Kawasaki Teryx KRX 1000
The 2021 Kawasaki Teryx KRX 1000 has made a very successful entry into the sport all-terrain vehicle market. The model contained many innovations, had a durable design, and its engine produced more power than the Polaris RZR XP 1000. For 2021, Kawasaki released two more versions of the KRX 1000, the Trail Edition and the Special Edition. Today we will discuss the second model, that is, the Kawasaki Teryx KRX 1000 Special Edition 2021, and leave the Trail Edition for later.
The 2021 Teryx KRX 1000 is available in Vibrant Blue/Metallic Onyx Black, Team Lime Green, and Plain Black. New models have a low battery indicator. The new Trail Edition comes factory equipped with bumpers, side bars, a KQR hardtop, a Warn VRX45 winch, and Fragment Camo Gray paint with yellow arms, springs, bars, bumpers and roof cage. The Special Edition is equipped with a VRX45 winch, as well as a 600-watt five-channel Hifonics sound system with 6.5-inch waterproof door speakers and a 12-inch subwoofer with a built-in five-channel amplifier. The system is compatible with Apple phones and displays album art on the in-dash LED display.
Speed Kawasaki Teryx KRX 1000
The Kawasaki Teryx KRX 1000 SE is fast, but not faster than the RZR. The KRX-SE runs out of steam at about 110km/h in normal gear and 50 in low gear. The 999cc inline-two features 92mm bore pistons with 75.1mm stroke, twin throttle bodies with an injector each, eight valves, XZ-10R intake tracts and a Donaldson-style air cleaner housing. The compression ratio in the combustion chambers is 11.5:1, and peak torque is 104Nm at 7000rpm in Sport mode. In Reduced, traction is seriously limited.
Brief history of the model
- 1986 - start of production and sales.
Model
: Kawasaki GPZ1000RX (Ninja 1000R - USA) (North America, Europe, Japan, Australia).
Factory designation
: ZX1000-A1.
- 1987 - no significant changes.
Model
: Kawasaki GPZ1000RX (Ninja 1000R - USA) (North America, Europe, Japan, Australia).
Factory designation
: ZX1000-A2.
- 1988 is the last year of production.
Model
: Kawasaki GPZ1000RX (Europe, Australia).
Factory designation
: ZX1000-A3.
Drive unit
The traction pattern is typically confident and powerful for Kawasaki all-terrain vehicles. The KRX is equipped with a centrifugal clutch between the crankshaft and the drive pulley, which reduces belt jerk and allows you to reach torquey speeds before activating the transmission, and the final gear selector is a convenient car-style lever. The locking front differential is excellent when climbing over rocks and mud, and the axles are bulletproof and strong. The all-terrain vehicle is equipped with a parking brake and an effective engine braking system, the tires are one of the best among stock sports all-terrain vehicles, 31x10R15 8-ply Maxxis Carnivore on aluminum wheels with beadlocks.
Kawasaki Teryx KRX 1000
Controllability
I've ridden a lot in standard and low gear ratios, driven fast and slow, and at all speeds and terrain the KRX is stable and neutral. Its weight is distributed as 46/54 percent front/rear, which has a positive effect on handling and stability. With a 99-inch (251 cm) wheelbase and about 50 centimeters of suspension travel, the KRX excels over bumps and is capable of traversing ridges either sneaking or at full throttle. It's heavy and not easy to corner, but two anti-roll bars keep the chassis from rolling. The only thing is that if you loosen the suspension for a very soft ride, then in corners it noticeably transfers weight.
Engine
The car has an in-line engine. This is a four-stroke, four-cylinder unit with a displacement of 997 cubic centimeters. At 6500 rpm it produces a torque of approximately 83 Newton meters. The maximum power of this machine averages 85 horsepower at 9500 rpm.
The motorcycle reaches a maximum speed of 216 kilometers per hour. For a sports bike, this is a very average figure, but it’s difficult to call it small. Acceleration is relatively average and is 4.4 seconds (up to 100 kilometers per hour). Fuel consumption is approximately 6.5 liters per 100 kilometers, but this value depends on driving style. The gas tank capacity is huge - as much as 28.5 liters.
Kawasaki Teryx KRX 1000 suspension
The suspensions coped well with almost all types of terrain in different conditions and at different speeds. Tricky A-arms and FOX 2.5 Podium LSC shock absorbers give 47cm of front wheel travel and 53cm of rear wheel travel! True variable rate springs with adjustable intermediate rings and 24-position slow-compression damping adjusters provide tremendous ride quality tuning options. In my opinion, the suspension valves are chosen ideally, as are the springs, for driving on the highway, and the adjusters from the factory are in the middle positions. Riding hard on hills can lead to blowout, even with well-tightened compression, and this must be taken into account. But for climbing rocks, suspensions with large strokes are simply excellent.
Chassis and brakes
The motorcycle frame is made of high quality steel. With its characteristic shape it reflects his sporting status. Sports alloy wheels give the wheels a stylish look. The medium-sized steering wheel provides the car with good handling.
At the rear there is a pendulum suspension with a monoshock absorber. It has a stroke of 140 millimeters. The front suspension is a 41mm telescopic fork with a travel of 140mm. The rear brakes feature a 280mm disc accompanied by a single-piston caliper. At the front there are two discs, each 300 millimeters, and they are equipped with two-piston calipers.
Kawasaki Teryx KRX 1000 On rocks and in mud
Long-travel Teryxes have always been known for being a joy to climb over rocks, and the KRX 1000 is exactly that. With a ground clearance of 35cm, an excellent engine and a perfectly tuned CVT, the sporty Teryx in the rocks feels right at home, especially at low tire pressure. The weight presses it to the surface and only improves the grip. It’s worse in the mud with a lot of weight, and besides, the Carnivore tires joyfully throw up fountains of mud while moving, and it is almost not delayed by the standard fenders. Luckily, the optional Kawasaki Over-Fender kit can solve this problem.
Dimensions and weight
The bike is not very long compared to the average cruiser, but for a sports bike it is quite large: its length is 2290 millimeters, its width is 930 millimeters, and its height is 1415 millimeters. The height of the motorcycle at the saddle reaches 790 millimeters. The wheelbase size is 1555 millimeters.
The weight of this bike reaches 307 kilograms. This is its curb weight. You can't call it easy. Rather, it is a heavyweight among sports motorcycles. Be that as it may, such weight is not a disadvantage of the model, because this is a consequence of its concept: yes, the bike is certainly sporty, but still it is intended not only for an urban environment, but also for long trips along country roads.
Brakes Kawasaki Teryx KRX 1000
Powerful and clear. Two-piston hydraulic calipers on each of the four wheels sit on 10-inch discs. The front calipers have 38mm pistons, and the rear calipers have 32mm pistons. They are complemented by an independent parking brake circuit (on the rear wheels) and confident engine braking.
Comfort
The Teryx KRX 1000 has the most spacious cabin of any sport buggy. The seats are highly supportive and non-slip, and both seats are adjustable to suit different heights. There's quite a bit of cargo space behind the seats, even when they're pushed all the way back. The seats are removable to access the battery and fuel pump, and the air filter is located under an easy-to-remove cover behind the driver. There is more than room for elbows and shoulders, the passenger handrail is adjustable and equipped with grips, and the glove compartment underneath is quite spacious. The radio that is equipped with the SE occupies a niche in the panel, which is free in other trim levels, but phones can be folded into a lockable glove compartment above this niche. There are as many as seven plugs in the dashboard for the electrical options switches, the steering wheel is textured and its tilt is adjustable, the digital instrument panel is easy to read, equipped with a large analog tachometer, digital speedometer and large scales for engine temperature and fuel level. In the heat of the moment, I hit my foot on the center console a couple of times, but they even sell a special cushion for this place.
Hello to all Kawasaki lovers of the end of the last century and to everyone who stopped by for a glimpse. Today we will talk about such a rare and underrated car as the GPZ1100 from 95-98.
A relatively budget motorcycle from the mid-90s without any drawbacks? Is this possible from the factory, much less after several hands? Of course not! But it’s quite possible if you correct all the shortcomings yourself! Begin!
A little history again. The motorcycle appeared as the heir to the iconic Ninzi GPZ900r line and as a more budget version of the second generation ZZR1100 in 1995. At the time of the start of sales, it cost more than $3,000 cheaper than the ZZR1100, and then we will look at what simplifications Kawasaki made to make it more accessible. The main differences are a slightly deformed engine, which only benefited because of this, gaining more reliability. The steel frame greatly reduced the cost of the design, but at the same time greatly increased maintainability and ease of maintenance. And the GPZ also lacks the inertial boost system that gave the ZZR those very drops of extra power that made it the fastest production motorcycle from 1991-1996.
Photo from a 2006 review of the GPZ1100 in the MCN motorcycle magazine
Let's go through all the "shortcomings" that we are able to correct and modify, bringing the bike closer to the ideal for a motorcycle mechanic, which is yours truly.
The first thing that seemed uncomfortable was the very slippery seat, although its width, softness and elasticity were very good. And the second number fits quite comfortably in the back seat. As I understand it, this savings “from the factory” had a strong impact on all GPZs over the years of operation, and the seats were pretty polished. No sooner said than done. Reupholstery with modern non-slip material cost me a completely budget-friendly 1000 rubles in 2021. The comfort of landing has increased dramatically!
Point two, which caused criticism from me, as a fan of long-range shooting 1000+ per day, is that the glass is too low. Yes, it was sufficient, but I’m not a big fan of leaning on the tank up to 180 km/h. The situation was corrected by installing high MRA tourist glass. Yes, it is not the most budget-friendly, but the reliable polycarbonate lasts quite a long time and performs its functionality well, unlike most Chinese crafts. (Yes, MRA blows all their models on display).
Brakes. They are sufficient and informative to a certain extent, but I would like them to be better. The calipers themselves cope with their task quite well, which cannot be said about the archaic hoses, which, moreover, have been on the motorcycle for more than 20 years. The 3rd, 4th and 5th points resulted in quite deep modifications for me. For a user who is not very confused, I would recommend ordering the production of reinforced hoses from/in Moscow from a well-known company. The price of the set would be about 5-6 thousand per circle, and for the most part this would be enough. I tried the response on a similar motorcycle with original calipers and machines, on reinforced hoses - quite decent. But I decided to go a little further, since my budget and desire allowed. (This is already a matter of aesthetics and taste, which I do not impose on anyone).
Was. 2018th year.
Point 3,4,5 - Brake, clutch, remote control and throttle cables. I thought like this: “OK! Kawasaki made a budget car, and naturally saved on certain components, but made many components cool, convenient and trouble-free. What would they do if they wanted to make this machine more reliable, more expensive and better, having the technology of, say, 2004, and not deviating from the general style of the decline of the 90s?”
And away we go. Bearing in mind that the motorcycle has a rather rigid hydraulic clutch, which sometimes makes my hand ache, I analyzed this point as well. With my height of 183, and a relatively straight seat, my hands on the steering wheel did not bend very comfortably at the wrists, which made me tired. (yes, the cars were positioned at the factory points, and I always wanted to tilt them forward). I decided to experiment without knowing the result in advance. The first stage was to order Nissin radial cars, similar to the stock ZZR1400 of the first production series. Reinforced hoses were also ordered for this brake assembly, with a modified fitting for the machine (the bolt on the original GPZ machine faces forward, on the radial machine it points vertically down). The brake machine fit perfectly, and the clutch machine also took its place after some minor manipulations with the left control panel. But the right remote control could no longer take its place, since it was no longer friendly with such a machine. The next step was to order the Right Remote Control from the ZX-6r (exactly the same on the ZZR1200 and many others), so that it would not go out of style, and the throttle drive, as on a huge number of different motorcycles, from the ZZR1400 to the Yamaha TDM900. It allows you to guide the throttle and return cables comfortably around the new radial machine. The throttle handle itself does not differ at all in this throttle drive, and the original fits into it. I chose the throttle cables for a long time, analyzing their shape and length, as a result I ordered from ZZR1400. The cables arrived, but were disappointing because they were somewhat shorter than I expected if they were laid along the old route through the left window in the frame (in the direction of movement of the moto). But after re-routing the cables through the right window, everything worked out perfectly. The only thing that had to be added was to lengthen the cable jackets by about 1 cm each, by placing brass cylinders (actually, I don’t care what they are made of) above the carb mounting ears. If I had made this modification already having the experience of the previous one, perhaps I would have looked for other cables, or modified these by shortening the cable filling by 1.5 cm.
It has become. 2020th year.
This modification has one nuance that can be circumvented when ordering a clutch machine. My old clutch machine had a three-pin microphone that works in both positions of the handle, the same one that prevents you from moving with the footrest released or starting the engine in gear with the clutch not depressed. The radial machine came with a two-pin, classic in modern times. I didn’t bother too much with finding a suitable microphone, and simply attached the wires of the original remote control wiring to a relay bought at a car shop (all of this lives under the tank, there is a LOT of space there), connecting the relay control line to the microphone on the clutch machine. The task is not so difficult, but it would be nicer to find a mic, of course (but I’m not sure that such a thing exists; perhaps there are clutch machines that have everything they need right away).
So we come to the point that personally infuriated me from the very first day of purchasing this moto. Appearance of mirrors and their functionality. Yes, the appearance pays tribute to the distant 80s, but with my shoulder width, I blocked half of my view back (insufficient extension of the mirrors to the sides).
Father GPZ900r, 1984, and Son GPZ1100 Horizont 1997. "Daddy's ears!"
It would be possible to make spacers for the bases of the original mirrors and move them apart by a total of 3-4 cm, but since I didn’t like their appearance (yes, again a matter of taste, sorry), it was decided to find original mirrors from motorcycles of that era, and preferably installable ones on Kawasaki in the same years, in order to maintain aesthetics, space them wider, and improve visibility. And surprisingly, with the help of the comrades, such mirrors were found! From the ZZR1200 and ZRX1200S they fit 1-in-1 onto standard mounts, requiring no modifications at all. We ordered original used DSLRs from the UK (the Japanese wanted more money). And how they look! And how wonderful everything is visible in them!
Original mirror and mirror from ZZR1200. Wider, lower, but much better.
A bit of comfort was added by installing heated grips; an experienced eye, of course, noticed them in the photographs above. With them everything is clear and so. I just like to open the season early and close late. Warm hands help this a lot.
And the final touch. “What is this device on the shelf below on the left?” - you ask. I will answer from afar. The entire family of these engines, from GPZ900r to ZZR1200, to one degree or another suffered from the fact that if one of the oil pump stages died on it, this would instantly lead to the death of the engine. This dying could last for years, and for years it was ignored that the pump was pumping oil worse and worse. Yes, the GTR1000, GPZ1100, ZRX1100 and -1200 engines are noticeably more reliable than the ZZR1100 counterpart due to the fact that the zizer was extremely boosted and you have to pay for everything. But in direct hands and proper maintenance, these engines can last for decades. The main rule is to check the oil pressure on them at least once or twice a year. (In general, the manual of any motorcycle asks you to do this annually, you measure the oil pressure, right? =]) The manual for the GPZ instructs you to unscrew the oil pressure warning switch (bottom left on the engine) and use a special pressure gauge at 4000 RPM to measure the oil pressure heated to 90 degrees Celsius I decided to go further, and the aviation brain strain (yes, I mostly fix piston aircraft) told me that such a standard aviation device as a differential oil pressure sensor was a device that should be on my motorcycle and calm my nerves. There was no need to place it next to the dashboard, there was nowhere in particular, and there was no need. It is not needed often and is solely for diagnostic purposes, to ensure that the pump is healthy and pumping oil through the engine properly.
The oil pressure indicator is on the panel on the left, the sensor is electronic and lives below, next to the original signal one.
I found what I needed in the vastness of Ali. Here's the main secret. On Japanese engines, the sensors have a BSPT (British standard) taper thread, while most car tuning products have a NPT (American standard) taper thread. And although they look like twin brothers, it’s not worth trying to screw one into the other! At best, you won't screw it in; at worst, you'll kill the thread. So, the original sensor, which lights up the lamp on the dash red when the oil pressure drops, has a 1/8 BSPT thread. The differential sensor that comes with the oil pressure gauge is 1/8 NPT. The task is to screw it all into the mother on a 1/8 BSPT motor. A crazy 200 rubles and I have an adapter. Thanks to the Chinese, we made it before quarantine.
The same tee with Ali. 1/8 BSPT female, 1/8 NPT female side, and 1/8 BSPT male
For 200 rubles, I happily washed this three-piece in kerosene, removed chips, oil, a couple of non-critical burrs from thread cutting, and assembled it all in place of the original sensor. For this money everything is great. After tinkering with the wiring for another half an hour, and carefully “destroying” the original left shelf, everything fell into place. Now I have oil pressure information whenever I want it. (yes, the readings in the manual are also in PSI and the readings of the analog pressure gauge are identical to the Chinese electronic one.)
Can a mid-90s motorcycle be without flaws? As for me - HOW CAN IT DO!
