Kawasaki May Be Teasing a New Z1100
New Z model to be revealed Oct. 30
Kawasaki is teasing a new model to be revealed on Oct. 30, with the evidence suggesting it will be a new Z1100 streetfighter.
We’ve been anticipating a Z1100 since we first caught wind that the Versys and Ninja were growing from 1000 models to 1100s. As we previously noted, Kawasaki has already announced most of its Z range for 2025 with the exception of the Z900, leaving its future in doubt. The teaser confirms a new high-performance Z model, and a jump from Z900 to a Z1100 makes a lot of sense.
The teaser itself gives us a few clues. First off is the video beginning with the word “Performance” over the Japanese Kanji for “Amazing”. Second, is the tagline “New Levels of Raw”, which implies a naked model. Next is a close-up shot of a rider with Kawasaki’s Z logo on his helmet.
All of this tells us the teaser is for a Z model, but the surest sign it is for a Z1100 and not an updated Z900 is the shot of the right handlebar. To the right of the rider’s hand, we can see a gray engine start/stop switch. The Z900, and all the smaller Z models, have a red switch. The Z900 also has different cable routing coming out of the right grip than what we can see in the teaser.
The Ninja 1100 and Versys 1100 (pictured below), as well as the 1000 models before them, all have a gray engine start/stop switch, and the overall right switchgear looks very similar to what is shown in the teaser video (sans hand guard of course.)
Barring something else entirely coming out of left field, all of this suggests that the new model will be a 2025 Kawasaki Z1100. If so, then we can expect the same Inline-Four engine, now displacing 1,099cc, and claiming peak outputs of 134 hp at 9,000 rpm and 83.2 lb-ft. at 8,000 rpm. We can also expect similar electronics, including IMU-backed cornering traction control and ABS and electronic cruise control.
The Ninja 1100 and Versys 1100 both retain the styling of their 1000 predecessors, but the Z1100 will likely look different from the Z900. An aluminum twin spar frame similar to the Ninja 1100’s all but makes that necessary, as it poses different packaging challenges than the Z900’s steel trellis. The only detail we can definitively confirm from the teaser is a new flyscreen design and mirrors similar to the Versys 1100’s.
We’ll now for certain when Kawasaki makes its official announcement on Oct. 30.
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Dennis has been a part of the Motorcycle.com team since 2008, and through his tenure, has developed a firm grasp of industry trends, and a solid sense of what's to come. A bloodhound when it comes to tracking information on new motorcycles, if there's a new model on the horizon, you'll probably hear about it from him first.
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I owned a 2008 Z1000 for a while. I also owned a 2017 Z900 for a while. The later 1043cc Z1000 finally went bye-bye from the US and got updated for Europe for a few more years.
If the Z1100 rumored to be released doesn't at least make some effort to compete with the "super naked" bikes in the same class in terms of horsepower, I'll have mixed thoughts about it. GSX-S1000 competition, probably less power but more torque. If Honda brings over their 1000 Hornet? MT-10 still far more powerful. ZH2 already exists. Seems the 1100 would be a kind of middle-slot machine with nothing of note in the naked segment, that would stand out.
I guess that's the trouble with all the trends in manufacturing with one engine powering a half dozen models. Engine development is stupid expensive and it's the most regulated part of motorcycles. Hence manufacturers jamming Star Trek levels of tech into everything to remain "interesting" and "profitable".
The new Kawasaki Z1100 will be a much better choice than the Yamaha MT-09s, Triumph Street Triples, KTM 990 Duke, and Ducati Monsters. Oh, and the ugly Suzuki GSX-S1000.
We are getting a new naked coming that will dominate the 900s performance-wise and will probably be competitive vs the Suzuki GSX-S1000. I'm sure it will at least look better than the Zuk with its Sugomi design.