Kawasaki GPZ 1100 ABS test shorts

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Kawasaki GPZ 1100 ABS test shorts

And yet it turns

Standing still means going backwards – especially with the front wheel. That is why Kawasaki focuses on progress, on ABS.

Whether it’s the daily news report, the centenary calendar or old farmer’s rules – nobody can predict the next onset of winter as precisely as MOTORRAD thanks to the GPZ rule, which reads: As soon as a GPZ 1100 rolls into the underground car park of the editorial house, the temperatures drop below freezing point and it starts to snow. The cause of this puzzling phenomenon could not be investigated in detail in the short time – the GPZ 1100 was only presented at the end of 1994. What is certain, however, is that the rule also applies to the new, black special model with ABS.

For the plus in driving safety, the buyer has to cope with an additional minus of 1500 marks in his wallet. If you also value storage space, you should also factor in a case system, because the formerly spacious storage compartment under the bench fell victim to the ABS hydraulic unit. The GPZ 1100 gained ten official and twelve weighed kilograms thanks to the ABS. So that these are not lost when the vehicle is loaded, the gross vehicle weight has been increased by ten kilograms compared to the standard version.

Kawasaki GPZ 1100 ABS test shorts

And yet it turns

For Kawasaki Germany, the tests of the standard version in 1995 were a pre-production model, which also explains why this time – in contrast to the individual test (MOTORRAD 1/1995) – the fuel consumption gives no reason for criticism: the GPZ 1100 ABS burns just under six liters per 100 kilometers driven, and the KCAS secondary air system ensures that a large part of the pollutants that are generated are post-burned. This system is now being installed in all large-displacement Kawasaki models – an at least as valuable contribution to environmental protection as the new anti-lock braking system for active driving safety.

Only the anti-lock braking system is offered exclusively for the GPZ 1100 ABS. Such anti-lock protection when braking pays off particularly when the coefficient of friction between the tires and the road surface is difficult to assess, for example in wet conditions, on changing road surfaces or in cold weather, when the tires barely reach operating temperature. The conditions were ideal for the first functional test: after all the brake levers had been pulled and pressed with all their might, the pads bite hard in the usual Kawasaki manner. A fraction of a second later, the ABS takes over and initially significantly reduces the brake pressure in the brake calipers, while the fork rebounds a good bit. It takes a while – in a dangerous situation it must appear as if hours have passed – until the ABS has approached the optimum deceleration again, while the hand and foot brake levers pump up and down vigorously. If the road surface changes, this game repeats itself again due to the jump in the coefficient of friction until the Kawasaki comes to a standstill safely and without blocking.

Under optimal external conditions, an experienced motorcyclist without ABS will certainly be faster, at least if he has enough time to prepare for the braking maneuver. But emergency situations arise completely unexpectedly in public road traffic, and then there is usually a puddle or gravel on the road – how good, if you then have a GPZ 1100 with ABS.

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