Zee whiz: the 2003 Kawasaki Z1000.

Kawasaki's sporty new Z1000 was first revealed to the public at the Intermot show in Munich, Germany, last September. In our March 2003 issue. Rider's Prolific British contributor Kevin Ash brought us an early scoop on this bike-which is based on the ZX-9R's engine, transmission and some running gear-from a brief riding impression he formed in Japan. Coincidentally word has it that the original idea for the naked Ninja came from Kawasaki's United Kingdom distributor. The Z1000's styling was penned by former automotive designer shunji Tanaka, "father" of the Mazda Miata, in collaboration with Keishi Fukumoto, the man behind the ZR-7, ZX-9R and ZX-12R series. Apparently they got some things right, because when we finally got our hands on a test machine, everywhere we went with the bike it attracted attention.

Starting with a ZX-9R bottom end, kawi's engine builders bored out the cylinders an additional 2.2mm, added chrome composite plating for improved durability, and modified the cylinder heads to match the bores. Fins were added to the outside of the head for a more "traditional" appearance, and the combustion chambers were changed to allow the use of regular-grade gasoline. Camshaft profiles and timing were redesigned for more low-and midrange grunt, and the intake ports are more horizontal-again for "tradition" (and packaging). Fuel-injection takes the place of carburetors, with a row of four 38mm throttle bodies (the same diameter as the 636cc ZX-6R's, so they're conservative on a 953cc engine) with new sub-throttle valves, sourced from the Suzuki-Kawi alliance, that are designed to provide smooth off-idle response plus a broad powerband. We ran the bike on Borla Performance's Dynojet and it made 121.5 peak rear-wheel horsepower at 10,100 rpm and 66.9 pounds-feed of torque at 7,800 rpm. On cold startup the Z1 000's engine fires right now. There's still a cold-start lever on the left grip, but unless it's quite chilly out, no extra idle speed is needed. The engine warms up quickly sans rideability problems and behaves as if it's warmed already. Throttle roll-on is smooth and glitch-free with no abruptness off-idle or elsewhere. You can lug the engine down to 20 mph in sixth gear and ride away. Due to its sportbike heritage, the motor doesn't make a lot of torque at low revs, but get above five grand and things happen fast. The engine pulls gloriously up to the 11,000-rpm redline, and if you're naughty, you'll find the rev limiter at 12 grand. We won't use the "hooly" word, but have to mention how easy it is to loft the front wheel in the lower gears.

Both clutch and transmission are carried over from the ZX-9R, although metallurgy and crowning of the gears has been changed for greater durability Clutch effort is moderate, with smooth take-up. Shifting is a little sticky when ridden slowly, but fine otherwise. We'd also like a taller sixth gear for highway runs.

A diamond-type frame of large-diameter thin-walled steel tubing uses the engine as a stressed member to further reduce chassis flexibility The extruded-aluminum swingarm features a hexagonal structure for stiffness and weight savings. Kawi's bottom-link Uni-Trak system employs a nitrogen-charged single shock with a piggyback reservoir and adjustable rebound damping.

Up front a 41mm male-slider cartridge fork with adjustable preload and rebound damping offers up a nice blend of suppleness and sportiness, and the steep rake angle yields right-now-quick turning ability. On some sections of highway with repetitive concrete seams, the ride gets choppy, but otherwise it's firm, planted and stable.

Dual four-piston calipers from the ZX-9R clamp 300mm front rotors that are 20mm smaller in diameter than the Ninja's. A single-pot damper resides in back. Stopping power is plenty strong, and modulation is fine; just not quite state-of-the-art powerful.

That long handlebar gives lots of leverage, and there's plenty of steering lock for making tight turns. It's possible to do a reasonable parking-lot imitation of trials riding, in fact.