Raring to Go The Distance

RING

TO GO THE DISTANCE

If you’re gonna ride a four-cylinder motorcycle, you might as well ride a large four-cylinder motorcycle. Over the years, I’ve tested a decent number of inline fours, and while I’ve had fun on all of them, my heart gravitates to the bigger ones. A small four-cylinder bike doesn’t have that wide spread of torque that I crave – a top-end rush is nice, but the ability to honk a bike right off the bottom is what it takes to really grab my attention.

Now, I know what you’re thinking: What about the environment? What about fuel economy? Think of the children!

Meh. I’ll plant a tree in their name. Once again, for clarity: I like big four-cylinder bikes.

Case in point – the 2021 Kawasaki Ninja 1000SX. One thousand cubic centimetres. Well, 1,043 cc to be exact, in a sport touring chassis that definitely leans toward the sport end of the equation. To that point, while the 1000SX isn’t exactly a full-on sport bike – it’s not a ZX-10R supersport with a set of bags and taller ‘bars – the 1000SX is an agile, fast motorcycle, and that’s a great combination in my books.

When I first approached the 1000SX at Kawasaki’s headquarters here in Toronto, I was somewhat surprised at how compact the bike appeared. Yes, this is a sport tourer, but the seat is flat and firm, the tank long and low, and it seemed to me that the overall profile of the motorcycle was much more closely related to that ZX-10R than some sort of upright dad bike.

Slinging a leg over the 1000SX continues the contradiction. The clip-on bars are raised up to a comfortable level, one that kept most of the weight off my crippled-up wrists. The pegs forced my knees up to a sub90-degree angle, but one that didn’t cramp my two steel hips. Compared to the average sport-tourer, the 1000SX’s riding position felt more like being strapped on to Wile E. Coyote’s Acme rocket, but again, it was surprisingly comfortable.

Two years back, I found myself almost physically unable to ride the BMW R nineT Racer. So compact was its geometry that it pulled every tendon in my body tighter than a guitar string. Over the years, my tolerance for a true sporting riding position has faded, leaving me ambivalent about sport bikes in general. Aboard the 1000SX, however, I felt utterly at home. If you find that the 1000SX’s overall mission statement suits your needs, but are worried that it might be too cramped, I strongly suggest you source one out and try it for size – you might well be as surprised as I was.

Touring amenities are sparse. There’s no power outlet for a phone, GPS or heated clothing, although there is a knockout on the dash where you’d expect such a convenience to reside. Heated grips are not standard but are available as a dealer-installed option for an additional $368. Cruise control is standard, which is very nice to have. The windshield is not adjustable, but it sure looks like it would be easy to replace with a larger, more protective item. That said, the wind blast at highway speeds is well controlled, and the airflow is clean and turbulence free. The panniers, which retail for $990, are superb. They’re large and of extremely high quality. The latch engages with a positive click, and there’s little flex to the sides when open.

Thumbing the 1000SX’s starter is anticlimactic. The engine springs to life with a subdued burble, and the exhaust note is smooth and restrained. The gearbox is like butter. Snicking the lever down and releasing the clutch is equally uneventful. There’s tons of low-end power, and first gear is appropriately low. The 1000SX’s fuel injection is perfect, as I’ve come to expect over the past few years, with no lurching or flat spots, and an ideal relationship between throttle position and engine speed.

Weighted towards the sport side of the sport touring equation, the Kawasaki 1000SX provides an agile package that is equally capable on afternoon rips through the twisties and long-haul asphalt adventures. The lean-sensitive ABS equipped front brakes (below left) impressed, as did the full-colour display (below centre) and optional panniers (below right).

The meat and potatoes – the motor. It’s just wonderful. Kawasaki specifies 143 horsepower for the 1000SX – that’s a good number for any motor, but it sounds underwhelming for a thousand-cc inline four. Well, the 81.8 ft-lb torque number says more. There’s a liberal, globular wallop of torque available at any engine speed, in any gear. The engine is almost electric in its delivery, and that direct relationship between throttle position and engine speed combines into an almost telepathic command structure. You decide you want to be over there? Well just twist that throttle just so and the bike teleports you to that location. The 1000SX has several ride modes, but I just left the bike in the standard Road mode. Oh sure, there’s a Rain mode, but the motor is so tractable and well behaved that I felt no need to dial it down when it did in fact rain. And a Sport mode? Given what seemed like almost unlimited power available in the standard Road mode, I couldn’t see much point in engaging a berserker option.

Other electronic helpers abound. As a caveat, I will announce up front that I had no need or desire to experience the illumination of any form of traction control warning lights during my test period. The Kawasaki Traction Control and Cornering Management Function features were invisible to me, and – given the heavy load on hospital ICUs during this troubled time – I felt unwilling to push the bike to the limits required to engage their assistance. Still, there’s a ton of tech inside the 1000SX’s brain stem, and it’s nice to know it’s got your back should the need arise.

In top gear, the 1000SX revs at about 4,200 rpm at 100 km/h. Jack the speed up to 125 km/h and the engine turns over at 5,700 rpm. Those are fairly high numbers and I found myself just a touch conflicted. On the one hand, I would have appreciated a slightly taller top gear, which would enable a more relaxed cruising experience. On the other hand, though, the Ninja felt quite at home at 125 km/h, and the engine’s smooth, composed demeanor didn’t let anything objectionable pass through the seat, bars or pegs. Top-gear roll-on also benefits from the low gearing. At anywhere over 90 km/h in top gear, a quick whack of the throttle yields instantaneous acceleration.

A taller top gear might also help fuel range. In mixed city and highway riding I managed 239 km before the low fuel indicator began to squawk its warning. At that time, the tank inhaled 14 litres of the juice. While this is reasonable range, a sport touring motorcycle, designed for all-day riding could handle slightly longer legs.

Of particular note while we’re discussing the gearbox, is the 1000SX’s quick shifter. Now, I’m not usually in such a hurry that I fuss around with such frippery, but I found the Ninja’s quick shifter to be surprisingly entertaining. Ripping down on-ramps, the quick shifter meshed perfectly with the silky gearbox, snapping off rapid-fire upshifts in a manner far smoother than other such gizmos of my experience. Same for downshifts – there was no sense of discontinuity, and I could bang the ‘box down a gear and the Ninja’s brain would match revs better than I could do myself.

While the 1000SX weighs in at a somewhat girthy 233 kg wet, the bike feels like a featherweight when it’s on the fly. Rider inputs translate instantaneously to direction changes. Think about where you want to go and the bike responds without hesitation. Corner entry setup is quite important, as the bike holds its line well but can drift a bit if you don’t mind your bar input. That said, midcorner corrections are ridiculously easy, and the bike responds well to such belated commands.

With its big front discs and radial-mount calipers, the 1000SX pulls down from highway speeds with a complete absence of drama. Lever feel is superb. The front brake has all of the power, control and feedback of the best sport-bike brakes, but there’s just a tiny bit of extra slack in the initial takeup. Rather than being any kind of flaw, this slight resilience makes the brake easy to modulate. It’s hard to imagine a better front brake on a road-going motorcycle. The rear brake is strong, works well and is an appropriate mate to the front end.

Kawasaki bestowed the 1000SX with a fully adjustable fork, and a shock with adjustable rebound damping and remote preload adjustment. That remote rear preload adjustment indicates that the 1000SX can accommodate wildly differing loads, such as a whole bunch of luggage or a passenger. The luggage part I get – it makes sense that you might want to add a large tail pack if you’re travelling for more than a night or two. However, the 1000SX’s pillion accommodations look rather sparse. The passenger seat is not something I’d want to inflict on my wife for longer than a short trip about town. It might be just me, and your travelling partner might be more accustomed to such sparse appointments, but my feeling is that the 1000SX is more appropriate to solo touring.

That said, both ends are superb. The suspension tracks uneven pavement with a complete absence of drama, bestowing that “riding on velvet feel,” which is the provenance of the very best components. There’s sufficient travel on hand to allow for a comfortable, controlled ride on seriously nasty, frost-heaved roads. The 1000SX never pitches or becomes unsettled over irregularities. Even leaned over in fast sweepers, the suspension remains settled and composed, relaying surface imperfections to the rider while keeping the bike level and committed to its line.

This unflappable combination of suspenders, along with the meaty, tractable, powerful motor and superb brakes combine into a motorcycle that exudes competence. The razor-sharp sport tourer is a thinly populated class and within that class, the Ninja 1000SX stands out for its adherence to the sport end of the spectrum. Here’s a motorcycle that’s not far off a true sport bike, but is comfortable, well behaved and technologically advanced. What’s not to like? IM

2021 Kawasaki Ninja 1000SX

PROS:

+Incredibly refined package +Snappy quick shifter, great luggage

CONS:

-Fuel range could be better -No heated grips

Suggested Retail: $14,999 + $990 panniers

Colours: Metallic Carbon Gray / Metallic Diablo Black, Metallic Moondust Gray / Metallic Diablo Black (+$200)

Engine: Liquid-cooled four-cylinder

Displacement: 1,043 cc

Bore & Stroke: 77 x 56 mm

Compression Ratio: 11.8:1

Power: 143 hp @ 10,000 rpm Torque: 81.9 ft-lb @ 8,000 rpm

Fuel Delivery: Fuel injected

Final Drive: Chain

Weight: 233 kg (514 lb) wet

Transmission: Six speed

Frame: Aluminum twin tube

Wheelbase: 1,440 mm (56.7 in)

Seat Height: 820 mm (33 in)

Suspension (front): 41 mm inverted fork adjustable for compression, rebound and preload Suspension (rear): Single shock, adjustable for preload and rebound

Tire (front): 120/70ZR17M

Tire (rear): 190/50ZR17M

Brakes (front): Dual 300 mm discs with radial-mount monobloc 4-piston calipers, ABS

Brakes (rear): Single 250 mm disc with single-piston caliper, ABS

Fuel Capacity: 19 L