Kawasaki Z800 Review
Kawasaki Z800 Review:
Standing in the Kawasaki Palm Beach showroom, watching all the mean green two wheeled monsters staring back at me reminded me of a ghost from the past. My dad’s Ninja 650. A motorcycle I neither understood nor enjoyed. A motorcycle which was always out to kill me and almost did. With pictures of that night flashing in front of me I told my friend “After the accident, I’ve somehow stopped liking Kawasaki as a brand”. Little did I know what awaited us. The Z800 test bike was ready with fresh rubber and with a “ya whatever” kind of attitude, I decided to have a go.
Starting off with the dynamics. The seating position is slightly forward leaning and the pegs slightly rearset. While it might be uncomfortable for couch potatoes, what is does is something very practical. It makes sure you’re not hanging on to the handlebars for dear life under hard acceleration, nor are your tenders thrust into the fuel tank under hard braking. If you’re 40+ and don’t understand the need for hard acceleration and hard braking, read no further, ride a Harley. This one’s for the young at heart, not a cure for your midlife crisis. Moving on. The bike doesn’t hide its 230 kgs bodyweight. The 150 mm ground clearance is sufficient to save the underbelly over nasty speed breakers but that also translates to the bike being tallish for shorter riders like me. None of that matters though once you get going and with an engine like that, get going you will.
The 806cc inline four unit churns out 111 bhp of max power and 83 Nm of max torque but those are just numbers. The bike is extremely smooth off the line and you barely feel the power while riding around town at low RPM’s. Sufficient torque with an inline four setup means no matter what gear, what speed, the engine just doesn’t knock. I tried riding double seat at 25 kph in 6th gear, twisted the throttle and it pulled off as comfortably as ever. However, do not take its humility for granted. Push it hard, enter its mid range and you’re in for an overdose of exhilaration. There’s a sudden surge in power and the bike keeps pulling and pulling and pulling till you either run out of road or run out of balls.
You won’t run out of balls too soon though thanks to the Tokico brakes. They’re sharp and do their job well. The knowledge that you have ABS to bail you out inspires a whole lot of confidence to push harder. In terms of handling, the bike feels heavy and not easily flickable. However, plan a corner in advance, use your bodyweight to lean it in and the chassis and suspension set up will reward you. The bike feels planted in both straight lines as well as corners. The suspension set up is just right. Neither too hard for every day use, nor too soft for attacking corners with. The pillion seat is soft and comfortable too. Surprisingly, the bike doesn’t heat all that much and you won’t be getting tandoori calves at the end of a ride through crawling city traffic. The gearshifts are precise but not exactly butter smooth and clutchless shifts feel a bit clunky. But that’s really just nitpicking.
So the verdict. In terms of pure performance, it will eat the detuned for India Triumph Street Triple, the midget Ducati Scrambler and the designed for people with arthritis Honda CBR 650F for breakfast. At around Rs. 8.5 lacs, on road, Mumbai, it sets the bang for the buck bar pretty high for competition to match up to. So if you have that kind of money and are in the market to spend it on a motorcycle, give this one a shot. She’s the kind of girlfriend you wanna plan marriage with. She’s the kind of wife that will remain your girlfriend for life. Thank you Kawasaki Palm Beach for the experience.
