Kawasaki Z1000SX (2011-16)
Jack-of-all-trades sports tourer is a great used buy
WHEN KAWASAKI ANNOUNCED a fully faired version of its naked Z1000 for 2011, it didn’t exactly have buyers lining up round the block to hand over their cash. Admittedly the Z1000 was a great bike to use as a base for a budget tourer quick, capable and stable - but it still looked like a stopgap model and few people saw a great future for it.
So much for predictions... Six years on, the Z1000SX and its pannierequipped Touring variant have been a quiet success story for the big K, selling steadily to an audience of mainly experienced riders who want a proper, old-school all-rounder. Crucially, those owners aren’t looking for a slightly faster version of a serious tourer - they want a slightly more comfortable alternative to the single-mindedness of a serious sportsbike. That difference in perspective is important. And having plumped for an SX in the first place, quite a percentage find that there’s nothing else out there that really hits the spot when they want to change bikes. So owners of the original 2011-2013 version eagerly traded up when the revised model came out in 2014. And it’s happening again there’s a new, heavily-revised model out this year (see p14), and many owners are trading up. So their old bikes are on the market, and this looks like a good time to delve into the big Zed’s secrets.