Kawasaki Ninja ZX-14R

The Kawasaki Ninja ZX-14R might not be as edgy or modern to look at, but when it comes to the phrase ‘size does matter’, this mammoth of a sport-tourer starts making a lot of sense. The bulbous and aerodynamic design of the Kawasaki Ninja ZX-14R screams a lot of road presence, and the sheer size does complement its flagship positioning.

The large front fairing of the Kawasaki Ninja ZX-14R accommodates the slim and curvy bird’s eye-shaped quad projector headlamps, and in the middle of which sits a small air vent and a large transparent windscreen above it. The fairing mounted rearview mirrors look nice and wide too.

The side fairing panels too look very large and manage to fully cover the big black-themed engine as well as incorporate turn indicators on its edges. Apart from incorporating the engine cowl at the bottom, it also comes with sizeable vents in it for proper air dissipation from the ubiquitously large engine. The nicely curved fuel tank too is large in size, thus complementing well with the large visual appeal of the whole fairing.

The Kawasaki Ninja ZX-14R comes with long single exhaust pipes on either sides, which do emerge from the four-cylinder engine beneath the fairing (more on that later). The side body panels of the motorcycle look much slimmer when compared to the rest of the design, but flow towards the rear in a wider fashion, thus making the tailpiece look wide. This makes the tailpiece look big, which comes integrated with a W-shaped LED tail lamp as well as clear lens blinkers in it.

The low-positioned clip-on handlebar of the Kawasaki Ninja ZX-14R looks wide and comes fitted with premium and ergonomically placed switches. The all-analog instrument console, with four separate analog clocks for speedometer, tachometer, fuel gauge, and temperature gauge as well as a large rectangular MID screen for other data makes the rider’s cockpit look really huge and wide.

The humongous size of the Kawasaki Ninja ZX-14R might not make it feel as agile and sharp to handle as supersport motorcycles or other smaller sport-tourers. But thanks to its low slung stance and comfortable setting for the suspension combination of upside-down hydraulic telescopic forks at the front and a fully adjustable TTX36 monoshock (both from Ohlins), the Kawasaki Ninja ZX-14R feels super smooth to ride and a decent handler as well. Bringing this mammoth on two wheels to a halt is the fantastic braking setup of dual 310mm discs at the front and a single 250mm disc at the rear.

The Kawasaki Ninja ZX-14R comes bestowed with a four-stroke, inline-four, liquid-cooled, fuel-injected, 1441cc engine, which is the biggest motorcycle engine Kawasaki makes and served as its most powerful one too, before the arrival of the mighty Ninja H2. This engine is married to a 6-speed gearbox and pumps out a maximum power output of 200 PS and a peak torque output of 158.2 Nm.

The Kawasaki Ninja ZX-14R might not be as rich as modern-day full-spec motorcycles when it comes to electronic riding aids. However, it still manages to have the basics in the form of a dual-channel ABS and three-level traction control on offer.

The Kawasaki Ninja ZX-14R might have an old-school appeal attached to it, both in terms of visual appeal as well as the entire mechanical and feature setup. However, the sheer brilliance of Japanese engineering is bestowed finely in the Kawasaki Ninja ZX-14R, making it an immensely powerful motorcycle to ride and intimidating one to look at, yet so friendly one to ride.