Growing Up In the Middle

GROWING UP IN THE MIDDLE

MIDDLEWEIGHT NAKED bikes have an approachability, economy and sense of fun that few other streetbikes possess. Which is why continued updates and new models are brought to the class. Witness these offerings from Kawasaki and Suzuki. Unfortunately, only one of these bikes is headed to the U.S. in 2005.

First, the one you can get: Kawasaki’s Z750S replaces the ZR-7S last offered in 2003. The half-fairingequipped Z750S clearly draws its inspiration from the big-bore Z1000.

The unfaired Z750, introduced in Europe as a 2004 model, was the basis for the half-faired S and shares the same liquidcooled, dohc, 748cc inlineFour with 68.4 x 50.9mm cylinder dimensions derived from the 953cc Z1000 mill. Electronic fuel-injection with 34mm throttle bodies is fitted. Suspension is a 41mm conventional fork and spring-preload/rebounddamping-adjustable shock. Available only in Candy Plasma Blue, the Z750S will retail for $6999 and should reach dealers in January.

The other interesting offering from the Green Team is the KLE500. This new-for-’05 middleweight adventure-tourer uses a retuned version of the eightvalve Nijna 500R parallelTwin and would seem like perfect competition for the likes of the Ducati 620 Multistrada and Suzuki VStrom 650. But the 399pound, 45-horsepower, sixspeed KLE, fitted with 21/18-inch wheels, is thus far a Europe-only offering.

Also kept out of American hands this year is Suzuki’s Bandit 650. Biggest change from the Bandit 600 last offered Stateside in 2003 is the addition of 56cc, boosting torque in the lowand middle-rpm ranges on the air/oil-cooled, carbureted inline-Four. Cool features include adjustable seat height (30.3 to 31.1 inches) and handlebars that can be shifted up or down by .4 inch. Topping all that is available ABS on both the unfaired 650 and faired 650S. American Suzuki opted not to import the bigger middleweight Bandit, choosing instead to focus on refining the SV650 and SV650S. -Mark Hoyer