Kawasaki Z800: Review

It isn’t instantly likeable, is the Kawasaki Z800, much like AR Rehman songs. But, hear them a while and before you know it, you find yourself turning up that volume dial every time it airs. The Z800 too takes a while to grow on you. Not that it doesn’t have the right ingredients to instantly hit it off, but, these just don’t feel natural first time round.

The Z800 has that aggressive and muscular look which every street naked must possess. But, it isn’t executed in a way which will have you nodding in appreciation. Seating, again, is straight out of a street naked handbook – flat and wide handlebar, slightly rear set footpegs and a massive tank to lock your knees in. But, the seat height is a tad high and unless you learn to take the weight off that handlebar, the seating never feels comfortable.

Then there’s the weight. The Z800 weighs 231kg which is heavier than its larger-engined, more powerful and costlier sibling, the Z1000. This weight can be felt the moment you get the Z800 off its stand, and it isn’t pleasant. Even when rolling slowly, there’s more effort involved in riding the Z800 than it should be. The clutch isn’t light and short shifts lead to notchy gear shifts.  This is a street naked; it ought to be easy to ride.

Now I have a 45 minute city commute to tackle on what is a very hot day indeed before we make to our shooting location. There’s crawling traffic, endless clutching and that heavy front end to deal with. Within minutes I stop paying attention to the motorcycle and get busy avoiding overzealous motorcyclists trying to get a closer look at the Kawasaki. At least this way, I am not my complaining self, reveling in being someone important on the road. Soon though, the road opens up and because I am in the get-it-over-with state of mind, I take the path of least resistance and just whack open the throttle instead of downshifting to find the right gear. 

I am doing 30kmph in sixth with the 806cc engine revving at under 2,000rpm. So, it must stutter, stall even. But no. It just begins pulling cleanly and when the revs hit 4,000rpm (which is about a couple of seconds later) it shoots off catching me completely by surprise. I hold that throttle pinned for the road is deserted waiting for the Z800 to lose steam or begin complaining with vibration and a stressed engine. But no. It just keeps pulling and pulling with the engine only sounding sweeter and more refined with rising revs. And then, I run out of courage. Wow! This, the Kawasaki Z800, is something else – it can do 30 to 230kmph (actually 233kmph since that’s its claimed speed) in one gear! I like the Z800.

Get latest updates on
the automobile community

Login Now

We are out of the city, and that burst of acceleration now has me wanting more.  As is with our highways, there are always a few gaps waiting to be exploited. This time, I choose to downshift all the way to second and whack that throttle open all the way to the stops. I don’t know how fast I went because there just wasn’t time to look anywhere but dead ahead, not with that speck in the distance turning into a full-fledged SUV within seconds. And, it seemed to be reversing in my direction at full clip. It wasn’t, of course; it was moving along at just under 100ks, in fact. But, that’s the ferocity of the Z800’s acceleration, it wraps your thought process at times. 

This performance is down to the Z800’s inline, four cylinder, liquid cooled and fuel injected 806cc engine. The engine uses a seriously oversquare layout which allows it to rev to 12,000rpm, and quickly at that. The power output is 113PS at 10,200rpm and the peak torque is rated at 83Nm at 8,000rpm. But, we are willing to bet the way this engine pulls from lower revs, a healthy chunk of that 83Nm of torque is available lower and all across the rev range. The engine at tick over sounds like any typical Japanese inline motor; it is smooth, quiet but with just enough brawn to tell you not to be stupid with the throttle, for the consequence can be fatal. The gearbox is a 6-speed unit and though it feels notchy under short shifts, it works without hassle during full-bore, clutchless upshifts.

We are finally at our shooting location. And it is a lovely section of twisting tarmac with flowing corners and some tight hairpin bends. I still find myself struggling with the Z800’s weight around the latter, but everywhere else, this Kawasaki surprises with its ability to go around corners. It isn’t superbike sharp, and around a series of quick corners, one must work that handlebar hard to get it to tip in.

But, it feels stable, communicative and reassuring around bends that you never really want to stop tackling corners, photo-shoot done with or not. Then there are the brakes. These do have a fair bit of play before the pads actually start biting the disc but when they do, the bite, the feel and the progression is so well tuned, never did the ABS come on no matter how hard we braked. Yes, the Z800 does come with ABS as standard. 

Like I said, the Z800 grows on you. And, like Rehman’s songs once you get hooked, you can’t get enough of it. I couldn’t get enough of the Z800 even though I was trashing it all day long. Not only does it have a strong and lively engine, it handles beautifully and brakes even better. Moreover, with its fairly upright seating, a nice ride quality and no real heating issues whatsoever, it makes for a good bike to ride to work or to take off with on a long jaunt. The Kawasaki Z800 to me isn’t perfect or the best street naked one can buy for Rs 8 lakh or thereabouts, but it sure is worth having.