Kawasaki got it wrong… The 2017 Ninja 1000 is not a sporttourer. It’s so much more than that. After traveling for two days from Los Angeles to Monterey, California, and experiencing equal doses of urban warfare, tight canyons, highspeed mountain sweepers, wine country roads, and some necessary highway running, I found the bike excels at almost everything. Despite a superb 1,043cc powerplant supplying perfectly fueled torque combined with topshelf racetrackinfused electronics and a solid supporting cast of suspension, brakes, and allday ergos, a lot of people might have overlooked this Ninja.
The first glance reveals lean, aggressive bodywork inspired by the Ninja ZX10R along with an updated threeposition doublebubble windscreen that is 15mm taller than before. New, compact dual LED headlamps offer increased light projection, and other touches include smaller…