Bike Match

Kawasaki's ZZR1200 and ZZR1400

Article from www.visordown.com

Pitching the 14 up against its four year-old forebearer, the ZZR1200, should seem a foregone conclusion. And of course with the ZZR1200 being a sports tourer, not a super sports (the ZX-12R was Kawasaki’s big-capacity super sports back then) the old bike’s soft-focus should see it steam-rolled. Only we’ll give you a hint as to what’s coming, right now. You see, the touring ZZR1200 of 2002 in fact had a powered-up motor, making in the order of 8% more power than the ZZR1100.

The 1400 motor isn’t listed as ‘new’ but with significantly bigger bore and stroke dimensions it’s a full 188cc bigger than the ZZR1200. Now fuel injected, according to Kawasaki the new engine has been massively tuned, their figures putting the ZZR1400 as 25% more powerful than the ZZR1200. Yep, Kawasaki claim 200bhp with ram-air assistance, Only here’s a thing: on Carbontek’s dyno that 200 figure converted to 165.7bhp at the rear wheel – a figure which is barely 14% up on the ZZR1200′s motor. Now that doesn’t sound so earth shatteringly massive does it? And if we’d known that when we came to do our side-by-side roll-on tests we wouldn’t have been so shocked at the outcome. You see, there we were at 5.30am on the motorway to Dover, checking out 60 to 120mph top gear acceleration. And what happened? Dead heats. Actually not even that. Some the ZZR1200 won. The only difference was rider reaction time; whatever was won or lost was done on the initial twist of the wrist. We even tried the same roll-ons in fifth and fourth gears – and still no discernable differences. Holy cow! Can this be true? Well, we rang Kawasaki UK when we got back and told them. The response wasn’t official, but they explained that the real power gains – as is the modern way – are really found in the higher realms of the rev range. So we probably wouldn’t be finding the differences sub-120mph.
But put these two on some twisting roads, and some really twisting, well contoured ones at that, and you’ll find the ZZR1400 steams away. Only now we’re not convinced that’s entirely due to the motor, however strong it is, for often the technique to fast progress with the 1400 was to short shift and let the motor torque.

The ZZR1400 motor also struggled, curiously, when ridden sort of ‘furiously’ for the photoshoot. When turning in the road for repeated passes past the photographer the ZZR1400 would fluff badly off the bottom, requiring clutch slip and a good handful to get it going. By contrast you could U-turn the ZZR1200 and then, with a deft dip of the clutch, launch the old ‘un up the road with a satisfyingly large and lusty wheely.

The 1400 is, without a doubt, altogether a more dynamic and thrilling package. The chassis, an aluminium monocoque, is a development of that used in the ZX-12R but is massively better than that. Kawasaki claim the monocoque is inherently more rigid than a twin-spar frame, and the ZZR1400 feels low and intuitive. Weight is of course down – a claimed 215kg (dry) as against the ZZR1200′s 236kg. And the geometry is sharper again, 23û compared to 25¡. Significantly the suspension is now of a super sports specification. The 43mm Kayabas are now inverted with compression and rebound damping adjustment and the same goes for the shock. Running on lighter wheels (we can’t confirm how much lighter) with the latest 310mm petal discs and radial four-piston brakes, the ZZR1400 feels supremely confident at speed, even on the twistiest roads. We repeated two sections of road. The first featured a blind crest taken charging in the middle part of third gear, which was followed by a steep downhill and hairpin turn. Here it was a challenge to freak yourself out by attacking the crest as hard as you dare – a crest taken with some lean on. Yet the 14 never budged from its line. Easy. It was only the hairpin which challenged the 1400. Here the suspension took too long to settle and it took positive throttle to hold it all together. Some time with the adjusters would have helped. The other section of road, a stunning third gear drive up a sweeping uphill left leading into a second gear right again showed how far the ZZR has come. The 1200 should have been able to keep up, but its handling just fell apart. The ZZR1400 simply goaded you on to ride harder and harder.

Lookswise, the ZZR1200 won’t ever be a classic. It took the remarkably restrained yet powerful curves and flanks of the ZZR1100 and added a set of Ford Mondeo lights circa 1997. Big blobby headlights and taillights do not an attractive roadbike make. Of course they may be supremely effective in use, but that’s not what we’re discussing here. The ZZR had always been mega-comfy, and now it was made to look it. No longer pegged as a GSX-R-killer as it earlier had, it was now fighting BMW K1200STs and Triumph Sprint STs.
The ZZR1400 looks bloody great. Big and brutal with some really classy touches, it’s properly slippery while also working that Big Bike look to perfection. It’s long, it looks long and of course, it looks sporty again. The wheels have that racy look, as do the brakes. The screen’s lower and Lamborghini vents (last seen on 1995′s Honda VFR750) are back with a vengeance.

The 1400 marks a return of the ZZR to the mantle it was originally designed for – super sports. Steering the ZZR1200 into touring, to allow the ZX-12R to take over at the pointy end was a slight on the ZZR’s reputation. Even now, reading the performance figures and our roll-on tests, we can’t believe how strong the old bike went. The chassis was hopelessly outgunned by the new bike, though. But with Kawasaki now putting the ZZR back on the top shelf and creating the GTR to match the new spec demanded for touring types, equilibrium in the Kawaski sporting line up is restored. When a five-year-old bike can accelerate alongside the most powerful sports bike ever, it’s impossible not to be impressed, but time is a hard master and the great chassis on the ZZR1400, not to mention sharp looks, made the new bike untouchable.