Outright winner of a twelve-motorcycle test conducted by leading Italian motorcycle publication InMoto, the Kawasaki Ninja 1100SX SE has taken the coveted top spot in the Appenninica 2026 contest.

The contest is set – as the name suggests – in the stunning Apennine Mountains of Italy, a 1,200-kilometre (750-mile) chain that forms the physical backbone of the country. The roads on offer there are spectacular, varied and demanding; ideal for a gruelling motorcycle test.

Pitted against rival machines from Europe, Japan and China, the twelve bikes were subdivided into six style categories, each machine going head-to-head with the model InMoto judged to be its nearest rival. Design and styling could account for a maximum of 10% of each tester’s final vote, functionality and features for 40%, and the riding experience for the remaining 50%.

Across a predetermined long loop of mountain roads, the twelve machines were put through their initial paces, with riders taking turns to ride each of the machines on test. The original twelve eventually became six finalists, and the fight for overall supremacy began!

Paired against the model InMoto judged to be its nearest segment rival, the Ninja 1100SX SE won its category in four main areas: natural agility; touring and sporting character; easy, intuitive handling; and suspension precision, cornering and poise.

In terms of the verdict, the six road testers praised the Ninja 1100SX SE as delivering the best expression of road-riding pleasure, with no meaningful weak points. The main points for praise were the mechanical precision of the engine and gearbox, the balance of performance and usable torque, the poise of the chassis and the almost perfect ergonomics. Overall, it stood out in the opinion of the testers for rewarding committed riding without demanding superbike levels of effort – or, to borrow the test team’s words, “a total motorcycle”.

The Ninja delivered immediate riding confidence, and the testers were impressed by its strong low- and mid-range engine performance, its ease of riding at all speeds and its real-world versatility, summing the Kawasaki up as “easy, balanced and always honest”.

Against stiff competition – and on such a demanding variety of roads – the Ninja 1100SX SE met with commendably high approval ratings from the panel of experienced judges, who concluded that the Kawasaki sports tourer should be regarded as “the benchmark of real-road performance”.