Kawasaki’s recent retro-revival liveries have been big news since being announced this autumn. They mated arguably Kawasaki’s most iconic paint job to its biggest sports bike models and blessed them with a naked aluminium frame.
Each of the headline Ninja models in the UK range has been graced with the update, including the ZX-4RR, ZX-6R, and ZX-10R. There is though one name in that list that that’s missing, and that leaves a bit of a lump in our collective throats.
Across the pond though, the ZZR1400 (or the ZX-14R as the Americans call it) is alive and kicking and has also been updated for the 2024 model year with its own special 40th anniversary paint job. It’s finished in the tri-colour paint scheme, with green, white and blue stripes being joined by that gorgeous naked aluminium frame and matt-black silencer.
And this might be a case of us always wanting what we can’t have, but we think it’s probably the best-looking bike in the 40th Anniversary line-up. The others obviously look great, but this three-colour design is most closely associated with bikes like the ZXR750 and its ZXR250 sibling. With the ZZR1400 being the most-retro of the lot, that green white and blue paint job has never looked better.
Beneath the skin the bike is little changed from before, meaning it still features that buttery smooth 1,441cc inline-four with DOHC and four valves per cylinder, a six-speed gearbox, and a slip/assist clutch. Two power modes are on offer and you have three levels of traction control including the ability to turn the system off altogether.
Annoyingly (for us anyway) the new 2024 Kawasaki ZX-14R Ninja will command a list price of $17,249 or just £14,194.
Some people really do get all the luck!
