[Kawasaki Z650 News]

Beginner riders need not fear motorcycles with engines above 300cc and VisorDown seems to agree in their Kawasaki Z650 first ride review.

Replacing the ER-6N, Kawasaki’s new middleweight bike has a lot to offer new riders in an affordable package. At just £6,099, the 649cc liquid-cooled parallel-twin engine cranks out 69hp and 48.46lb/ft of torque. There’s plenty of low end power and mid-range grunt without overwhelming new riders. The throttle isn’t touchy, so riders shouldn’t be getting any nasty surprises and it can quickly and smoothly get up to up to 60mph.

Ergonomically, the Z650 can fit a variety of riders with how small it is. The body is short and narrow to accommodate small inseams and its seat height of 790mm is short people friendly. On top of the bikes diminutive stature, it only weighs 187kg.

Sitting in the seat, riders will find that they don’t need to bend too far forward to reach the bars as they were designed to gently sweep back towards you. The LCD instrument display is positioned to provide all the basic information you’ll need at a glance.

The only complaints they had was of the legroom, which is fine for the average rider so long as you’re not freakishly tall, how firm the narrow seat is and the real-world fuel economy number of 52mpg – lower than the stated 68.9mpg.

 

[roadhawk]

Couldn't agree with this more and it confirms what most new riders who always wanted more talked about and that was the 600cc range. Before we could only pick products like the CBR600, not the greatest first choice, now theres little debating this Z650.