The Kawasaki Ninja 1100SX SE is MCN's Sports Tourer of the Year in 2025

Today’s sports-tourer category is the spiritual home for all those thousands of British bikers who were sportsbike obsessed in the 90s and 2000s; those of us who still yearn for something with performance, poise, and that all-important fully faired sex appeal, but without inducing any of those age-reminding aches and pains.

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As the latest incarnation of the bike arguably responsible for reviving the category 14 years ago, Kawasaki’s Ninja 1100SX SE answers the call of all those riders with its performance, agility, and chassis-bling mixed with all#2;important practicality. It’s for all those reasons that we’ve declared it our Best Sports-Tourer of 2025.

Utterly refined

In the years since its genesis in 2011, it’s evolved, advancing into a package that’s more refined with every generation. This year, a glint of Öhlins gold satisfies the cravings of performance magpies as well as giving additional high-quality composure for those hard, high-spirited solo rides or fully loaded two-up miles.

Meanwhile, its overhauled and swollen motor (up 56cc to 1099cc) goes hand-in-hand with revised gearing and super-slick quickshifter to bring turbine-like shove, with an inline-four familiarity that appeals to those sportsbike diehards, whom Kawasaki’s engineers have certainly listened to when creating this next evolution of lean, green sports-touring machine.

Kawasaki’s move to grow the engine to 1099cc for 2025 was primarily to offset the neutering effects of Euro5+, however their decision to reprofile the engine’s character was more calculated. Kawasaki understand what their SX riders want and so satisfied their demands by sacrificing a few ponies up top to instead give the 1100SX a more tractable, torquey character.

The longer stroke and revised gearing help deliver torque earlier in the rev range, reducing the need to hustle the gearbox, making the new SX a more flexible, less frantic friend. The upshot of this is a smoother ride with fewer tingle-inducing vibes to make long days in the saddle genuinely less fatiguing – exactly what riders expect from a sports-tourer.

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This sporting endurance is boosted by the SX’s ergonomics. Unchanged for 2025, and with good reason, Kawasaki have perfected a riding position with enough of a sporting edge to engage you through sweepers, but also an upright, unforced posture that keeps shoulders and wrists from seizing as you drain its 200+ mile fuel tank again and again.

The seat and wind protection with four-level manually adjustable screen are tuned to the same brief – not maximalist touring comfort, but a measured, fatigue-beating setup that allows you to tackle day trips and multi-day rides without the heft, bulk, hassle – and let’s face it – dowdiness of a full-dress tourer. Add in the bright, readable TFT dash with its basic connectivity and useful, easy-to-navigate functions, and the 1100SX becomes every inch the modern tool for touring.

Yet sports performance is still firmly at its heart thanks to a superbly balanced chassis that’s simply made for exploiting the bends. Sitting tall on its sporty OE Bridgestone S22s, the Ninja 1100SX SE has a surprising amount of agility, arguably more than a 234kg machine has any right to.

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Front-end agility, precision and feedback belie any wobbly, soft first expectations generated from those large cow-horn raised handlebars, meanwhile a look at its spec sheet reveals a wheelbase that’s actually 10mm shorter than Kawasaki’s WSBK-winning superbike, the ZX-10R.

As a result, the SX turns beautifully at every pace, instant and obliging, but also remains stable without any off-putting shimmies. Purposeful and composed, it’s a highly confidence-inspiring ride, whether alone or two-up, as it has a profound natural balance at low speed that makes it effortless to turn in the road, even when fully loaded, a trait that’s boosted by quite possibly the most precise rear brake in the business.

A bike for Britain

Stepping off the bike, the SX still inspires those over-the-shoulder glances after you’ve parked up, something which absolutely cannot be said of many of its rivals in the tall-roader and adventure categories. Styled sleekly but safe, there’s enough Ninja-family aggression in the SX’s fairing to appeal to sportsbike refugees, but also the right amount of friendliness to not scare away those who’ve perhaps come from tourers or adventure machines.

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Kawasaki’s build quality is second to none and as such the SX boasts deep metallic paint that starbursts in the sun, combined with high-quality fixtures and fittings on everything from the shift lever to the switchgear. Every inch of it feels expertly engineered.

Little wonder, then, that the SX line has become one of the UK’s best-loved and best-selling motorcycles. The outgoing Ninja 1000SX was among the top-registered ‘road-sport’ models of recent years, and interest in the new 1100SX as a direct replacement is strong.

The SX clearly speaks to British bikers in a way few other models do; we love motorcycles that are honest and useful, bikes that earn their keep every day rather than just on the occasional sunny Sunday.

The Ninja 1100SX SE sits perfectly within that national psyche: engineered robustness, refinement where it counts, and enough sporty intent to keep a grin on your face. Its balance of performance and practicality aligns with how many UK owners actually ride: varied, real-world, but with the option to cut loose when high-spirits take over.

The 2025 Kawasaki Ninja 1100SX SE has revitalised the sports-tourer category with measured, rider-first upgrades; it underlines Kawasaki’s commitment to a segment that can sometimes feel neglected; and it delivers a package that UK riders have clearly gravitated towards.

For those reasons, and for the sheer pleasure it delivers whether you’re reliving your sportsbike days via a B-road blast or disappearing two-up with your panniers packed for a long weekend, the Ninja 1100SX SE is a worthy and deserving recipient of MCN’s Best Sports-Tourer 2025.

The facts

Kawasaki’s Ninja 1100SX SE

• Price: £13,999
• Engine: 1099cc inline four cylinder 16v liquid-cooled
• Power: 134bhp @ 9000rpm (claimed)
• Torque: 83.34lb.ft @ 7600rpm (claimed)
• Weight: 234kg (kerb claimed)