Group ride: North York Moors
Kawasaki’s updated Z1000SX Tourer KTM’S incredible 1290 Super Duke GT mix power and practicality on a flying visit to Yorkshire
“We’ve made the pilgrimage to stretch the legs of a couple of potent sports tourers”
I’M ON THE highway to Hull. It’s not half as exciting as the one AC/DC wrote about, but the Humber Bridge’s impressive scale at least offers a welcome break from the A15’s straight-laced monotony. Once the world’s longest suspension bridge, today it simply lifts us lazily out of Lincolnshire, dropping back down to earth a mile and a bit later in Yorkshire.
Fellow tester Jimmy Doherty and I have made the pilgrimage to God’s Own County in search of the space and scenery to stretch the legs of a couple of potent sports tourers. Kawasaki have updated their best-selling Z1000SX, imbuing it with smarter technology, racier Ninja-style bodywork, a sprinkling of extra comfort and improved detailing. We know how good the outgoing bike is, but to find out just how much of an improvement this new one is we’ve brought along an equally orange measuring stick in the form of KTM’S 1290 Super Duke GT.
THE FIRST HOUR this morning had been spent heading north up the A1, playing spot the difference from the Kawasaki’s saddle. The SX’S 1043cc inline four engine hasn’t changed and, despite new catalytic converters to meet the latest emissions standards, neither has its power, torque or delivery. The frame is the same and the fairly upright riding position’s no different either. In short, any Z1000SX owner will instantly recognise this bike as a very close relative of their own.
But there’s plenty that has changed. The screen is 15mm taller, though it still needs to be at the most erect of its three positions to offer anything resembling wind protection at motorway speeds. The fairing is about an inch wider on each side, and the mirrors stick out further for a slightly improved rear view. The clocks are a similar layout to before, but the LCD panels are a reversed white-on-black, while a new gear position indicator helps stop me clicking for a non-existent seventh. The clutch lever gets a new span adjuster, too.
Frustratingly, one of the SX’S traits I hoped would have been left behind during this update soon rears its head. Having swung off the A1 at Newark, the A46’s obstacle course of roundabouts quickly reveals the Kawasaki’s low-speed steering is as vague and clumsy as before. It tips in easily enough, but as soon as it comes off vertical it starts to feel slightly drunk – not three-sheets-to-thewind belligerent, but definitely two-pints tipsy. You can sense a heaviness from the front end, and feel a physical
weight in your hand as the inside clip-on pushes against your palm, making you work just to keep the bike on course.
It’s a shame because this 2017 SX carries so much extra tech (from sharp white LED headlights to a lean-anglesensing IMU and Zx-10rderived cornering ABS) it’s odd for something so basic to not be quite right. What’s equally odd is that you notice this less when you pick the pace up a little. After bypassing Hull and heading north-east towards the coast, we stumble across a quiet but open set of anonymous backroads from Skirlaugh to Hornsea. It’s all smooth curves cutting through empty countryside, and the Z1000SX’S chassis feels far more at home here than it did bumbling steadily through dual-carriageway roundabouts earlier.
Swapping to the KTM shows the GT is operating on a different level – literally. You sit taller, holding higher, wider handlebars. That might sound like a more relaxed, less sporty riding position but the reality is that you feel more in charge, better placed to throw the bike around and put it exactly where you want. The Super Duke responds impeccably to your commands, turning with a considered ease. It’s not the super-sharp, hyperactive steering you might imagine given KTM’S energetic image – in fact, the GT’S wheelbase is longer and its steering geometry more relaxed than the SX – but handling is brisk, obedient and neutral from upright to full lean.
The Super Duke is also no doubt hugely helped by its semi-active suspension, which comes fitted as standard. You can choose from three levels of firmness – Comfort, Street or Sport - and adjust them on the move from the button cluster on the left-hand bar. Comfort moves around a bit too much for my tastes even on bumpy roads, but Street and Sport offer a nice choice between compassionate ride quality and fearsome poise.
We track the coast up past Atwick and Bridlington, then dive off the A165 in search of more backroads before Scarborough. The Super Duke’s steering and suspension might be impressive, but its motor is obscenely good. It’s not just the GT’S astonishing top-end power – though with a claimed 170bhp, you get fair warning that it’s
armed to the teeth. Instead it’s the way the 1301cc V-twin offers such an instant thump of explosive machine-gun thrust everywhere, its slick quickshifter allowing seamless shove going up through the gears (it doesn’t work for downshifts, though). There’s a trio of modes (Rain, Street and Sport) but again only the top two are worth using. You could happily ride round in full-fat Sport mode almost all the time – even snarled-up in Scarborough rush-hour traffic, Sport feels perfectly obedient.
“That KTM…” begins Jimmy, wide-eyed and shaking his head in approving disbelief when we stop to admire the floating moneypits in Scarborough’s habour. “It’s so engaging, it’s got so much instant power, and yet it’s so refined. It’s so easy to use, even in Sport mode – it’s not harsh, snatchy or grabby.”
The sun starts to set and a flock of starlings begins its hypnotic murmuration over the seafront. Nature’s beauty contrasts with the arcades’ artificial twinkling, and we decide it’s time to head for our B&B. I take the Kawasaki again but in my mirrors I spot the KTM’S own light show, the GT’S cornering lights (three LEDS on each side of the bike that light up as the bike leans over) taking turns flickering on and off as we leave town.
I expect to be underwhelmed returning to the Z1000SX, but its calmer nature is refreshing. The next morning we carry on up the A171, its early run of lush green trees offering a change in backdrop after the open fields and coastal views of yesterday. The Kawasaki’s motor whistles along with a serene, effortless slickness, happy to pull high gears and low revs without complaint.
The SX’S motor lacks the GT’S capacity, and hence its torque, but makes up for it in part with much shorter gearing – at 70mph in top gear the Kawasaki spins at 5000rpm, where the KTM chugs down nearer 4000rpm. As a result the Z1000SX is happy to pull from just 30mph in fifth – yet it also has the power and the rev range to scream towards three figures in third. There is a Low power mode, but it’s redundant. Left in default Full power it’s astonishingly flexible – and to any rider brought up on Japanese inline fours its smooth, almost turbine-like delivery is far more familiar than the KTM’S sharp-edged V-twin pulses.
And, let’s not forget, it’s also 140bhp-fast. After a couple of detours to explore the quaint Robin Hood’s Bay and witness Whitby’s Whalebone Arch, we drop into the top of the Moors to revel in this beautifully bleak landscape. The Z1000SX feels like a Border Collie puppy let off the leash – all boundless enthusiasm to see what’s over the next horizon. It charges through revs, low-rev politeness evolving into a growl (and a few high-frequency bar tingles) above 8000rpm.
Through the quick, sweeping twists and turns the Z1000SX is entertaining, too. Its high-ish bars give plenty of leverage, making it feel more like a supernaked than the hunched-up, front-focused sportsbike its full fairing is trying to emulate. Suspension is decent enough, and certainly far happier on these smoother roads than yesterday’s occasionally rougher stuff, while the four-piston front brakes offer lots of power and feel.
But it doesn’t have the laser-guided precision of the KTM, nor its high-speed composure, nor its breathtaking Brembos. “The Kawasaki’s a good bike, but it’s just a bit wallowy, there’s a bit too
“The calmer nature of the SX is refreshing”