Kawasaki May Be Teasing a New Z1100

New Z model to be revealed Oct. 30

Kawasaki is teasing a new model to be revealed on Oct. 30, with the evidence suggesting it will be a new Z1100 streetfighter.

We’ve been anticipating a Z1100 since we first caught wind that the Versys and Ninja were growing from 1000 models to 1100s. As we previously noted, Kawasaki has already announced most of its Z range for 2025 with the exception of the Z900, leaving its future in doubt. The teaser confirms a new high-performance Z model, and a jump from Z900 to a Z1100 makes a lot of sense.

The teaser itself gives us a few clues. First off is the video beginning with the word “Performance” over the Japanese Kanji for “Amazing”. Second, is the tagline “New Levels of Raw”, which implies a naked model. Next is a close-up shot of a rider with Kawasaki’s Z logo on his helmet.

All of this tells us the teaser is for a Z model, but the surest sign it is for a Z1100 and not an updated Z900 is the shot of the right handlebar. To the right of the rider’s hand, we can see a gray engine start/stop switch. The Z900, and all the smaller Z models, have a red switch. The Z900 also has different cable routing coming out of the right grip than what we can see in the teaser.

The Ninja 1100 and Versys 1100 (pictured below), as well as the 1000 models before them, all have a gray engine start/stop switch, and the overall right switchgear looks very similar to what is shown in the teaser video (sans hand guard of course.)

Barring something else entirely coming out of left field, all of this suggests that the new model will be a 2025 Kawasaki Z1100. If so, then we can expect the same Inline-Four engine, now displacing 1,099cc, and claiming peak outputs of 134 hp at 9,000 rpm and 83.2 lb-ft. at 8,000 rpm. We can also expect similar electronics, including IMU-backed cornering traction control and ABS and electronic cruise control.

The Ninja 1100 and Versys 1100 both retain the styling of their 1000 predecessors, but the Z1100 will likely look different from the Z900. An aluminum twin spar frame similar to the Ninja 1100’s all but makes that necessary, as it poses different packaging challenges than the Z900’s steel trellis. The only detail we can definitively confirm from the teaser is a new flyscreen design and mirrors similar to the Versys 1100’s.

We’ll now for certain when Kawasaki makes its official announcement on Oct. 30.

By Dennis Chung