After the legendary ZI, Kawasaki continuously evolved its four-cylinder engines in various models like the Z1000R, GPZ1100F, eventually coming back to air cooling, from the water-cooled Voyager, with the 1992’s Zephyr 1100.
The Zephyr 1100 sluggishness caused by the large, heavy body and dull engine, earned her the nickname “Cow”, yet BITO R&D discovered this motorcycle’s huge hidden potential.
Installing ultra-light 18-inch MAGTAN wheels, JB-KYB φ41 front fork, JB milled aluminum triple trees, JB six-pot radial calipers with 320mm cast iron floating disks, and JB-KYB rear shocks, lowered the weight, raised the too low center of gravity, and vastly improved the balance of stiffness, leading to surprisingly light and neutral handling.
To obtain engine performance adequate to such a motorcycle, BITO R&D increased the bore with JB-POWER 76 mm forged pistons, installed a JB hand bend titanium exhaust system as well as 37 mm FCR carburetors, and performed our special JB-POWER port modification, creating easy to drive and torquey engine with plenty of power across the whole rev range.