The Life | Living It
Bike Impression
RIDING IT: KAWASAKI’S 2010 Z1000 MORE MUSCULAR LOOKS,
AND MUSCLE TO BACK IT UP
Judging by the Z1000 would NOTABLE look of it, the all-new accelerate with • 1,043cc inline four is bumped up 90cc noticeably more 2010 Kawasaki • Horsepower jumps from 125 to 138 Z1000 appears to hustle. And you’d • Torque is now 81.1 pounds-feet have pumped up the be absolutely right. • Chassis is 8.8 pounds lighter muscle and trimmed During a day of riding down the fat. Chiseled along the central with confident linearity, the naked bike California coast, we were taken aback by oozes resolve from its ominous headlamps the Z1000’s sharply tuned chassis. to its vectored tail section. And fortunately Some may wonder about parts of the for Z1000 fans, these visuals are a rather styling, like the stubby and decidedly accurate representation of the Z1000’s controversial gold rose exhaust cans, thoroughly re-worked underpinnings. and the shovel-like front cowl. But With more guts and 22 fewer pounds more seasoned riders will look past the to haul around, you’d think the $10,499 Kawasaki Z1000’s styling cues and savor
20
AmericanMotorcyclist.com
its newly found dynamism and entertaining on-road persona. There are, after all, worse ways to age gracefully.—Basem Wasef See the full riding impression on AmericanMotorcyclist.com.