Kawasaki keeps knocking with sportier sport-tourers.

[Ray]

Here's a review in Revzilla of a 500-pound liter bike with good luggage and heads-up ergos. If only I could justify messing with chain maintenance.....

Kawasaki Ninja 1000 SX with luggage

   

2020 KAWASAKI NINJA 1000SX
Price (MSRP) $12,399
Engine 1,034 cc, liquid-cooled, 16-valve, inline four
Transmission,
final drive Six-speed, chain
Claimed horsepower 138
Claimed torque NA
Frame Aluminum twin-spar
Front suspension KYB 41 mm fork, adjustable for spring preload, compression and rebound damping; 4.7 inches of travel
Rear suspension KYB shock adjustable for spring preload and rebound damping; 5.4 inches of travel
Front brake Tokico four-piston calipers, 300 mm discs with ABS
Rear brake Nissin single-piston caliper, 250 mm disc with ABS
Rake, trail 24.0 degrees, 3.9 inches
Wheelbase 56.7 inches
Seat height 32.1 inches
Fuel capacity 5.0 gallons
Tires Bridgestone S22, 120/70R17 front, 190/55R17 rear
Claimed weight 514 pounds (516 pounds for the CA model)
Available Now
Warranty 12 months
More info Kawasaki.com

[Lee]

. If only I could justify messing with chain maintenance.....

I've been spoiled by too many years of driveshafts even though a driveshaft and final drive is very heavy.
I would like a belt with single sided swingarm.

The 1000SX looks like a lot of bike for the money.
I like the hard bags. Is a rear rack available?
Sounds like they need to refine the front ABS. I don't like the idea of the ABS kicking in too early.
It's odd the cruise can not be used above 85 mph.

[Grumpy Goat]

I resized the picture to 1024 pixels wide and reduced the JPEG quality by 20%. Now I can see the whole bike on my screen without scrolling sideways.

Back in 2015 when I was in the market, I looked at the Kawasaki Versys 1000 LT and loved the look of it and the promise of Japanese reliability. But it had one fatal flaw - no cruise control on a touring bike. Ain't gonna pass GO for me. The chain is less of an issue for me. I then looked at the S1000XR and while it had cruise control and nice power, the vibration was too much for me for long distances. Then came the RS and the rest is history.

Finally in 2020 Kawasaki figured out how to offer throttle-by-wire which enables cruise control and ride modes, etc. Over 5 years later! And they offer this beautiful SX sport tourer as well, with CC ... nice indeed.

Weird that the CC maxes out at 85 mph indeed, although for me that is OK since I cruise at 80 mph maximum - good balance of fuel consumption, noise, speed traps, etc.

[Lee]

Weird that the CC maxes out at 85 mph indeed, although for me that is OK since I cruise at 80 mph maximum - good balance of fuel consumption, noise, speed traps, etc.

I stopped cruising faster then 80 on long trips mainly for tire life.
When we had the K1200RS we would set the cruise faster than 80 in the western states because those bikes were very smooth at high speeds and had good wind protection.

[Ray]

. If only I could justify messing with chain maintenance.....

I've been spoiled by too many years of driveshafts even though a driveshaft and final drive is very heavy.
I would like a belt with single sided swingarm.

The 1000SX looks like a lot of bike for the money.
I like the hard bags. Is a rear rack available?
Sounds like they need to refine the front ABS. I don't like the idea of the ABS kicking in too early.
It's odd the cruise can not be used above 85 mph.

Thanks Lee - always appreciate your attention to detail. Always looking, but currently in a relationship. Thought this part of the forum needed another thread to remind us why we ride what we ride.

Agree with the future of Gates belt drives..., though I still have an old chain breaker I should probably give away at some point, so I'm not tempted by these low prices for lesser technology.

They have a "performance tourer" which looks like it might have a rack-like passenger seat - couldn't find one in the shop or a good photo to make sure....

I couldn't confirm the 85 mph cruise limit.... California? Couldn't confirm related legislation either.

GG is on the money. Technology is less expensive after a few years. (We used to say, one could ride for free if they bought 5 year old equipment, kept it up and resold within a couple years.)

[Grumpy Goat]

Moved the posts about the S12000R to a separate thread. Didn't want to hijack Ray's thread about the Kawi.

[Duccrazydave]

Followed the link in the OP. Very nice that the panniers can swallow a full face helmet. Also noticed the comment about the windscreen at higher cruising speeds.
Hmm, where have I heard complaints that before, lol.

[strubes250]

I recently had a 2018 Kawasaki 100 sx, with the hard cases , and a 2016 R1200rs in the garage at the same time. I was moving, and only wanted to move one bike. I kept the BMW, even though I've been a Kaw guy forever. The gear ratio on the Kawi quickly became tiresome. Sport type ratios had me moving all the way up the gearbox, even at moderate speeds. The engine, while powerful and smooth, lacked the charisma and abundance of torque available on my 2004 ZRX 12. The Kawi offers great value for the buck, handles really well ,nice bags and definitely faster than the RS. I liked it, but it wasn't love. The engine character, comfort[for me], and superior high speed stability,[longer wheelbase], of the RS made it an easy decision. And its wet weight is one pound higher than the Kawasaki. I am almost in love.

[runnerhiker]

Kawasaki is going to get me one of these days with one of their I-4 liter bikes, but this Ninja won't be it. I want their super charged 1000 cc H2 engine. Their sport tourer with the H2 engine has clip on's and the ergonomics is too much like a sports bike. Their naked Z H2, is, "naked", but the ergonomics are just right for me. One of these days they are going to get it right for my taste, and when that happens, the chain drive won't keep me away.

In the meantime, I am enjoying my S1000XR tremendously.

PS: the Z H2 is $20k with electronic suspension and all the other latest electronics, it only lacks wind protection. The only thing the XR has that it does not have is GPS mount and the wonder wheel.

[strubes250]

Kawasaki is going to get me one of these days with one of their I-4 liter bikes, but this Ninja won't be it. I want their super charged 1000 cc H2 engine. Their sport tourer with the H2 engine has clip on's and the ergonomics is too much like a sports bike. Their naked Z H2, is, "naked", but the ergonomics are just right for me. One of these days they are going to get it right for my taste, and when that happens, the chain drive won't keep me away.

In the meantime, I am enjoying my S1000XR tremendously.

PS: the Z H2 is $20k with electronic suspension and all the other latest electronics, it only lacks wind protection. The only thing the XR has that it does not have is GPS mount and the wonder wheel.

I agree Would love the H2 powerplant in a sport tourer with comfy ergos.

[runnerhiker]

My local Kawasaki dealer had the Ninja 1000SX and the Z H2 both on the showroom floor this past week. I had a chance to sit on both back to back and make a good showroom floor comparison.

Ray has it right in the opening message here, I was very impressed with the Ninja. Good price, well equipped, ergonomics just right. The Z H2 has a great engine and that's very appealing, but a close comparison of the seat, footpegs, wind protection, and ergo's makes a strong point for the Ninja.

I am in the process of modifying the seat on my S1000XR. If I get a seat that's all day comfortable for the XR, I think I'll stop lusting for one of these Kawasaki's. The XR would be almost as powerful as the Z and just as comfortable as the Ninja.

The Ninja would be $15k with bags.
The Z H2 is $18k before any accessories.

   
   
   
   

[Grumpy Goat]

I am in the process of modifying the seat on my S1000XR. If I get a seat that's all day comfortable for the XR, I think I'll stop lusting for one of these Kawasaki's.

What is the issue with the seat on the XR? For me when I rode it, I didn't really like the curvature - I like a flattish seat.

I already had some of the slope taken out of the Tracer's seat so that the curvature is not as irritating, but I still "don't love" the seat.

[runnerhiker]

I am in the process of modifying the seat on my S1000XR. If I get a seat that's all day comfortable for the XR, I think I'll stop lusting for one of these Kawasaki's.

What is the issue with the seat on the XR? For me when I rode it, I didn't really like the curvature - I like a flattish seat.

I already had some of the slope taken out of the Tracer's seat so that the curvature is not as irritating, but I still "don't love" the seat.

I have 3 after market seats for the XR, none of them are the "final" solution, all of them are better than OEM. The OEM seat was terrible, the padding was much too thin and the curvature didn't allow any movement. The Wunderlich seat is almost good, but it slopes forward just enough to constantly bother me when I ride, I am going to have it modified this week, the shop owner showed me how to use a folded towel, locate it near the tank, and see how that helps the sloping. He is right on the money about this so I have high hopes that he can modify the seat to my liking.

I saw you video on the Tracer seat adjustment, it looked like a good solution. Like you, I prefer a more flat seat over a dished seat.

Two Wunderlich seats, left is for the RS, the right seat is for the XR. I have done 6-8-9 hour day on the Wunderlich RS, on the XR I am squirming after an hour. See how the XR seat is dished and the RS seat is much more flat.

   

[Grumpy Goat]

I have 3 after market seats for the XR, none of them are the "final" solution, all of them are better than OEM. The OEM seat was terrible, the padding was much too thin and the curvature didn't allow any movement.
…

That was my impression also when I rode the XR in 2015. By contrast the Kawasaki seats seem to been right and not have this design philosophy. Good luck on the XR seat.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Liteitup]

I have a Corbin for Gen 1 XR's that doesn't work for me. Makes the bike too tall, actually probably because it's too wide and makes my legs too short. I have no problem with the stock seat, but that just proves how subjective this all is.

[Duckbubbles]

Although many consider the stock exhaust muffler on our bikes to be ugly, the ones issued on the Kawi's and downright hideous.

Frank

[Duccrazydave]

The 1000SX in the OP looks pretty nice. The next 1000SX pic (the black bike) looks very different. Is that a model year bodywork update or do the graphics make it look so different? I'm not going to discuss the H2 styling, lol.

[runnerhiker]

I don't see any difference between the OP and the picture I posted, besides the obvious that the OP has bags. I opened another window in my computer, to look at a Kawi website picture of the current bike, to compare to OP and I couldn't see a difference in body panels.

[trudd]

They are the same under the colour scheme.

The 1000SX and R1250RS were my shortlist to replace my aging Triumph Sprint 1050ST in August. I test rode the 1000SX and it was lovely but didn't quite feel right, I felt that I was perched on top but did think it was something I would get used to.

The next day I tested the RS. As I'm here I guess you can work out which bike I thought was right for me. I've now done around 2000 miles on the RS and I'm sure I made the right decision.