Kawasaki Ninja ZX-14 - Bad Boy Toyz

The operative word when discussing Kawasaki's all-new ZX-14 is "big." The ZX-14 is a big-displacement bike that makes big power and is capable of generating big speed, and Kawasaki is hoping that its newest Ninja will take a big bite out of the Suzuki Hayabusa's backside on the sales floor. Of course, Kawasaki wanted to make a big impression on sportbike enthusiasts when it released this new bike to the public. To stack the odds in their favor, the company took the unconventional measure of delivering preproduction samples to a select few performance tuners and customizers so the modified ZX-14s would hit the scene at the same time the production bikes turned up at dealerships to get buyers amped up about the tuning potential of the ZX-14.

On the speed side, ZX-14s were shipped out to drag racing legends Rob Muzzy, Coby Adams and Rickey Gadson (see the following stories for more on these bikes). Demonstrating the performance potential of this bike was a priority, but to their credit, Kawasaki also realized the importance of showing how well the ZX-14 responded to customizing-the custom crowd has latched on to the 'Busa like no other model, and the thousands of blinged-out examples rolling down the road do much to drive the success of that particular Suzuki. So, in addition to the straight-liners, Kawasaki also delivered a pair of preproduction ZX-14s to noted custom shop Roaring Toyz and let shop owner Robert Fisher and his crew trick out two bikes for the ZX-14's consumer debut at Daytona Bike Week.

Roaring Toyz, based in Sarasota, Florida ("Retirement Town, USA," Fisher says), was a natural choice for Kawasaki. Established in 2000 and turning out some of the hottest bikes in the southland since day one, Roaring Toyz knows as well as anyone how to build up smooth customs that really wow the crowd. In addition, with an ever-expanding Roaring Toyz house-brand of sportbike aftermarket accessories and good connections with reliable vendors, Roaring Toyz was uniquely equipped to create a selection of aftermarket goodies for the new model that would set these first customs off and also be available for sale to customers when the ZX-14 hit showrooms. New buyers would be able to personalize their bikes the day that they picked them up from the dealer.

This ability to quickly tool up a line of aftermarket parts was key, since the crew from Roaring Toyz would have less than a month to get the bikes ready for their big Bike Week debut. Not exactly a lot of time when you're starting from ground zero developing parts for an all-new, never-before-seen motorcycle model. Building these bikes in such short time was "chaotic," in Fisher's own words, and required every ounce of energy his staff of five could muster-not to mention above-and-beyond efforts from his most dedicated aftermarket partners.

Roaring Toyz' plan was to build two variations on the same theme, employing a variety of custom techniques to show how these translated to the ZX-14s unique shape and style. The green bike is the more radical of the two, featuring some subtle (but significant) body mods, more detailed paint and a nitrous system installed on the motor. The dark red one is closer to stock in specifications but does feature a wider, 300mm rear tire (compared with the green bike's 240mm rear meat).

Naturally, the first step for both bikes was to yank off the swingarms and send them off to C&S Custom in Mocksville, North Carolina, so the C&S crew could fab up extended, widened swingarms-the most popular modification for custom sportbikes nowadays. Fisher didn't want to get too cartoonish, so he ordered up a reasonable, six-inch stretch for both, with tubular underbracing for added support. "The back of the ZX-14 is really wide, so it houses the fat tires nicely," Fisher says. "The 240 almost looks skinny on it." Roaring Toyz also designed and manufactured the unique U-shaped, fully adjustable (Heim joint and threaded rod) lowering links that drop the rear end of both of these bikes.