Tuning the Kawasaki Z1000SX Tourer

It feels like a new machine after a 600-mile service and new colour-matched panels fitted to the paniers 
David Williams
David Williams @djrwilliams23 September 2018

There’s a peculiar but well-known phenomenon in the world of motoring - the cleaner your car or bike is, the better it runs. Or so it seems.

So as you roll out of the local hand car wash your car sounds sweeter, it’s surely a little faster and of course it rides more smoothly too. The tricks your mind plays are baffling.

Acutely aware of this phenomenon, the Kawasaki Z1000SX Tourer nevertheless felt like a new machine after I dropped into the firm’s HQ at Bourne End, in Buckinghamshire, where their technicians carried out a 600-mile service and fitted new colour-matched panels to the paniers which previously, were a dull black.

More importantly, they suggested swapping the machine’s standard, stubby, triangular factory-fitted exhaust mufflers for aftermarket ones from exhaust tuning specialists Akrapovic, of Slovenia.

Before - the Kawaski Z1000SX Tourer with original exhaust mufflers (David Williams )
David Williams

Swapping mufflers on your bike is generally seen as a popular first step towards ‘tuning’ it, and they fall into two categories. Road legal ones often offer only modest power gains but change the look, sound and weight of the bike, while race exhausts - banned for road use - also substantially raise the bike’s power output while often being extremely loud.

The dual slip-on Carbon S-K10S019-HZCs fitted to the press bike (they also come in the Titanium finish) don’t come cheap, at £1,220.95, plus labour costs, so what do they really offer?

The biggest change is to the look of the bike; they do indeed look more sporty, giving the bike a more aggressive ‘track’ look, compared to the slightly more middle-aged ‘touring’ image of the originals. The look is rounded off by heavy-duty, butch-looking carbon-fibre-look brackets suspending the mufflers from the rear footpegs, and very neat they look too. They’re also designed not to get in the way of the panniers.

David Williams

The second most evident change is to the sound of the machine; it now emits a more bassy, business-like, more thrilling tone. As though it’s straining at the leash. On the move the sound is fun and - fortunately - still well within approved limits so they shouldn’t cause annoyance for other motorists or those living near ‘fast’ stretches of road. Unlike those track ones which, when used on the road, are both illegal and intrusive.

But what about the performance? Choosing some twisty roads on the way back to London, the Kawasaki - always a fast, free-revving, scintillating, nimble-handling machine to ride - felt even quicker. As though it was breathing and revving, more freely.

Trick of the mind? Wishful thinking? Benefit of the 600-mile service? Hard to say. Akrapovic claim only very modest gains for their mufflers; a lift of 1.7Kw at 10,100 rpm (a shade under 3 bhp), with torque increased by 2.2 at 7,600rpm. Against a backdrop of the Kawasaki’s standard power output of 142bhp that’s a raise of around just two per cent. In terms of torque, the bike normally produces 81.86lb/ft at 7,300rpm, so raising it by 2.2 means a difference of about 2.6 per cent.

These gains are hardly discernible to the average rider, in variable conditions on the road and yet the Kawasaki certainly felt more lively. And as any rider knows, more lively generally means more enjoyable.

It felt faster on acceleration, more responsive to applications of the throttle going up - and down - the gearbox. What’s not to like? The Kawasaki is now even more engaging than before and it was already a highly entertaining bike to ride.

Weight is another factor, with Akrapovic stating that the mufflers, combined, weigh 4.2 kg less than the original mufflers. Or, in other words, they shave around 1.7 per cent of the machine’s kerb weight, again, hard to notice on the average bike, the weight of which varies in any case depending on the amount of fuel carried in the tank, what the rider wears and paraphernalia in the panniers and top box.

What is certain is that the Kawasaki looks stunning with its new matching paniers which now emit the same glittering, emerald glazed green glow as the rest of the machine.

It’s now carried me on a couple of weekend tours and several day trips, breathing a large dollop of fun and enjoyment into each. As an all-round machine that’s perfectly capable of performing commuting duties from Monday-Friday, track day duties on high days and holidays - and then performing long-distance continent-crossing tours while carrying enough luggage for a week or so, it is simply sensational.

Moto-Skiveez padded underpants put to test

I have only one, small, grumble about the Kawasaki Z100SX Tourer. The seat, which at the beginning of a journey seems perfectly soft, does begin to dig in around the ‘edges’ where they meet your upper legs, after an hour or two. Not what you want on a long tour. I’ve now tried wearing a clever new product, ‘Moto-Skiveez’, padded underpants that help take the strain on a long journey.

Supplied and recommended by experts Motolegends of Guildford, who specialise in high quality, upmarket gear for motorcyclists, they do make a difference. They even come in three different styles to suit all riders; Sport, Adventure and Cruiser, with padding optimised for each ride. Similar in concept to cycle shorts, but with padding ranging from 3mm to 6mm depending on the precise location, they‘re a neat - if costly - solution with a pricetag of £64.99.

Made in the US and worn next to the skin, they do help - and are also claimed by Motolegends to help the membrane function better on the very high-tech, waterproof, Rokker Revolution jeans. By creating an air pocket underneath your behind, and above the seat, they help the jeans’ membrane ‘breathe’, thereby aiding the waterproofing. Clever stuff. But Kawasaki should still take another look at softening up that saddle.

Details: Kawasaki Z1000SX

Price: £10,699

Engine: 1,043cc liquid-cooled four-stroke inline-four cylinder

Power: 142hp at 10,000rpm

Torque: 81.86lb/ft at 7,300rpm

Weight: 235kg kerb mass

Tank capacity: 19 litres

Seat height: 815 mm

Suspension: Front - 41mm-diameter adjustable USD forks / Rear - Adjustable gas charged shock with remote preload adjuster

Brakes: Front - Four-piston radial-mount monobloc calipers bite ad semi-floating 300mm petal discs / Rear: Single-piston caliper and 250mm petal disc

More information here.

David Williams can be found Tweeting at @djrwilliams

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