Kawasaki Ninja ZX r action shots

Kawasaki Ninja ZX-14R Review: Transcendental Spaceship

Kawasaki Ninja ZX-14r action shots(55)

It wasn’t the perfect day to be on a motorcycle. With a glowing sun beating down on us with all its glory, we were melting inside our gear, riding on tarmac that was fast turning into jell-o. While my colleagues had disappeared into the distance, astride the Kawasaki ZX-14R, I rolled off the gas after a brief moment of reaching transcendental speeds that wanted to burn me into flakes of ash. I parked the bike under some shade, took my lid off and sat down with my face between the palms, feeling emotions I had never felt before. Perhaps my vision was moist, or maybe it was the sweat trickling down my face. I know it was the heat, but I’m not sure if it was the terrifying joy of riding what Kawasaki calls the world’s most powerful mass production motorcycle that was causing my palms to perspire.

Images: Vaibhav Aher

(My colleagues were on two other big Kawasakis. Click to read about the one in black, to know about a litre class devil in green, click here )

Kawasaki Ninja ZX-12R

The cause that still adorns my bedroom wall

It was then I realised that the cause for my condition was hidden in the past. A time when I used to read fables about these elusive predators who occupied top space in the motorcycling food chain, categorized as ‘Hypersports’. There were three of them jostling for top honours then, called the Super Blackbird, the Hayabusa and the Kawasaki ZX-12R. All three built for a sole reason – Being the fastest road legal production motorcycle that was ever made. Eventually, safety conscious Garfields brought the escalating race to build the fastest machine on two-wheels to a truce and the ZX-12R evolved into a larger, but an equally majestic animal, the Kawasaki Ninja ZX-14R. It was almost a decade long fascination that I had with this breed which grew into an obsession to hunt this animal down.

Kawasaki Ninja ZX-14r right side profile view (3)

Like some hunter then, who had only read and heard about an elusive man eater on the prowl, scaring the living daylights out of unsuspecting mortals, I have to admit unabashedly, after making hats and scarves out of jackals and rabbits, meeting the ZX-14R in flesh did give me the jitters. It is what Corbett must’ve experienced, looking into the eyes of a big fierce cat, his heart pounding like a bad-ass loudspeaker, imagining those sharp claws digging through his heart, but then like that gun wielding khaki clad idiot, as souls obsessed with the idea of going faster than the speed of light, these are moments we live for.

Kawasaki Ninja ZX-14r cornering shots(73)

With the key finally in my hand, days of sitting atop a tree, looking for pug marks, tracing the musky aroma of octane to catch a glimpse of a mystical beast were over. However, the Kawasaki Ninja ZX-14R wasn’t a motorcycle we were about to rip the skin off and proudly display it on our wall. We very well knew that like the ‘Toruk’ from Pandora, it was the 14R which could hunt us down and eat us alive if we cracked a whip too harsh using our right wrist. With a prayer, as I thumbed this spaceship to life, it only took a left turn out of the dealership’s gate to experience sweet psychotic terror.

Kawasaki Ninja ZX-14r action shots(60)

After a ride out of town that caused many eyeballs to pop out of their sockets, here I was, with my face between my palms, staring at some green sheen that glittered in the blinding sun. It did not take long to conclude that everything about the Kawasaki Ninja ZX-14R has been designed with silly velocity in mind. It isn’t a monument that will go down in history books as the one which could make your eyes soggy, but it is a machine that is designed to reach monumental speeds. A thing of art that wouldn’t make you stand still and admire, but make you epileptic and cause you to veer off into thoughts about travelling at a gazillion kilometres per hour with the stars buzzing by.

Kawasaki Ninja ZX-14r right side profile view (2)

This big Ninja is all about form following function then, and if you look at it that way, you’d start appreciating beauty that is outworldly and not defined by earthly definitions which call things bulbous. Having said that, the ZX14-R is a big machine and there’s no hiding that. This monstrosity on two wheels stands 3.8 feet tall, extends 7 feet in length, is 2 and a 1/2 feet wide and weighs 241 kilos without any fuel in the chiselled 22-liter tank.

Kawasaki Ninja ZX-14r head on (16)

As the ZX-14R moonlights my open eyed dreams, I still find myself captivated by the heart shaped RAM air intake flanked by an aggressive looking illumination system, capped off by a curved, swooping fly screen that is inspired by a space suit helmet. Assisting that wind cheating front is a large fender that covers the wheel halfway, while the only thing that adds a charming element to an otherwise furious looking front are those RVM sticks popping out like a bee’s antennas.

Kawasaki Ninja ZX-14r static shots (62) Kawasaki Ninja ZX-14r tail section(10)

Shift your visionary senses sideways and you’d notice a sliced boomerang that channels the air flow in the fairing and a lower half that has been mauled by a female feline during the mating season. However, what really binds things within a time capsule is the twin, bazooka like exhaust system which looks like it’d change angle anytime like a Harrier jet and shoot the bike into outer space. Enough with this romanticizing then, let’s get to the part where your socks get knocked off at interstellar speeds.

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10 thoughts on “Kawasaki Ninja ZX-14R Review: Transcendental Spaceship”

  1. Hi Sundaram,

    We don’t really mention top speeds in our reviews, but we can tell you we did cross the barriers of silly. It felt like we were hanging on for dear life on a supersonic jet’s wing.

  2. We don’t know which school asks a 15-year old to review a Rohit Shetty movie. The world’s most powerful production motorcycle isn’t simple and to the point machinery. There’s always a spec sheet available if you wish to rummage through simple pointers. We are sure if you ride one of these engineering marvels some day, you’d come back distracted too. There’s a world that thrills more than Bollywood, we hope you experience it. Your opinion is valued though and we’ll take it in our stride as good feedback 🙂
    Thanks!

  3. The language used in the article is too distracting. It reads pretty much like a 15 year old writing for his school magazine’s Rohith Shetty movie review. Keeping it simple and to the point would be better in my opinion.

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