Hydraulic shock absorber adjustable in spring
preload Court Cosso
Front Brakes
Single 240mm disc 2 piston caliper
Rear Brakes
Single 240mm disc
Front Tyre
100/80-16
Rear Tyre
120/80-16
Seat Height
760 mm / 29.9 in
Wet-Weight
126 kg / 277.7 lbs
Fuel Capacity
Consumption average
19.9 km/lit
Braking 60 - 0 / 100 - 0
14.4 m / 43.3 m
Standing
¼ Mile
15.8 sec / 133.1 km/h
Top Speed
152.6 km/h
Presented at the Milan Show in November 1985 and
sold in June 1986, KZ 125 is undoubtedly a quantum leap in the panorama of the
125 road and finally closes any previous connection with the 125 who had known
the peak of development in 1985 with Honda NS-F and Cagiva Aletta Oro S1. The KZ
raises firmly as the cornerstone of a new line of 125 road: the 125 Sport.
The 125 Sport is representing thus the evolution of species, and although the
modern and the increasing engine power dramatically mark the evolution of the
eighth of a liter, the real difference with the pre-KZ precursors was probably
in the chassis, or in the department that more 'than any other forward the
"presence" of the motorcycle driver. In this sense, the KZ was certainly
comparable to an average displacement, a feeling that until then sixteen at the
time could only dream of. Winner of the title "Bike of the Year 1986", KZ and
the 'a movement that owes his existence to a mythical character and deserves a
special section: Luciano Marabese. HRD legendary founder of Motor House who
distinguished himself in the first half 'of the 80 for the production of
high-performance 125cc craft and where the symbol and' an acronym for "Happy Red
Devils", Luciano Marabese was the designer who revolutionized 'the Gilera
production in the second half 'of the 80 imposing a modern and innovative design
that made the school.
The KZ remained in production for four years until 1990, but as for the previous
RV 125, the novelty introduced in the meantime from competitors and Gilera
itself, soon made it obsolete.
Price in 1986: 4,200,000 Lira turnkey (295,000 Lira Chambers. Electric)
Colors (for all production): White saddle with red / black with red seat.
KZ Endurance
During 1987 was also presented a special version of KZ, which is the endurance
that while sharing the same chassis and engine of the same KZ, had a different
front fairing features a dual light then resumed from the next MX-1 and a cover-
seat passenger.
Price in 1988: 4,430,000 lire (295,000 lire electric start)
Colors: White / Red White / Blue
The bike soon
The clean lines and setup guide with handlebars collected and Rearsets, KZ make
the forerunner of the 125 sports, although the approach adopted by test driving
Gilera is not too strenuous at all inclined to exaggerated cuffs and leg type
motion from the track. The line of KZ and 'characterized by a half-fairing that
leaves in sight and the engine is complete with the long belly of the wheels:
This is a solution certainly guessed, but quite unusual for a 125. Another
peculiarity 'of KZ and' the body that integrates monolithic upper tail and tank
in one piece, although the tank is in fact simply hidden, being plastic. To
allow access to the filler reservoir, the housing includes a hinged shell,
protected by a lock, which also gives access to the oil tank and the expansion
of the radiator, in turn protected by a movable interlocking tray that contains
also the cosmetic bag of irons, and air filter housing. Oddly, battery,
supported by appropriate frame anchored to the motor connections, and 'at the
front of the belly fairing of KZ. This is an innovative and probably wanted to
find a better weight distribution, but at the same time due to chronic lack of
space: the KZ, in fact, not having the seat tilted and 'devoid of any useful
utility room.
Another innovative solution devised by Marabese and 'expansion exhaust confined
within the beams of the frame: in fact, with a turn of 180 degrees on the left,
the exhaust manifold allows expansion to pass on the left side of the cylinder,
just between beams of the frame, and then expand gradually under the shelf
Hold-saddle up to join in the tailpipe coming out the top left of the tail.
Finally, note the electrical instrumentation and controls, that once again shine
for completeness, quality ', ergonomics and easy' read / use.
Cycling
The frame and 'a modern double cradle beams square tubes made of steel and is'
complete with a rear-seat shelf Reggi halves in ALUMINIUM 'and rake' of 26gradi
el'avancorsa of 88mm. The 36mm fork, production Kettle, and 'together with the
inevitable, and rather useless, anti-dive adjustable to three positions with the
Allen wrench. At the rear there is a steel swingarm and suspension coupled with
a progressive Court & Cossa, called Power Drive and preload adjustable. Note the
different placement of the rods, now internal, compared with the previous
suspension Mono Drive adopted on the RV. The braking system includes a
production Grimeca 240mm single disc front end with twin piston caliper and a
parallel rear disc of equal diameter, but with single-piston caliper. The
beautiful lenticular aluminum wheels, both 16 "are produced Grimeca and have the
following sizes: 100/80 front and 120/80 at the rear. The total weight of dry
detected by Motorcycle and 'of 123kg.
Engine
The propeller of the KZ and 'the second evolution of the RV engine and actually
in 1986 not only looks like the engine more' powerful class but also among the
more 'treatable sweetness for delivery. Equipped with of course admission Reed
(live in the cylinder), balancer, automatic mixer, liquid cooling and electric
start on demand, the real news' of the engine Gilera APTS is the adoption of the
system, which stands for Automatic Tuning Power System, valve and exhaust
resonance chamber. The system, which are reminders of the ATAC Honda NS-F, has a
mechanical centrifugal-through the expansion of metal balls countered by a
spring, that until about 7500 rpm the exhaust valve closes gradually, and then
decreasing gradually the volume of exhaust gases that are forced into the echo
chamber, before leaving the collector. Past the 7500 rpm, the valve closes
completely, excluding the resonance chamber and thus leaving the exhaust and of
course free to go directly from the exhaust system expansion. That system, like
Honda, and 'basically an ingenious system to vary the timing of discharge and
then allow the adoption of a cylinder that sees change its diagram exhaust the
number of turns, so keeping excellent performance at low and medium speeds,
without compromising the high performance. Finally, interesting to note the
cylinder 12 lights (2 of admission, 7 of transfer and 3 exhaust), the carburetor
Dell'Orto PHBH 28 and the expansion and exhaust terminal.
With regard to performance, KZ check the ultimate in power and data speed and
accelerations with a maximum power to the wheel to 23.77cv 9250giri and a speed
'record for the highest category of well-153.200 km / h. Only in the tests
taken, and 400 meters from 50km / h, KZ recorded a time of 20.036 sec and a
velocity 'output of 97.300 km / h, which appears to be slightly lower than the
leading Aprilia AS-125R (19.157 seconds and 104.046 km / h).