KAWASAKI has built a new sports tourer to slot into the gap between the hot latest ZX-10R and the 1400GTR tourer.

The Ninja 1000 ABS, as it's commonly known, offers comfort, speed, handling and even optional luggage capacity.
The riding position is key. It's comfortable and practical, sitting you quite upright, with just a gentle lean forward to the handlebars (which themselves are on risers off the forks).
The seat is reasonably comfortable without being an armchair you can't move around on in the twisties, the foot pegs low and forward enough to avoid cramp but high enough to offer half-decent cornering clearance.
The bike is still a Kawasaki Ninja though; it's heritage is sports, its green paint indicates this is a Kawasaki Sportsbike, it's styling points to hard riding and high performance.
It's the (optional) panniers, pillion grab handles and a pivoting screen point to road comfort and convenience though.

Sports-derived engine

There's no doubt the engine in the Ninja has been developed from Kawasaki's sports range and first seen in the current naked Z1000. It's a litre bike, and it shows, offering blistering acceleration and a high top speed.
Right off the bottom I was a little disappointed in the torque available; I actually stalled it a couple of times, the combination of not enough revs, a cable-actuated clutch and a lazy rider coming together. I find (in general) hydraulic clutches offer a little more feel and progression as they are engaged. I know cables are cheaper, lighter and easier to fix if they break, but I still prefer hydraulic…

The Ninja starts working better above 2500rpm, cruises nicely above 4000 and really slips into sports mode above 5500, providing heaps of grunt from there all the way to the 11,000rpm deadline.
This translates to incredible overtaking abilities, provided you have enough revs on board. Sure, the Ninja will pull out and overtake quickly in top, but the difference if you snick it back a gear is significant, especially if you're starting the move from under 90kmh.

It's the same when riding in the twisties - powering out of hairpins requires low gear and careful throttle control, because it feels doughy opening the throttle at low revs. The contrast with even slightly more open bends - even those marked 35kmh - is stark. Because it's easy to keep the revs above 3500, the bike responds much better exiting the turns, simply rocketing you toward the next corner.
As speed rises the engine feels even better. When the red mist drops you will be able to carve mountain roads at speeds close to what you'd be able to do on a ZX-10R.
Although Kawasaki has made an effort to reduce vibration getting to the rider by using rubber inserts on the footpegs and including dampers on the underside of the seat, vibes are still noticeable at various engine revs, especially through the tank when you're pushing along.

Chassis & Suspension

Kawasaki has a long and proud history of building high performance sports machines, and that's rubbed off on the Ninja 1000. Does a sports-tourer really need twin-spar alloy frame, adjustable suspension, track-derived brakes? Maybe not, but the Ninja's got them.
The chassis certainly looks the part, while the suspension has been be designed and built to offer decent sports performance while providing reasonable comfort, a classic compromise... Most sports bikes are uncomfortable at least partly because their suspension travel is short and the springing stiff, but tourers often don't handle because control is sacrificed in the name of comfort via longer travel suspension which is plush.
A bike like the Ninja tries to cover both bases with suspension which is plush in it's initial stroke - absorbing small bumps comfortably - but becoming stiffer quite quickly as travel is consumed.This combination means small bumps are absorbed comfortably but when the going gets tough the bike doesn't quickly run out of suspension performance and wallow around.

I found the front of the Ninja excellent. The upside down forks offer excellent control and comfort. The rear shock was a little stiff over bumpy roads so I backed off the preload and rebound damping a little to improve comfort. The toolkit supplied with the bike is better than most, too, and included spanners to adjust the suspension at both ends.
However you like your bike set up the Ninja at least lets you change it to suit, offering adjustability not found on most sports tourers.

The Ninja comes standard with ABS in Australia; it's optional in many other countries. Although it's nice to have options, Kawasaki obviously didn't believe demand would be high enough to justify having two separate models available separated only by ABS.
Combined with big discs and radially-mounted four-piston calipers, the brakes on the Ninja are superb, offering incredible power, control and safety.
I found them very difficult to fault.

All day comfort?

Long rides are commonplace in Australia. A weekend away to catch up with mates had me doing nearly 2000km in three days, but many of those kilometres were to be done in twisty valley roads, where a bike like the Ninja would be in its element. And it was.

The Ninja was close to perfect for this trip. Fast, effortless power (at least above 3500rpm), decent handling and enough comfort to allow me to ride 500km before lunch on the first day (in just over five hours, with one stop) is impressive.

I've owned sports bikes in the past and the Super Blackbird I've been riding lately is certainly harder on the wrists and knees than the Ninja. Seat comfort is probably the weakest area of the Ninja, but it's still not too bad. For long trips I'd recommend an Airhawk seat. In the twisties the seat's shape is fine for hanging off, and it's not super-high, so shorter riders will probably still find the Ninja acceptable.
A tall pillion passenger might struggle, but shorter passengers will find the accommodation pretty good for a sporty machine.

Kawasaki didn't supply the optional Givi panniers or top box with the test bike, so I added a MotoDry magnetic tankbag and seatbag. All sports-tourers should have steel tanks. There are luggage hooks behind the passenger footpegs, but they are the only concession to carrying a bag on the back seat, and the side-mounted grab rails are open at the back end, so straps can slip off – they would be more useful bolted on at the back too.
At the front of the Ninja is a full sports fairing which does take some of the wind blast away from the rider. The screen is easily hand adjusted to one of three positions, and in the most upright it certainly does take a bit more breeze off your chest.

The Ninja is so much more comfortable than a ZX-10R it's not funny. 1000km days - especially if you added an Airhawk seat - are achievable, but if you were going to make a habit of doing mega mile days, I'd still recommend the 1400GTR.

Which big Kwaka?

Kawasaki now has litre-plus inline fours covering sports (ZX-10R), touring (1400GTR) and sports-touring (Ninja 1000 ABS). In it's element the ZX-10R is an absolute weapon, carving corners or race tracks with sublime ease and incredible performance.
The 1400GTR is one of my current favourite motorcycles, eating miles with an ease and at a speed which really impresses, and doing so with a very effective full fairing and large panniers.
The Ninja sort of falls in between. You can't ride it as hard as a ZX-10R, you can't travel so far in comfort as the GTR.
In an ideal world you'd own a ZX-10R and a GTR, but few of us are so rich that we can afford both: calling the Ninja a compromise seems like a criticism, but it's not: with this bike, you can have comfort and performance.