street tool, the only 750 cm³ super naked in its class.

Scalpel sharp handling

A slim and compact chassis gives the Z750 superb manoeuvrability and precise handling in a wide range of riding situations. Chassis highlights include a new 41 mm inverted fork, tuned to cope with demanding sports riding whilst improving ride quality and feel.

Superb feedback

The chassis’ stiffness balance has been optimised to give positive feedback across the entire speed range. In addition, an improved relationship between the seat, handlebars and footpeg positions further enhances communication between rider and machine.

Sensual power

Complementing the Z750’s new chassis is a re-tuned power unit. The liquid-cooled, 748 cm3, 16-valve, In-line Four has more instant urge and overtaking power — just what’s needed to excel in today’s urban riding environment. Changes result in a wider mid-range torque curve whilst retaining the high-rpm exhilaration of the previous model. These uprated power characteristics are accentuated by a unique new silencer and twin-outlet end-cap emitting a sensual 4-cylinder exhaust note that is pure Kawasaki, while relocated engine mounts behind the cylinder greatly reduce engine vibration transmitted to the rider.

Offering just the right amount of power in a responsive and sharp-looking package, the new Z750 just may be the best balanced machine of the new model year.

Review

Kawasaki Z750 (2006) - Jim Walsh turns in a long-term review of Kawasaki's little brother (but no less a bike for that) to the funky, exotic but strangely not so popular Z1000

2006 Kawasaki Z750 - Jim Smith's pride and joy... with a few sharp mods What makes someone chose a particular motorcycle over the plethora of models and niches now available to motorcyclists? Does the large number of motorcycle types actually provide a better purchasing and ownership experience?

Over the last five years since I returned to riding bikes after a self imposed exile of ten years, I've struggled to find a bike that satisfied both the urge to have fun, as well as having a reliable mode of cost efficient transport. An old CBR600 revived my biking mojo, then a TRX850 cemented my resurrected motorcycle obsession. A brief period of "Banana Bike" ownership convinced me I wasn't quite ready for pipe and slipper motorcycling. Not that there's anything wrong with Suzuki's GSXF range, it's just that a bright yellow GSX600F made me the victim of rather more derision than I felt comfortable with.

Yes, I'm shallow.

In early 2005 a red and black Yamaha R6 caught my eye, and thanks to some heavy discounting at the time, a rather spectacular R6 hit my garage. I had many memorable rides, some in particular with a friend who is no longer with us. But. With a capital B. The R6 was so uncomfortable in city traffic that I ended up with a diaphragmatic hernia. A combination of a wristy riding position and a need for constant head turning put stresses on my middle aged frame that actually hurt me quite badly.

So I bought a Honda CB400FII for commuting. Fantastic riding position for commuting, really comfortable seat, but limited ground clearance and weather protection, and nothing like the urge of the R6 on the open road had me thinking again. In late 2005 Kawasaki released the Z750S and the rest, as they say, is history.

I sat on the Zed in the shop, and the next day listed the CB400 for sale and traded the R6 on the Z750S. In Pearl Magma Red. The CB400 sold the same day I traded, so I had some spare cash for a change. Spare cash for turning the Z750 into a bit of a project.

Riding the Z750 home that day made me realise that I had indeed made the right decision, but I also had some scope for making it better, making it MY bike. The first 5000km were racked up pretty rapidly. I like to explore a bike's potential as quickly as possible and found that the Z750 went round corners brilliantly and thanks to similar horsepower to the R6, and a fatter mid range, the Z750 was quicker on the road than the R6 from point to point. So long as the roads were race track smooth.

But roads are anything but smooth. So the suspension had to be dealt to first. A couple of emails to Shaun Harris (the TT winner) of Moto-Dynamix and I had an Ohlins shock and Traxxion Dynamix fork springs and fork oil on the way.

Talk about making a silk purse out of a sow's ear. I know that the Z750 is supposed to be a "budget" bike, but I believe the two most important safety features of a motorcycle are the suspension and engine characteristics. The Z750's throttle response is magic, fuel injection that feels like a bank of well set up CV carburettors, and an almost linear relationship to throttle position and engine speed. Except for that damn emissions flat spot all bikes seem to be growing these days. No off idle jerkiness, and without that horrible feeling that the engine just shut off when you throttle right off.

If the engine is the Z750's high spot the stock suspension is most definitely its limiting factor. Bugger all rebound damping front and rear, no damping or preload adjustment for the front, and rebound adjustment for the rear that does nothing. Add to the mix progressive springs front and rear that bind and lock solid about half way through their travel and you've got a relatively quick bike that bangs and bounces from pothole to bump and back again.

The Ohlins and Traxxion Dynamics kit gave me a firmly suspended but well controlled bike. Just like my R6 had been, except the rear shock doesn't fade when pushed for a couple of hours. Braking distances dropped, I could get on the throttle earlier, and change line at will. The improved handling capacity highlighted the limitations of the brakes, so braided lines were installed, vastly improving power and feel. The new lines vastly improved the looks too, as the installation removed that great ugly link pipe between the front callipers. A quick visit to an automotive supplies outlet and I had a cut down panel pin blanking the hole left in the front guard.

My desire to "improve" on Kawasaki's product had now been well and truly fanned. I am aware that adding "stuff" to a bike does nothing to add to its value or offset depreciation, but by golly it is fun to make changes and actually improve a bike. Most motorcycles come off the production line so good, that it's hard to know where to start. Problem is I may be starting to over capitalise!

I've added and added to this bike, taking a budget bike aimed at Born Again Bikers and turning into a sporty Sports Tourer, with decent luggage capacity, excellent handling, and a bit of "attitude", thanks to a Micron Pipe and Stebel Nautilus horn. The Micron is great because cruising around town and commuting means you're generally using the mid range to haul yourself around, and in this respect the Micron sounds like the stock pipe. Tap the top third of the rev counter and it sounds like a race bike, screaming to redline and raising hairs on the back of your neck. At least it still does for me. The Stebel horn makes iPod deaf or cellphone blind pedestrians leap at least 10 feet vertically and 20 feet backWards meaning I don't even need to slow down to avoid them.

Just to give you an idea of what I've done, here is a list of mods:
Ohlins Rear Shock
Traxxion Dynamics Constant rate fork springs
Micron Muffler and link pipe
Oggy Knob Crash Bungs
Braided Brake Lines
Oxford Race Stand Spools
Swanman Rear Race Stand
Ventura Pack Rack System and Expandable Rally bag (make sure you buy the grab rail for when you have the pack rack off the bike)
Ventura Headlight protector
Stebel Nautilus Horn (all bikes should come with one as standard)
'04 ZX-6R Rear Hugger, slightly modified
Metal Gear front brake discs (because I somehow warped the front left stock disc)
Strip of rubber beneath the instrument cluster to kill the vibration noise from there

The stock tyres are really nice, the front is a Bridgestone BT019, and the rear is a BT012R both of which seem to be specially made for the Z750. Replacement time saw them rejected though, thanks to being 3 months away and 50% more expensive than the average price for a 120/70x17-180/55x17 tyre combo. Good excuse to try some Avon Vipers out. How good are the Vipers? I'm on my second set.

What glorious headlights! Their angular shape actually gives some view of the road ahead when cornering at night, and their range and penetration are excellent in stock trim. Something like an HID kit could only make them better. Hmmm, another potential modification.

Fuel consumption has been brilliant, averaging out at around 11 miles to the litre. Actual consumption figures vary tremendously between fuel retailers for some reason. All I can put that down to is the some manufacturers adding ethanol to the standard fuel blend in greater or lesser amounts.

Actually fuel consumption brings me to the one major gripe I have with the Z750S. The seat. That thing is a torture rack. After an hour, the seat foam compresses and you are sitting on the plastic seat base. I have plans though. The next change I'm making to the Zed is a Rider seat.Then a double bubble screen, then some flash levers, then some rear sets - aaaargh, make it stop!

I still smile when I look at MY bike in the garage, I look forward to riding to and from work every day, and I love to get out in the countryside with my mates on their much sportier tackle. The great thing is I don't have to make excuses if I feel like taking it easy, and they have to make excuses if I arrive somewhere first.

Verdict: Kawasaki, do us all a favour. I know you've got a new model coming out for 2007. Do something about that seat, and fit suspension that does something other than hold the bike up off the ground (Editorial note: Every review I've seen harps on about how they've improved the suspension, so perhaps Kawasaki have listened to their public?). I'll still change stuff, but at least this brilliant semi-faired motorcycle won't be compromised right from the word go. I chose this bike because it looked great, the engine ticked the right boxes, and there was plenty of scope to make it "mine". The only niche it belongs to is "motorcycle", just like all bikes used to, and thanks to a great basic package, you get to chose which end of the road biased motorcycle spectrum you're aiming for.

Source Bobpickett.co.uk