Jolly Green
JOLLY GREEN
It’s a Replica replica; it’s the ultimate UJM; it’s a damn nice bike; it’s the Kawasaki ZRX1100 and it’s coming our way... maybe
DAVID EDWARDS
IT’S A WONDERFUL DAY IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD, YOU THINK, AS YOU DART DOWN the Pacific Coast Highway, a setting sun off your right shoulder, an empty, twisting road ahead and a big, green Kawasaki happily thrumming away beneath you. You suspected this bike would be good. After all, it uses a tuned-for-torque ZX11 Ninja motor, mounted in a hell-for-stout chassis, all done up to look like a hunkered-down, muscled-up version of the 1982 Eddie Lawson Replica, perhaps the most collectible of modern-day Japanese motorcycles (see “Replica Report,” page 43). Already on sale in Europe and Japan, the ZRX1100 may soon arrive stateside. Taking note of the Suzuki Bandit 1200’s showroom success, Kawasaki higher-ups are debating whether or not to bring in their admittedly more retro version of the sport-standard. Biggest stumbling block will be the dismal sales record of the 1993 Zephyr 1100, an air-cooled update of the original Z-l that failed to find a home in the U.S.
NEW FOR KAWASAKI '98
Happily, the ZRX is no Zephyr. Its looks may come from the Ronald Reagan era, but there’s plenty of up-to-date tackle sprinkled about. Its fork, for instance, appears to be lifted from the ZX-11/GPzl 100 series, but bettered with the addition of cartridge internals and compression-damping adjustability. Six-piston Tokico calipers put the bite on suitably sizable front rotors. Wheels are wide and their rubber is radial. Even the paint’s not as Eighties as it first seems: The ELR’s traditional lime green with blue-and-white accents has been updated with a nice metallic candy-apple green and purple/white stripes. Truth is, the ZRX doesn’t rely on retro; it’s a way-wonderful ride even if you don’t know Eddie Lawson from Eddie Vedder.
Drat! escargots Four dawdlers all, running up a ahead good in 25 nose-to-tail mph slower formation, than you want to go. Damn the double-yellow, snick down to fourth, then to third and wait for an opening. When it comes, you snap the throttle open and the big ZRX hurls itself down the road, sucking up asphalt at an amazing rate. This thing doesn’t just pass other vehicles, you decide, it vaporizes them. You suddenly realize why Fast Eddie insisted on a scalloped-out, butt-hugging seat for his KZ Superbike.
High-tech V-Twins have hogged most of the headlines of late, but the ZRX motor reminds you just how good a simple inline-Four can be. Strapped to CW’s rear-wheel dynamometer, the counterbalanced four-cylinder spins the horsepower needle to 95 bhp at 8500 rpm, 17 down to the GPzllOO and a whacking 30 arrears of the mighty ram-air ZX-11. There’s more to the story, though-namely a torque curve that’s just about as flat as your dining-room table. Peak torque, a hearty 70 foot-pounds’ worth, arrives at 6000 rpm, but as early as 3500 rpm the ZRX is putting 65 footpounds to the ground. This means that almost from the time the clutch is fully engaged, the Kawasaki is pounding out more torque than most bikes ever dream about making. As already noted, the effect, aided by K-TRIC (Kawasaki Throttle Responsive Ignition Control), is formidable. Topgear roll-ons from 40-60 and 60-80 mph of 2.91 and 2.99 seconds, respectively, are among the quickest this magazine has ever tested; ditto for the ZRX’s 0-30 and 0-60 acceleration. All this from a bike that at 516 pounds dry is certainly no featherweight.
It’s the motor’s V-Eight-like flexibility that impresses most, though. Except for the aforementioned blitz-passes, there’s little reason to row the gearbox. Notch it up to fifth, set it and forget it. In fact, several times during your twoday coastal jaunt, you realize that for all you know the shift lever could have fallen off 50 miles back. In such low-stressed form, the ZRX’s oomph-intensive motor seems damn near unburstable, capable of doing everything except, perhaps, saving your mortal soul.
In any upcoming brochure battles against Suzuki’s 104-horse Bandit 1200, Kawasaki may fortify the ZRX with another 5 or 10 bhp, just to gain membership in the 100-horsepower club. You second the motion-as long as that deluge of torque comes along as part of the deal. Otherwise, leave well enough alone.
The nice motor touches. may Sure, be the those message, twin KYB but piggyback-reservoir the ZRX has other shocks look passe, but they work well and are fully adjustable-rebound and compression knobs are within easy reach; same for the spring-preload collars, which don’t force the hammer-and-punch histrionics that some sportbikes require. Plus, the shocks are attached to a scrumptious braced aluminum swingarm with eccentric axle pivots that looks like your friend the welder made up special just for you.
Pop off that wide, plush seat and you’re greeted with a cavernous storage bin between the frame rails. With no central shock linkage to worry about, and by cleverly relocating the battery to beneath the airbox (it slides out for easy access), the ZRX’s designers made way for an inverted triangle of space large enough to swallow a tool roll, tire sealant and a first-aid kit or six cans of your favorite chilled beverage (impress you riding buddies at rest stops!) or a dozen bagels (careful with the cream cheese) or a rolled-up Sunday-morning paper (as long as you don’t live in L.A. or New York City). Very smart.
Big America? question, As natch, this is is being will written, Kawasaki the bring answer the is ZRX a defito nite maybe. Some in the company want the bike here right now, with a list price as far under $8000 as is possible. Others remember the Zephyr’s slow sales and wonder if, good as the ZRX is, it’s really a Bandit-beater-especially when the Suzuki, with its modern semi-perimeter frame and single-shock rear suspension, not to mention its lower price and higher (at least for now) horsepower, has some serious pluses. They wonder if there are enough eager buyers out there to sign up for the 1000 ZRX1100s Kawasaki would have to bring in to make importation worthwhile.
Your best guess is that with the right promotion and a targeted ad campaign, the answer is yes. During your time with the ZRX, everywhere it stopped, the effect on males between 35 and 55 years of age was positively magnetic-the Universal Japanese Motorcycle, it seems, still has pulling power. Interestingly enough, this is the same age group that is being targeted by the makers of Harley-esque retro-cruisers, including Kawasaki. Differences being that the ZRX is more comfortable, better suspended, better braked, better handling and able to mow through the lot of ’em in any performance category you care to name-all for thousands of dollars less. Plus, it’s a motorcycle that draws on its own heritage, not someone else’s.
So, here’s hoping Kawasaki does the right thing with the ZRX1100. Besides, as much you liked Jolly Green, they would really only have to worry about selling another 999.
