Kawasaki Z 7 Hybrid doubles down on Akashi’s latest tech

The Kawasaki Z 7 Hybrid has launched for 2024, bringing the new powertrain from Akashi to an unfaired variant.

The Kawasaki Z 7 Hybrid is of course not the first hybrid motorcycle from Kawasaki, after the Ninja 7 Hybrid was officially launched earlier this year, but it does mark the first time that Kawasaki has used its new hybrid tech in a naked bike.

The Z 7 Hybrid keeps to Kawasaki’s traditional sports naked styling, with and aggressive look front-to-back, and marries that with the silver and green paint that appears to be the colours designated to hybrid models by the Japanese manufacturer.

Making use of the same 451cc twin-cylinder combustion engine and 9kW traction motor combination as the Ninja 7 Hybrid, the Z 7 Hybrid makes the same 58bhp as its faired sibling, and offers up to 12km of electric-only drive before the internal combustion engine (ICE) kicks in to charge the battery. An ‘Eco-Hybrid’ mode provides a combination of electric and ICE power, and for the rider to select either manual or automatic gearshifts. Manual shifting is operated via a switch on the left bar, which has no clutch lever. As with the Ninja 7, the Z 7 also features a ‘walk mode’.

The steel trellis frame, and cycle parts, are also carried over from the Ninja 7 to the Z 7.

Kawasaki expects the 2024 Z 7 Hybrid to be available in UK dealers by next May, and pricing will be confirmed nearer to that time. Two colour options will be available: ‘Metallic Bright Silver/Metallic Matte Lime Green/Ebony’, and ‘Metallic Matte Graphene Steel Gray/Ebony/Metallic Graphite Gray’.