Susan Carpenter, Contributor 
I HAD barely kicked it into third and was minding my own business when it happened the first time. A low-slung sport sedan was pacing me two lanes to the left, and the driver's eyes, which at that speed should have been stuck to the road, were instead glued to my Slurpee Kawasaki ZX-14.
Riding the world's fastest production sport bike, I did what anyone else in my position would do: I taught the guy who's boss and twisted the grip, and so long, sucker!
Juvenile? No doubt, but I wasn't nearly as juvenile as I could have been. With 200 horsepower and 80 mph more at my disposal, I could have easily blown the guy into another dimension. But part of riding a bike as powerful as the new Ninja ZX-14 is restraint. It isn't about using all the juice you hold in your hand, it's about knowing that it's there and knowing that everyone else knows it's there, too.
FAST AND FURIOUS FUN
Boasting a quarter-mile time of just over nine seconds, the new Ninja can reach top speeds of more than 180 mph and crank out enough fast and furious fun that I felt genuinely depressed dropping it down to first and wheeling the little beast into my garage for the night. The in-line four, 1,352 cc ZX has been given a pet name at Kawasaki the 'Hayabusa beater'. For those who don't speak sport bike, the Suzuki Hayabusa GSX-1300R is the 155-horsepower stud that has defined and dominated the so-called hyperbike category since 1999.
No more. The ZX-14 is the largest displacement sport bike Kawasaki has ever built -- and its quickest out of the gate with stock parts. Ride one, and you've got instant bragging rights.
Thanks to Britain's Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents, a gentlemen's agreement now exists among sport bike manufacturers that limits their motorcycles to a maximum (though still outrageous) straight-from-the-showroom-floor speed of 186 mph. It's a relief such a cap exists.
LIGHTWEIGHT FRAME
Weighing in at about 500 pounds with a full tank and fluids, the ZX-14 doesn't handle like the anvil one would imagine. Thanks to its lightweight aluminium frame and low centre of gravity, the bike is surprisingly stable and easy to handle. It isn't a workout to manoeuvre past cars and take corners at slow speeds.
The front brake and clutch weren't just highly responsive. They were easy to reach because the riding position of the ZX-14 is more relaxed than many smaller-displacement sport bikes.
The bike hugs twisty curves like lingerie on a Victoria's Secret fashion model. And when I took a corner and came upon a backward-moving construction truck in my lane, it wasn't like lifting bricks to pull it up out of its steep lean angle and slow down quickly.
For all its high-tech derring-do, the ZX-14 is quite the looker too. Riding it may also be the most fun a person can have sitting down.
Source: www.latimes.com
