The following article is from Cycle News Digital Edition...

All Hail the King

Giving the Kawasaki ZX-14R more stroke to get added displacement is sort of like Dolly Parton getting breast implants, but those wild and crazy guys over at the Big K have gone ahead and done just that. They've made sickly fast even faster. And for good measure, they've thrown in more torque.

Thank God the thing comes with a bra called traction control.

Already known the world over as a perennial contender for the title "world's most powerful mass-produced motorcycle," Kawasaki engineers couldn't leave good enough alone. They had to make it better. And "better" in the case of motorcycles like the ZX-14R usually means more power - and normally the addition of an R at the end of their moniker. The quickest way get more power is to increase the size of the engine - thus, the inline four has been pumped up to 1441cc from the 1352cc it's had since its introduction in 2006.

The added displacement comes via a 4mm stroke increase that sees the 2012 ZX-14R at 65mm (up from 61mm to 84.0 x 65mm); it also gets a reworked cylinder head assembly with polished ports and lighter pistons - which also got stronger to handle the extra power. The compression ratio has also been bumped to 12.3:1.

Kawasaki also needed to make sure the new bike was durable enough to handle the power so the ZX-14R gets a piston jet system that sprays a continuous stream of lubrication to the underside of each piston; thicker crankshaft journals (now 40mm); and a stronger cam chain and tensioning system.

Green and mean. The special edition Golden Blazed Green looks fast.