Kawasaki laying groundwork for Z1100?
A recent social media post by Kawasaki makes us think the manufacturer is seeking to spark interest in a Z1100 model.
It appears Kawasaki has begun laying the marketing groundwork for its reveal of a Z1100 supernaked motorcycle.
At least, that’s what we’re inferring from a recent LinkedIn post published by Kawasaki’s European team. The post looks back more than two decades, to when Team Green introduced the Z1000.
“In 2003, the Kawasaki Z1000 shocked the world with its radical Sugomi streetfighter design,” reads the post. “This created a new genre, and the Kawasaki supernaked was born.”
So, Kawasaki is claiming to have invented the supernaked genre. At the same time, we already know - thanks to filings with the California Air Resources Board - that Kawasaki is planning to release a bike designated as the ZR1100HT. If that bike's model name adheres to Kawasaki nomenclature, it will be a naked Z bike - with many speculating that ‘HT’ stands for “high torque.”
There is also some speculation that Kawasaki will produce an old-school RS version of the Z1100. To be honest, we’re less sure about that one, but the fact that Kawasaki is seeking to spark nostalgia in its social media posts might lend some credence to that way of thinking.
The LinkedIn post may also offer up a hint of what the Z1100 will be like.
“Rather than track performance and ultimate horsepower, the Z1000 delivered the traditional virtues of the Z bikes,” declares the post. “a sports bike that prioritised the rider fun factor.”
As our recent feature on the 10 most powerful bikes currently in production shows, Kawasaki definitely knows how to build a psychotic bike - both in the track and raw power senses. But in recalling the tractability of the Z1000, it may be that the Japanese manufacturer is aiming to set expectations of what the Z1100 will be.
So, we’re thinking it will be a little less MV Augusta Brutale 1000 RR and a little more Honda CB1000 Hornet - a bike that controversially took the top slot in our recent list of the best supernakeds.
When will we see it? Well, we are just 9 weeks from EICMA, which is traditionally where and when manufacturers like to show off their latest and greatest wares. In the meantime, we’ll be scouring Kawasaki’s social media for additional clues of what’s to come.
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Chris Cope is a fourth-generation journalist, originally from Texas. He has lived in the UK for roughly two decades and has been writing about motorcycles for most of that time. He has written for dozens of publications and websites in the UK, US, Canada, and Australia.
