Should I swap my bike for the latest model? It's what everyone wonders when a new version of their pride and joy is unveiled. My own bike is a 2017 Kawasaki Z1000SX – and I know it well. When I was editor of RiDE, I went on the model launch and interviewed the engineers. I ran it for a year as a test bike and liked it so much that I bought it, rather than give it back.
When I jacked-in working on the magazine, I flew the SX to Toronto, rode it across the US, then shipped it to Australia and rode it round there… before bringing it back to Europe and riding everywhere from Scotland to Switzerland to Spain to Slovenia and most places in between. It has more than 58,000 miles on the clock now.
Now I have the latest version of my bike sitting outside my lock-up. At first glance the Ninja 1100SX is strikingly similar to my older machine, apart from the single exhaust (mine has twin pipes). The riding position feels the same in terms of the bar-seat-pegs ratios, though the saddle feels slightly plusher.
There's much more that's different, though. The colour TFT dash, the slicker switchgear and the cruise control (and the single exhaust) come from the 2020 Ninja 1000SX – which was an incremental improvement on the 2017 model. But not enough to sway me to upgrade my bike.
The big change with the 1100 is under the surface. Capacity is up from 1043cc to 1099cc, but a change in tune drops peak power by 4bhp to 136bhp, though it arrives 1000rpm earlier at 9000rpm. That isn't really noticeable – but the change to low and midrange throttle response really is. I love my 2017 SX but it does need to be revved to get the best out of it. The new 1100 is much more eager, pulling well from as low as 3000rpm.
Wind the throttle on and speed builds quickly, as it has on every generation of SX. They've always been quick. What's new here is the slicker quickshifter (which wasn't even an option on my 2017 bike) and that gets the next ratio in place well before my brain can attempt to spot the difference between 136bhp and 140. This is, I hate to say it, a better road-riding engine: I'm not trying to keep it in the sweet spot – it's pretty much all sweet spot.
One of the other changes for the 1100 is revised ratios for fifth and sixth gears, making them taller to bring down the revs at cruising speeds. Certainly, sitting at 60 in top on a straight A-road has the engine purring along at about 4000rpm; pulling 70 on a dual carriageway barely adds 500rpm. This is all about improving the fuel economy – my SX usually averages 43mpg but Kawasaki claim the new one will return 50mpg. I have found that using quality petrol (preferrably V-Power) has let me get 190 miles on from the 19L tank: if it can do 50mpg that would let it top 200 miles.
One upgrade on the new Ninja 1100SX SE is an Öhlins rear shock. It is definitely a step up – and though I know my high-mile SX will have lost some suspension performance, even when it was new I don't think it was so supple and controlled over bumps as the 1100's fancy shock. Better still, it has an easy-to-twiddle remote preload adjuster and a simple rebound adjuster that made it a doddle to adjust the ride to suit my size.
The 1100's brakes are better than the older model – not that they ever lacked any performance. The rear disc is 10mm larger and the SE benefits from Brembo front calipers. Night and day different? Er, to be honest on still-chilly March tarmac, I couldn't have noticed the difference. There's still brick-wall stopping power but, more importantly, good feel and fine control if trail-braking into a corner.
So there is lots to like about the new Kawasaki Ninja 1100SX SE. It is better than my much-loved 2017 Z1000SX in every way – even the key's better. But the best thing is that so much of it is the same. Same riding position, same practical panniers, same decent screen, same sense of purpose, same quality finish. I know I could jump on it tomorrow and go to the shops… or the South of France. Or South Australia.
Would I upgrade if I had last year's Ninja 1000SX? Perhaps. Will I upgrade from my 2017 bike? I definitely should – though that brings us to the question of costs. The base Ninja 1100SX is £12,249, but I'd definitely want the Öhlins of the SE model (£13,999)… and though my panniers would fit, they're the wrong colour so I'd have to get the SE Tourer (£14,999). It's a lot of money – but it's a lot less than any of the big adventure bikes. And come on, do they look this good? Nah…
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