BIKES: 2012 Kawasaki ZX-14R introduced

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BIKES: 2012 Kawasaki ZX-14R introduced

Neale Bayly puts the 2012 Kawasaki ZX-14R To the test...

Neale Bayly | Posted May 18, 2012 Charlotte, NC

What ever happens in Vegas, you can run away fast on a Kawasaki ZX-14-R. (Photo:Adam Campbell and Kevin Wing)

So you find yourself on a drag strip sitting on a 220-plus horsepower motorcycle. It’s grey and overcast with the mercury hovering around the low 40s. The tires are stone cold, you’ve never ridden the bike before, and you’re staring straight ahead to the end of the drag strip. A friendly face inside a Kawasaki hooded sweatshirt interrupts the temporary calm and says, “Go!” It’s time to ride. Pulling in the light hydraulic clutch, slipping down into first gear, and bringing the engine up to around 3,500 rpm, I slip the clutch out, get rolling, and pin the throttle. Grabbing a couple of up-shifts before the quarter-mile mark sees the speedometer needle sail past 140 mph, and it’s time to shut things down. Throttling off and applying the brutally strong front brakes, I find that by the time it’s time to turn it’s as peaceful as a Sunday ride in the country inside the big ZX-14R’s full fairing. Easily making the turn, I have to laugh for putting myself through unnecessary levels of stress as I rolled up to the line. I could have just as easily been pulling out of a parking lot in the family four door, as the most powerful production motorcycle in the world made the experience completely drama free, thanks to Kawasaki’s new advanced traction control.

A quick review of our recent motorcycle history shows the ZX-14 hitting the streets back in 2006. As the fastest, most powerful production motorcycle produced at that time, it wowed us with its civilized behavior, comfort, and ride-ability. All of this while being able to destroy a quarter-mile drag strip in less than ten seconds and hit its government-mandated top speed of 186 mph a few seconds later, should you have had the room to let it breath. You couldn’t go mad in the twisties, but for a big bike it could certainly hustle, and for those interested in throwing on some soft luggage and a tank bag, it made for a highly effective sport-touring motorcycle. Displacing 1352cc, since its launch date Kawasaki has continued to refine the big Ninja, but it’s taken until 2012 to see any substantial upgrades, and these come with the addition of an “R” after its name to state the serious intention of the new 14’s intended purpose.

Starting in the engine bay, the big news is more displacement and more power. Enlarging the stroke by 4mm to 65mm has increased the original displacement to 1441cc, but Kawasaki was being very tight lipped about the actual horsepower number. Thankfully, Brock Davidson wasn’t, and on his dyno a stock 2012 ZX-14R recorded 196 rear-wheel horsepower after his correct break-in procedure. Compare this to the original ZX-14’s putting out around 165 horsepower under the same conditions, and you can see this is actually huge news.

This substantial power hike doesn’t just come from the displacement increase though, as the new forged 84mm pistons with thinner crowns use a higher 12.3:1 compression ratio. More aggressive camshafts open and close the original exhaust valves and new, longer intake valves. The combustion chambers are surface milled and reshaped, while the intake ports are polished to give the new head a factory port job. Kawasaki is rightly pleased with this attention to detail, and to ensure everything remains working in perfect harmony at high rpm, a stronger cam chain works in tandem with an improved hydraulic tensioning system. This new setup also reduces mechanical noise when the engine is cold. With the new pistons being cooled by an oil-jet system, the engine also runs cooler than last year’s model, even with all the extra power.

More Photos of the ZX14-R

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