Z1000SX launch: should OEM luggage be more secure than this?
Kawasaki's 2014 Z1000SX features an optional luggage system with one key - an allen key
I'M in Austria for the launch of Kawasaki's 2014 Z1000SX sports tourer.
The revised model has traction control, uprated ABS which discourages forward roll and a neat new one-key optional pannier system which is four inches narrower than the old one.
The boxes mount directly onto the grab rails with a quick-release mechanism, so you don't have to look at a pannier frame after removing them.
The bike looks great. I can't wait to ride it.
But I've noticed another quick-release luggage feature. Four exposed allen bolts attach the optional top box to the grab rails. I've asked Kawasaki people what's to stop anyone undoing them and carrying the box and its continents away. No one has told me.
It's a really important model to Kawasaki. The current version accounts for one in 12 UK Kawasaki sales. They are not likely to rejoice when a possible minor problem is highlighted at a press launch. Detecting embarrassment at my question, I wondered if I was being over-critical.
It's not the first OEM top box system I've seen in recent years that appears vulnerable to theft by unbolting. I wrote about a similar issue with Yamaha's XJ6 Diversion F in 2010.
Maybe it's not an issue for consumers. Maybe top box theft is too rare to be a concern.
Maybe it defeats the point of the expensive locking mechanism.
What do you think?
