The Accidental Sport-Tourist

The Accidental Sport-Tourist

OVER THE YEARS, HANDLEBARS HAVE GONE UP, AND HANDLEBARS have gone down, while footpegs have moved ’round and ’round. Somewhere between the extremes lies normalcy, or “standard,” which we’ve taken to calling naked, because nudity is more enticing than standard.

But even if all you called Kawasaki’s ZR-7S was “standard,” it’d still be pretty enticing. The new half-fairing and gauge cluster dress up what in nude form was already a good motorcycle, and optional Givi hard saddlebags make it even better. The latter are official Kawasaki accessories, so you can add the $610 bags to the $5999 base price and ride away with it as part of the financing package.

The principal mechanical components of the ZR-7S are unchanged from its deceased brother, the regular unfaired ZR-7. Fine by us. Sure, the familiar air-cooled two-val ver 750 powerplant has been around in one form or another for more than two decades, but that’s what we journalists like to call “venerable” and press kits euphemize as “proven.” Well, we put the old girl to the test with a fully laden 1000-mile flog up to Sears Point and back for the AMA National last May. The easy-to-use, black-plastic saddlebags got a full dose of stuff (plenty of space for a two-up weekender), while the seat got 220 pounds of incredibly fit, Aerostich-clad test rider. The 69 horspower and 44 foot-pounds didn’t feel overwhelmed. In fact, performance was still quite lively, and top-gear, roll-on-and-go passes were executed quickly.

But perhaps that’s partly due to the fact that the ZR-7S is limited to five speeds in its reasonably smooth-shifting transmission. With the overoptimistic speedo’s needle creeping toward 80 mph, the engine is well above 5000 rpm (halfway to the 10,000-rpm redline), right in the engine’s best power-producing zone. So, sure, you’ve got the zap to pass. But the slight buzz this engine speed transmits though the handlebars and footpegs makes the bike feel a bit busy at cruise, although this is more of an annoyance than an actual comfort issue. Still, on a bike with available hard bags, a sixth gear would be a nice addition. That said, in any other use aside from trying to compress large amounts of straight highway into a small amount of time, gearing is fine.

Besides, with such a light-steering, nimble chassis, you’ll want to opt for roads with less speed and more turns, anyway. Cornering attitude is neutral, with adequate if not overly sophisticated damping. The shock features a stepped spring-preload adjustment collar, and the wrench for this is included in the toolkit. Rebound damping at the back is adjustable over a useful range, so even with the bags loaded and preload cranked up, handling remained sure. The worst behavior during cornering, in fact, was due to engine response. Jetting is lean, which made throttle response both delayed and quite abrupt when rolling back on the gas in turns, just at the time you want it to be smoothest. Skip the difficulty and have an aftermarket jet kit ready to go ASAP.

Chasing a tilting horizon on Kawasaki’s ZR-7S

The two-piston disc brakes, meanwhile, were adequate for sport riding and weren’t overly taxed by the full touring load.

Niceties include adjustable clutch and brake levers, and a fuel gauge. While the latter is a cool thing to have, one hopes for better accuracy. Through the first half of its range,

the needle barely crawls as the miles pile up. After that, though, it plummets to its death, reaching “E” long before the petcock needs to be switched to Reserve. Fuel economy was excellent, the ZR-7S turning in 45 mpg average. With a fuel capacity of 5.8 gallons, this translates to a range of about 260 miles, although with the fuel gauge freaking you out, you’ll likely stop much sooner than you need to.

Wonky gauge aside, the ZR-7S is a nice ride. Just like last year’s bike, it’s sporty enough for Sunday-morning fun and comfortable enough for commuting. That the addition of an excellent fairing and optional bags to a “naked standard” has produced a nice budget sport-tourer, well, there’s nothing accidental about that. -Mark Hoyer