12-26-2016, 10:05 AM
To expand on Capo's comments...
I rode the Z650 pretty well today, after dropping the forks and setting the shock to #2 preload position. That put the handling exactly where I wanted it, very agile but still stable enough not to be twitchy. Even with the stock Dunlop 214 tires the bike was amazingly good. Not just for what it is, but amazingly good. Broad powerband, strong right off idle (the first two gears are almost certainly timing-retarded with the stock ECU flash) and very strong all the way to redline. The power never falls off, with torque peak around 5500 RPM or thereabouts. It would surely be possible to power-wheelie this motorcycle with an ECU reflash that would remove the restrictions in the first two gears.
The engine is pure racebike twin right from the git-go. It works fine trolling around town but operates best above 6000 RPM, it loves to be up there where there is plenty of control. This engine has got to be experienced to be believed, truly. Very responsive, free-revving, and powerful. Not the slightest glitch in fueling either, except for the expected low-speed slop, never an issue on the track or for hard sport-riding.
The brakes have come in and they are really stupid strong, way more powerful than I would have guessed for twin-piston calipers. They're not mushy, either, a marvel for an ABS-equipped bike. The lever is tight, short travel, plenty of feel. And very easy to get the ABS to intervene with two fingers, but one finger is all that's needed for almost all conditions. One finger is perfect for trailbraking into a turn and this bike does that brilliantly, better than any bike I've ever owned or ridden. It's fantastic on the brakes, you can get the rear tire almost unweighted and still have incredible control and feedback from the contact patch under very hard braking. It's very stable at higher lean angles and quite neutral on/off throttle and brakes.
I would wager this is the best middleweight twin sporting chassis ever built on this kind of commercial scale. I expected it to be good, but this is way beyond good. The closest thing out there to this chassis is the late-nineties FZR400, which had phenomenally legendary handling. The chassis dimensions are nearly identical in many respects but the Z650 does several things differently which put it way out in front of the FZR.
First thing I noted was the swingarm is much longer than the Yamaha's. That's one reason why it's so good under hard braking with the rear tire unweighted, you can still feel the rear contact patch, very important as you set up the turn and get ready to crank up the juice. Also Kawasaki has used a "horizontal back-link" shock setup, just like the ZX-10R, which has a string of WSBK titles to its name now. And it works. Even with the low-end budget shock supplied the back end of the bike is very controllable and pretty compliant. I am eager to see what it'll be like with an Ohlins or Penske but could certainly live with the stock unit until it wore out.
The other big difference between the Z650 and FZR400 is the steel chassis. The FZR has an aluminium Deltabox chassis, a great design, but stiff. In the last few years it's been possible to make steel-framed bicycles that weigh about the same as titanium, but are much more compliant. Steel is a great metal to use in construction because it is very easy to temper in myriad ways. Many different kinds of steel can be used, and the tube section and wall thickness can be very easily manipulated to provide very precise results. The steel chassis on the Z650 is of the same design as the Kawasaki H2/R and they have really got that right. It's light, strong, well-designed, and well-tempered to work exactly right under the kinds of stresses encountered in hard, high-performance riding.
I predict Kawasaki will expand the use of this design and it is very likely the philosophy will be seen on other manufacturer's machines in the next couple of years. The new Z900 uses exactly the same basic design, a steel trellis/box frame. That bike is only $1000 more than the Z650 which tells me that most of the extra cost is in the larger four-cylinder engine. The frame on the Z650 is of very high-quality and most of the cost is there. But the Z900 comes in at only $7999 non-ABS, very inexpensive. It's somewhat heavier than the FZ09 but makes more power and without a doubt, the chassis is going to be so far removed from the two-piece bolt-together minimalist design of the Yamaha that the two bikes will be worlds apart on a fast twisting road or at a track day.
Steel works better for most chassis, it's much less expensive to handle than aluminium, and makes for a better motorcycle for almost every application except at the very top of Superbike or MotoGP.
I think the Z650 and Z900 are going to knock the door flat when the reviews emerge.
I rode the Z650 pretty well today, after dropping the forks and setting the shock to #2 preload position. That put the handling exactly where I wanted it, very agile but still stable enough not to be twitchy. Even with the stock Dunlop 214 tires the bike was amazingly good. Not just for what it is, but amazingly good. Broad powerband, strong right off idle (the first two gears are almost certainly timing-retarded with the stock ECU flash) and very strong all the way to redline. The power never falls off, with torque peak around 5500 RPM or thereabouts. It would surely be possible to power-wheelie this motorcycle with an ECU reflash that would remove the restrictions in the first two gears.
The engine is pure racebike twin right from the git-go. It works fine trolling around town but operates best above 6000 RPM, it loves to be up there where there is plenty of control. This engine has got to be experienced to be believed, truly. Very responsive, free-revving, and powerful. Not the slightest glitch in fueling either, except for the expected low-speed slop, never an issue on the track or for hard sport-riding.
The brakes have come in and they are really stupid strong, way more powerful than I would have guessed for twin-piston calipers. They're not mushy, either, a marvel for an ABS-equipped bike. The lever is tight, short travel, plenty of feel. And very easy to get the ABS to intervene with two fingers, but one finger is all that's needed for almost all conditions. One finger is perfect for trailbraking into a turn and this bike does that brilliantly, better than any bike I've ever owned or ridden. It's fantastic on the brakes, you can get the rear tire almost unweighted and still have incredible control and feedback from the contact patch under very hard braking. It's very stable at higher lean angles and quite neutral on/off throttle and brakes.
I would wager this is the best middleweight twin sporting chassis ever built on this kind of commercial scale. I expected it to be good, but this is way beyond good. The closest thing out there to this chassis is the late-nineties FZR400, which had phenomenally legendary handling. The chassis dimensions are nearly identical in many respects but the Z650 does several things differently which put it way out in front of the FZR.
First thing I noted was the swingarm is much longer than the Yamaha's. That's one reason why it's so good under hard braking with the rear tire unweighted, you can still feel the rear contact patch, very important as you set up the turn and get ready to crank up the juice. Also Kawasaki has used a "horizontal back-link" shock setup, just like the ZX-10R, which has a string of WSBK titles to its name now. And it works. Even with the low-end budget shock supplied the back end of the bike is very controllable and pretty compliant. I am eager to see what it'll be like with an Ohlins or Penske but could certainly live with the stock unit until it wore out.
The other big difference between the Z650 and FZR400 is the steel chassis. The FZR has an aluminium Deltabox chassis, a great design, but stiff. In the last few years it's been possible to make steel-framed bicycles that weigh about the same as titanium, but are much more compliant. Steel is a great metal to use in construction because it is very easy to temper in myriad ways. Many different kinds of steel can be used, and the tube section and wall thickness can be very easily manipulated to provide very precise results. The steel chassis on the Z650 is of the same design as the Kawasaki H2/R and they have really got that right. It's light, strong, well-designed, and well-tempered to work exactly right under the kinds of stresses encountered in hard, high-performance riding.
I predict Kawasaki will expand the use of this design and it is very likely the philosophy will be seen on other manufacturer's machines in the next couple of years. The new Z900 uses exactly the same basic design, a steel trellis/box frame. That bike is only $1000 more than the Z650 which tells me that most of the extra cost is in the larger four-cylinder engine. The frame on the Z650 is of very high-quality and most of the cost is there. But the Z900 comes in at only $7999 non-ABS, very inexpensive. It's somewhat heavier than the FZ09 but makes more power and without a doubt, the chassis is going to be so far removed from the two-piece bolt-together minimalist design of the Yamaha that the two bikes will be worlds apart on a fast twisting road or at a track day.
Steel works better for most chassis, it's much less expensive to handle than aluminium, and makes for a better motorcycle for almost every application except at the very top of Superbike or MotoGP.
I think the Z650 and Z900 are going to knock the door flat when the reviews emerge.