Kawasaki Z800 street fighter

The Kawasaki Z750 has been taken out to 806cc and adding extra power, torque and kit.

So called “street fighter” style bikes without fairings are booming both here and overseas as riders seek an unadulterated wind in your face riding experience as well as trying to reduce potential crash repair costs in a moderate bingle. Damage the bodywork on a fully faired and it can cost a bomb to fix.

Power for the Z800 comes from a traditional inline four cylinder donk bored out this year and with larger throttle bodies, shorter gearing and revised fuel mapping. Kawasaki has been using this engine format for over 40 years producing some with near legendary reputations.

The chassis is tweaked for better responses and dynamics. Stronger four piston front brakes are fitted along with sports ABS. Other chassis details have been recalibrated for a sportier feel.

A restyle gives the bike more presence on the road and the new instrument pod is easier to read as well as being better looking.

The Z800 is no lightweight at 231kg wet but there's plenty of poke from the compact engine to push things along. It achieves some 83kW at 10200rpm and 83Nm at 8000rpm, the former an improvement of 5.3kW on the Z750 and the latter a 5Nm improvement. Redline is 12000rpm.

It has a six speed transmission and is good for 6.5-litres/100km. The ride feel is a blast offering up sharp steering and tenacious cornering thanks to the rigid chassis and large tyres.

It's an ideal mount for city and country riding though the lack of a screen will wear you down on a long touring ride at high speed. Kawasaki describes the Z800 as a cage fighter of a bike and apart from the quiet exhaust, we couldn't agree more.