I was on another site and one of the members was bragging about the 136hp (spec) his 2010 Kawa z1000 puts out. Granted I havent been keeping up with the latest and greatest for a few years but I would have thought liter bikes would be pushing 150ish hp by now.

My 23 year old 'Cane puts out 135 (spec).

So is 135'ish HP the pinnacle of performance for a liter engine these days? Or at least what you can get from the showroom floor?

I was just a little bit surprised that the HP hasn't changed much in 23 years. Granted with the EFi the torgue on the z1000 is quite a bit more (81' lb vs 66' lb for the 'cane) but the weight really isn't that much less with the "naked" z 1000 (218kg vs 230kg for the 'cane).

I am thinking Honda was either way ahead of the curve when they enginerred the Hurricane or all of the refinements since then have been suspension, etc because the HP is just fine.

It was interesting to me, so I thought I would share some thoughts.

bob

 

New litre class superbikes are pushing 160-170+HP standard. Minor mods will get you 190+
SBK are pushing 220HP and the 800cc MotoGP bikes over 220HP.

I think there's something wrong, either with his figures, or the Z1000 is a donkey by today's standards.
OR He's talking Kilowatts which would be about right

And my 90 Mk2 weighs in at 252Kg's DRY WEIGHT 550 Lbs
add fuel, oil etc, around around 280 Kilo's.
Maybe yours has been on Weight watchers

quote Wikipedia
2008–2010
2010 Honda CBR1000RR at the 2009 Seattle International Motorcycle Show.

An all new CBR1000RR was introduced at the Paris International Motorcycle Show on September 28, 2007 for the 2008 model year. The CBR1000RR was powered by an all new 999 cc (61.0 cu in) inline-four engine with a redline of 13,000 rpm. It had titanium valves and an enlarged bore with a corresponding reduced stroke. The engine had a completely new cylinder block, head configuration, and crankcase with lighter pistons. A new ECU had two separate revised maps sending the fuel and air mixture to be squeezed tight by the 12.3:1 compression ratio. Ram air was fed to an enlarged air box through two revised front scoops located under the headlamps. Honda claimed power output to be at least 178 hp (133 kW) at 12,000 rpm.[citation needed]

 

Now that makes more sense. But I don't think they are calling the z1000 a super bike, but rather a "street fighter" whatever that means.

I feel better now knowing the current class of liter superbikes do make quite a bit more HP than my Hurricane, as far as weight I just took the specs off of a website for the 88 CBR 1000F. Maybe the 90 got a case of the bloats. I would bet the specs given were wrong, it wouldn't be the first time.

bob

 

Kawasaki Z1000 (2010-current) - Kawasaki Motorcycle Reviews

136HP is correct - all about mid-range punch
Why would anyone buy a donkey when you can have 178HP from a Honda ?
Who knows what Kawa engineers were thinking - but then I'm not a streetfighter fan.........
Maybe it's great for wheelies

 

Yep, mid range punch and ridability. I convinced a friend to get the CB1000R with 135ish hp when he was raving on about the FZ1 with a heap more power. He's glad he chose the CB and absolutely loves it. He test rode all the naked litre bikes on the market and prefered the "down on power" Honda for the way the engine feels.

 

Usually when a sport bike has been downed, it is costly to replace the plastic. The owner instead does what he can to get it back on the road w/o the plastic. Those bikes are called street fighters. What the Z1000 is would be called a naked or standard bike. Calling it a street fighter must be for sales.

Here is a LINK for the Z1000 specs. They say 138 HP.

What I am thinking is that they de-tuned the bike for better around town riding, maybe better low end. One of my brothers has a ZX1100 that basically has a Ninja de-tuned engine in it. He recently put a ninja cam in and said it made a big difference.