Kawasaki Z1000SX Tourer
Where we’re going, we don’t need pillions
SPEC KAWASAKI Z1000SX TOURER £10,739 + 1043cc inline four + 140bhp + 235kg + 19-litre tank + 815mm seat + Miles: 9343
I HUNKER DOWN behind the fairing, hedges blurring as I give the throttle a firm twist. The exhausts roar and the resonator plate in the airbox gives a howl of induction noise as I click up another gear. But it’s only a short burst of speed and then I’m sitting up and rolling off, going down one gear as I tuck back into traffic. Eye-blink overtakes are all well and good, but they only hint at what the Z1000SX can do.
The trouble is, I’ve spent too much of the year commuting on the SX, snatching moments like this. It’s perfectly capable and the integrated panniers are handy (even if they’re a stupid shape and not really big enough
for touring, just weekend breaks). But the SX is wasted doing this kind of drudgery, like asking a heart surgeon to put plasters on paper cuts every day.
It showed its true colours when standing in for my trusty 13-year-old 600 after my riding buddies turned up for our annual trip on new bikes — a Yamaha Tracer 900, a Ducati Pikes Peak Multistrada and three BMW S1000XRS. At the last minute I felt I’d need the Kawasaki’s 140bhp to keep the playing field level. We blasted up to Scotland, into the Highlands to ride Applecross and Skye, finishing in the Borders before a cross-country run back down to Lincolnshire.
That’s what the SX was built for: devouring distances, with an emphasis on twisty roads rather than dual carriageways. But never mind the motor, it was the electronic rider aids introduced for this year that made a difference on this trip. I managed to trigger the cornering ABS and traction when I mis-read a corner: I’m convinced that, without them, what was an intake of breath and an “ooh, flashing lights...” moment would have been much worse.
The other thing this four-day, 1500mile trip confirmed was that the saddle gets hard fast on longer stints — and my knees began to ache after two hours on the motorway. Mind you, pillion comfort
is marginal too. That’s fine by me though: the SX is best enjoyed solo.
Over the course of the year, the SX did well in the fleet’s luggage test and poorly in the fuel-economy challenge, but scrubbed up a treat in our washing comparison. When it comes to solo touring it looks the part as well as delivering the goods. Though the tyres it comes on, Bridgestone S20s, just don’t suit it. Swap them for anything else and the steering improves dramatically. I got a good life from Avon Spirit STS and am currently using good, grippy Michelin Pilot Road 4s.
My other niggles are with what it doesn’t have. This was a 2017 model so why no modern colour TFT, cruise control on a bike with touring in its job description or centrestand? Ah. All three are on next year’s more expensive, more powerful H2 SX…
“Pillion comfort is marginal too. That’s fine by me, though”