At the EICMA in Milan last year, Kawasaki announced that it had given the Z650 and Ninja 650 for model year 2023 a small, but very important update. On the Spanish island of Ibiza we were allowed to get acquainted with both models for two days, an extensive test of both engines will soon be available on Motorfreaks.nl.
From a distance you would think that the 2023 models are no different from the 2022 editions, but take the saddle of the Ninja 650 or Z650 and you will immediately notice one of the two differences.
In 2023, the rather dated LCD display has finally made way for the now well-known beautiful and clear 4″ TFT color screen, which can also be used via Bluetooth with the Kawasaki app on your smartphone. connected, so you can do all kinds of fun things from the couch.
The second update is in the electronics, where Kawasaki has now also applied adjustable traction control to the Z650 and Ninja 650, following the Versys 650. The traction control has two positions, position 2, which intervenes regularly when you are milking the engine on a fantastically beautiful, but sometimes dusty mountain road in Ibiza, but without it becoming really annoying.
Position 1, on the other hand, allows much more and therefore allows you to blaze down a beautiful mountain road uninhibited, without even wanting to interfere with it. In other words: position 2 is therefore perfect for when it rains, where position 1 will save you when things really threaten to go seriously wrong. Oh yes, of course you can also turn off the traction control, but given the setting of position 1, we had no need for it at all.
An extensive test of both the Z650 and the Ninja 650 will soon be available on Motorfreaks.nl, but we wanted to share these initial findings with you.
– Thanks for information from Motorfreaks.