THERE’S been no official announcement but details of the 2016-spec Kawasaki Z1000SX have popped up on Kawasaki’s Australian website and show that the only technical change is the addition of the firm’s ‘Assist and Slipper’ clutch.
The tweak should come as little surprise, since the same clutch already appeared on the new-for-2015 Versys 1000, which shares the Z1000SX’s engine and transmission.
As well as working as a slipper clutch, preventing the rear wheel from locking under engine braking, the Kawasaki unit has an ‘assist cam’ that helps pull the clutch plates together when drive is going through it, which means it can have softer clutch springs and a lighter lever action.
That modification aside, the Z1000SX (called Ninja 1000 in Australia) gets no changes apart from the inevitable new colours and graphics – green-and-black or grey-and-black are the choices, but the Aussie bike’s colours aren’t necessarily going to be carried over to European versions.
We’re expecting Kawasaki to make more official announcements about its unchanged or lightly tweaked 2016 bikes in the next few days.
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