Kawasaki Z1000 High Sierra Ride Report

Story and Photos by Sid Byers

This photo is on Hwy 88 near Bear River Lake at about 6,500 feet.

One of my favorite rides in the summertime is to ride over the Sierra Nevada Mountains, going from the valley floor in California, along Hwy 49 in the Gold Rush Country, over the mountain passes to Hwy 395. I then ride the Nevada valley area to take a different mountain pass back to Hwy 49 in the Gold Rush Country. Most of these rides round trip rides ran in the low 250’s to over 275 miles per day. Each ride would climb the High Sierras using various highways 108, 4, and 88 as looped rides of over 250 miles each day.

With most of the passes in the 8,500 to 9,600 elevations, it is also a great place to check out how well your motorcycle’s engine performs at the upper elevations. My carbureted bikes, like my Yamaha FJ1200, didn’t work too well at the upper elevations because I had them jetted for sea level. They really lacked power in the upper elevations from the jetting being off and the lack of available air.

The Z1000 and its fuel injection system had perfect throttle response from sea level up to the highest mountain passes. This bike had nothing but perfect throttle response every time all the time. It did have some lack of power, requiring many (3 or more) downshifts to get it going to pass slower moving vehicles at 8000 feet. That rush of acceleration that I enjoyed at sea level was down some at elevation, as was to be expected.

Pacific Grade Summit Hwy 4, Elev. 8050 Ft.

Each day started and ended at the Best Western Hotel in Jackson, CA. That was my base camp, and I left the saddlebags in the room so that I only needed a tank bag for these rides.

When I was eyeing the Z1000 at the dealership, I just knew that seat would have to be replaced with a more comfortable one. That little tiny piece of foam is not a seat. Well, after spending many miles on the seat, I was happy to learn that it was perfect, just the right amount of foam, and the foam was the proper density. No need to drop hundreds on a Corbin seat. Thank you Kawasaki.

I found that the close ratio transmission doesn’t fit the bike’s profile. Kawasaki used what feels like the exact same ratios of the Ninja in this naked bike, which didn’t seem to fit the idea of a de-turned Ninja engine with a wider power band. It would have been better with a wide ratio 5 speed transmission like its brother the ZRX1200 uses. The engine had lots of pull and I know that it could have worked much better for the purpose of this bike.

This bike pulled good at the lower RPMs abound 3,000, and when it hit 6,000 you better be hanging on tight. It really pulled hard from there all the way to the 11,000 redline. In addition, I really like the sound that engine and exhausts made when it was really wailing in the upper RPMs. With you head tucked in behind the mini faring the sound was truly awesome!

This is on Highway 4 at Ebbetts Pass and 8,730 feet elevation.

My only problem with this bike was the handle bar vibration at freeway speeds. After 30 to 40 miles of droning, my hand would start to tingle. I would have to stop and take a break to get my hands to “un-pump” so that I could continue riding. I really like the relaxed up right riding position. I also liked the placement of the bars, seat and foot pegs. They really were perfect for an average size guy. I found the shape of the tank very good for using your legs to hold onto the tank over rough and bumpy roads.

Most of the roads on the High Sierra trip had good pavement, but some had pot holes near the top of the passes from the winter’s storm damage and freezes. You also had to watch out for sand in the middle of the lanes left over from the winter that had been used for ice protection. The Z1000 also ate rear tires at a 2,500 mile pace, fronts lasted about 3,500 to 4,000 during my 15,000 ownership of this very fun motorcycle. Tires were the biggest expense, and lots of oil and filter changes for the miles I put on it.

Quality of the bike was excellent, with lots of innovative ideas present. I felt that the suspension was lacking, and I had a custom rear shock made by Works Performance with custom valving and spring for the rear, up front they installed heavier front fork springs and reworked the valve stacks. That helped to firm up the very soft stock suspension. Previously the front suspension would bottom out when you hit the stutter bumps coming into turns while hard on the front brakes.

Hwy 4 had a section near the top that was like a paved moto cross course complete with woops. You could hit the gas as you crested the top of each whoop, and hold the front tire off the ground for quite a ways on the ol’ Z1000. That was roller coaster like. The road was very narrow, and lots of elevation change, and it had some sand on it from a recent snow storms. You must be careful in the turns here; we all know that sand on pavement doesn’t make for good cornering traction.

I didn’t care for the LCD Speedo/Tachometer gauge; I found it hard to read while riding at speed. You had to actually look at it to determine the engine RPM or MPH, rather than just glance at a circular analog gauge to determine the RPM or MPH by the position of the needle on the gauge. And we all know that taking your eyes of the road while riding a superbike is not a good idea.

This is on highway 88 near Bear River Lake.

These rides always satisfied me with the magnificent views and many stops for pictures of the terrain great twisting and climbing roads with lots of changing climatic conditions over the Sierra Nevada Mountains.

It can be in sunny and in the high 90’s in Nevada on 395, and then run into thunder and lightning over the passes during the afternoons in the summertime. These rides are a great place to practice layered clothing and carry extra gloves for the changing conditions.

This is heading West Highway 108 dropping down to Kennedy Meadows.

Most of the roads were logging haul roads, so they tended to have constant radii turns. Some of the turns on Hwy 108 were massive, on a ¼ mile radius, and often followed the hill side to complete 180 degree turns. There were really neat, just keep leaned over and looking through the top of my Arai Helmet to attempt to find the end of the turn. Nearly cooked the rear tire because I was enjoying heavy throttle coming out of the turns, and there were many very fun turns. After you crest Highway 108 you start a very steep decent going east towards Nevada.

Over the 4 day trip in the sierras, my fuel mileage averaged about 45 mpg. The fuel injection system was perfect no matter what elevation or temperature it was.

My Kawasaki Z1000 was also very reliable, started every time, hot or cold, and idled perfectly. I needed to lube the O-ring chain about every 250 miles to keep the sprockets and chain happy and keep the chain noise low.

There is nothing like a good High Sierra Ride with a liter bike to enjoy the summer colors and the beautiful trees of the many National Forests that are part of our beautiful country.