Kawasaki Z800 ABS

Despite the fact that the Kawasaki Z800 is now almost a decade ago in its original form, the motorcycle, by no means, look dated or old. Thanks to its sharp design, which still remains the strongest form of the Sugomi design language from Kawasaki, the Z800 manages to look as modern as at the time of its arrival.

The moment you see the Kawasaki Z800 from the front, you instantly feel that this motorcycle means business. The sharp but small dual headlamp setup accompanied with a slanting and short visor gives it an aerodynamic front fascia.

The Z800 looks very muscular and bulky when viewed from the sides. The large fuel tank, along with big fuel tank extensions as well as aggressive cuts and creases for the side body panels, gives the Z800 a hunk like stance. And that’s not all – the engine too looks big in itself, which along with the four exhaust outlets merging into one big exhaust pipe give it a sure shot big bike appeal. The upswept tailpiece with split seats make it look sporty, however, what does make the things interesting at the Z800’s rear is the double Z-shaped clear lens LED tail light.

The fully digital instrument console of the Z800 ABS still looks one futuristic unit in isolation. The unit is divided into three segments – the center portion shows tachometer in vertical form, the speedometer, fuel gauge, average and instantaneous fuel consumption are displayed in the right panel and the engine temperature, odometer, trip meters, and clock are shown in the left panel.

The Kawasaki Z800 has been blessed with a well-sorted suspension setup of 41mm inverted fork with rebound damping and spring preload adjustability at the front and Bottom-Link (Uni-Trak), gas-charged with shock piggyback reservoir and step-less rebound damp at the rear. The suspension setup has been set on a stiffer end to make it feel and handle as aggressive as the way it looks. However, the tall seat height, as well as heavy kerb weight, makes sure that handling the Z800 is not a child’s play. Also, the lack of a proper windshield at the front makes facing the wind blasts at higher speeds quite tricky. In terms of braking, the Z800 has got an extremely good setup of 310mm dual discs at the front and a single 250mm disc at the rear.

The Kawasaki Z800ABS sources its power from a four-stroke, inline four, fuel-injected, liquid-cooled, 806cc engine, which at one time held the record of the biggest middleweight engine before other players took place. The engine has a maximum power output rated at 113 PS, while the peak torque output from the engine is 83 Nm.

Coupled to a super slick 6-speed gearbox with short ratios, the engine feels refined all the way across the entire rev range, which makes it feel extremely tractable.

While the Z800 does miss out on many new and modern electronic riding aids, it still features the essential bits like dual channel ABS.

The amount of performance on tap as well as the muscular looks makes the Z800 still a smart motorcycle which is surely practical for daily urban usage as well. However, the fact that many other middleweight motorcycles, including its own sibling Z900, are focusing on shedding some weight, and in this area, the Z800 feels a bit old school.

And this old school feeling strengthens when you see the lack of modern electronic riding aids, as compared to the Z900. So, it is quite advisable to throw in the extra premium and go for the Z900. However, simply for its old school theme of performance delivery, the Z800ABS still makes some sense.